Does God Have A Big Toe By Eilberg-Schwartz

Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This

Thus, the rescue and adoption of Moses is a women's rebellion, staged in a feminine

The two publications that best contextualize gender are the Lowell Offering and the Godey’s Lady Book periodicals as the articles found in both magazines depict traditional gender roles for males and females. For the Lowell Offering, this is best seen in the article entitled, “Woman’s Proper Sphere”, which focuses on the thoughts associated with oppression like, “Is it ambitious wish to shine as man’s equal, in the same scenes in which he mingles” or “Does she wish for a more extensive influence, than that which emanates from a woman’s home?” Yet these progressive questions are met with answers like “How necessary, then, that she should understand these pursuits (of men), that she may truly sympathize with and encourage those, with whom she may be associated. In this way…her influence must and

to scatter your enemy, to drive him before you,to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears,and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters." Genghis Khan, much like the Hebrew Bible during certain points, regards women as objects. However, to write the Hebrew Bible off as fully misogynistic would not do the ancient texts justice. From Genesis to Judges 2, the Hebrew Bible objectifies women, uses them as scapegoats, but during certain points rises them to the level of highly admired Prophets and warriors. This essay attempts to explore the various undertones of femininity depicted throughout the Hebrew Bible.

The Hebrew prophets are filled with varied imagery and language, from the colorful language of the visions Ezekiel’s Temple (Ez. 40-48), to the literary techniques of judgement oracles (Isa. 13), to the laments of Jeremiah (Jer. 12). However, no other rhetorical device should cause its audiences, both original and modern, to squirm with discomfort more than the prophetic metaphors that speak negatively of feminine sexuality and propagate misogynistic abuse towards women. These metaphors, graphic and violent, often portray the people of Israel as dishonored, sexually promiscuous women who have shamed their husbands. As an African-American woman and Old Testament scholar, Renita J. Weems deals with these difficult metaphors to understand

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. - Matthew 6:9. The idea of “God the father” is one that is rooted deep in our society predominantly the ways in which it rejoices men. The almighty all and powerful God is outlined as a male figure in the bible, constructed using almost entirely masculine language. This simple fact has provoked men to assume the position of authority, to oversee over his family. This simple fact leads to an imbalance of power between men and women subconsciously oppressing women within our society. In Mary Daly’s “After the Death of God the Father,” Mary explains how the Judeo-Christian culture has served to bring structure to a sexually imbalanced man driven culture." This male-controlled society has its establishments in the most discernible parts of Christianity.” Mary’s work is a continuation of what is known as “The women's liberation movement” furthering the conversation of societies hold on a woman and bringing change. In this critical evaluation of Mary Daly's work, I will discuss the thesis and argument of the reading, along with an analysis of its assumptions and implications.

With few exceptions, our male dominated society has traditionally feared, repressed, and stymied the growth of women. As exemplified in history, man has always enjoyed a superior position. According to Genesis in the Old Testament, the fact that man was created first has led to the perception that man should rule. However, since woman was created from man’s rib, there is a strong argument that woman was meant to work along side with man as an equal partner. As James Weldon Johnson’s poem, “Behold de Rib,” clearly illustrates, if God had intended for woman to be dominated, then she would have been created from a bone in the foot, but “he

Yet in presenting something as inaccessible and dangerous, an invitation to know and to possess is extended. The secrecy associated with female bodies is sexual and linked to the multiple associations between women and privacy. (92)

In Chapter 3 of his book, “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger argues that in western nude art and present day media, that women are largely shown and treated as objects upon whom power is asserted by men either as figures in the canvas or as spectators. Berger’s purpose is to make readers aware of how the perception of women in the art so that they will recognize the evolution of western cultured art.

Who Told You That You Were Naked? gives the reader a look into the interpretation of the book of Genesis. It starts with the Garden of Eden and the creation of Adam and Eve and how sin was created in the beginning. The book also dives into faith and connecting with God and Jesus Christ and how to develop a positive relationship with them and how some may interpret the relationship incorrectly. Using references throughout the book from the bible, William E. Combs brings to light interpretations of the bible the average person would not be able to decipher on their own.

The role and strength of women in a male-dominated society in biblical times is the fundamental theme of The Red Tent. The red tent is a physical and spiritual place, where the women of Jacob’s tribe—his wives, servants and daughters, could rest while menstruating and childbearing, but more importantly, it became a safe shelter for feminist unity and companionship. The red tent provides all the women a haven to be in their power together, to learn from one another, to be part of a community, and to celebrate their lives without any disturbance from the male chauvinism. In the “red tent”, women such as Leah, Dinah and Rachel are able to play critical and decisive roles—protectors, friends and teachers. First and foremost, there is much

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

In Elizabeth A. Johnson’s essay, “A Theological Case for God-She”, the author discusses how the women’s movement in society has “spotlighted the exclusion of women” in the public and the church, which has caused discussion on how Christians speak about God. Johnson maintains that the specific use of only make God language in the Christian church is both “religiously idolatrous and socially oppressive” to women (304). In other words, Johnson argues that the use of God in only male terms has a two-fold negative effect on Christians: “it reduces the divine mystery to a single refined metaphor of a ruling male” and the “images and concepts of God modeled exclusively on ruling men support and justify the dominance of this one group over those who

Margaret Atwood’s “The Female Body” is a satirical piece written in seven parts as a response to a letter from the Michigan Quarterly Review. The article is intended for the general public and is written in a humourous, smirking tone. The satirical bent is evident from the beginning, with Atwood describing impersonally her own body, or “topic”, conveying a sense discomfort and laying groundwork for her main argument, that female bodies have historically been viewed as objects. In the second section she catalogs accessories that come included with a female body such as items of clothing, body parts, makeup and piercings. The author’s argument is that women are not considered to be women unless they are decorated and she mocks the notion that their bodies come fully loaded with features and add-ons not unlike a vehicle.

While in the Women and the Body course, I was able to dissect the images, constraints, and beliefs associated with the woman’s body. The debate over body image originated from patriarchal constraints, deeming that women have to fit into an ideal of womanhood. A woman’s body image is suppose to be a direct link to the man she is with. She should have childbearing hips, a stature that is associated in being motherly, and breasts to breast feed the children. With that it grew into using man made objects to reinforce the patriarchal power about body