The Bible and Women’s Subordination Phaipi, Chingboi Guite
International journal of Asian christianity,
03/2022, Letnik:
5, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract
Tribal Christian patriarchal societies promulgate women subordination as biblical by using the creation stories in Gen 2–3. This paper re-examines the narrative of Gen 2–3, whether women ...subordination is promulgated in the text. Terms and logic often used for women subjugation—such as the woman created to be ‘helper’ for the man, the woman being created later and from the man, the man to ‘rule’ the woman—are not so straightforward as they seem. A close analysis of the biblical narratives demonstrates that these terms, in their root meanings, are rather ambiguous. Rather than subordination, sameness and togetherness between the man and the woman are emphasized throughout the narrative of Gen 2–3.
This study focuses on poor women in the social environment (village) in the center of the Surabaya metropolis with classical Islamic culture and rules. Social relations and “pesantren culture” are ...felt in this place. For example: women must wear headscarves every day, men use koko sarongs and shirts, reading the holy verses of the Qur’an are a daily habit. In fact, elementary school children have become memorizers of the Qur’an (hafidz). This place produces “kyai” and “nyai” (saints in Javanese Islam). This study focuses on unequal gender relations between men and women so that poor women experience subordination, as well as empowerment of poor women in the Islamic community in the middle of big cities. Women, especially poor women, have very low bargaining power because of the patriarchal culture and Islamic rules there. Even though poor women help to make a living for the family, all important decisions remain with the husband (male). The methodology used is qualitative. Conduct in-depth interviews with poor women who were married in that place. Researchers also make observations about their daily activities in the community. The result, using Michel Foucault’s power relations theory analysis, found that poor women get unfair relationships every day. They always lose with their husbands in any case. They are always oppressed and subordinated. Poor women get a discourse that women are the second social class in this life. They are a male partner, not the first person. So, important decision makers in the family are always men, not women. Although women help their husbands to work outside the home, decision makers are always husbands. Poor women are also powerless in government development programs. Even though the relationship is not equal, all women accept it because it comes from God’s destiny (Allah SWT). This phenomenon is real and occurs in the center of a big city (Surabaya) which is one of the largest cities in Indonesia.
Todays, violence and subordination experienced by women in the domestic sphere into the events that are familiar in everyday life. The Government has been providing products Law Number 23 Year 2004 ...on the Elimination of Violence in Household. However, this law has not effectively curb the violence that occurs in women. This social reality portrayed by Putu Wijaya in a short story to open the eyes of the community that the events portrayed in the short story "Laila" is a reflection of the circumstances that exist in the community. Husband-wife relationship is structured, imposition of the will, the absence of living, economic extortion, physical violence and mental, are the kinds of unfair treatment that often befall women.
African drama and theatre discourse on gender relations often address some cultural issues as salient factors that undermine the female quest to transcend marginal and debilitating spaces through ...self-emancipation and education. This paper examines these peculiarities and discusses the underpinnings of patriarchy and the female ordeal, particularly as this relates to the girl-child such as sexual abuse, underage marriage, female genital mutilation, sex-trafficking and other constraints manifest against her will to survive in a patriarchal society. This paper is inspired by the fact that the female child still struggles to grapple with numerous challenges in a hegemonic culture. Using the descriptive method of analysis, the paper adopts the feminist approach to analyze this dilemma head-on. It makes a critical contribution to the girl-child and explores the dominant cultural milieu prevalent in the African rural society that appears to have fostered the course of her numerous predicaments. The paper submits that the African female and the girl-child in rural settings can successfully break through such hegemonic and disconcerting yokes by sheer resilience.
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