50 Shades of Patriarchal Grey
I saw the movie Fifty Shades of Grey when it came on a free movie trial run on my cable. The epic ends with a woman being beaten as an act of passion by her male lover. It appears to me that these religious patriarchal systems all end up the same way with women suffering from the practices of male patriarchs. The Fundamentalist LDS cult is a prime example with its leader confined to a prison cell for life. His crime was that of taking young girls and forcing them to be his wife. Even though there were religious liberty issues, his crimes fell under the domain of one of the last taboos in American culture, forced sex with a minor. David Koresh, the Branch Davidian leader practiced the same activity. This is one reason federal agents felt it essential to arrest the cult leader. Other cult leaders with this male dominated dogma, like the Way International, have done the same thing. A recent study at Wyoming University provided facts that male athletes assaulting females on campus is becoming epidemic in the nation. From Silsbee, Texas to Missouri, and Nebraska, stories keep coming forth about male athletes feeling entitlement to female victims. Florida State had a similar case that is still facing a civil rights law investigation. What I am interested in is how that religious systems contribute to this. Midwestern Baptist Seminary Provost Jason Duesing is a classic illustration. He is part of the Fundamentalist bent to the Southern Baptist Convention. He wrote in the Southern Baptist Texan, that he would never allow a woman to teach a male theology, preaching, or pastoral ministries. Women should teach women, he stated. Thus women have their place in the home and they serve in special capacities, much of them as servants to men. Lot viewed his own daughters as such, offering them up to a crowd of rapists. Some feminists have written that this underlying code at Baylor contributed to the climate that allowed males to get away with these criminal acts. The classic case study is the legacy of the Basic Institute of Youth Conflicts led by Bill Gothard. Gothard teaches women must seek the guidance of the male leader in the family, either husband or father. They are under the authority of the husband and must get his permission for even religious activity. Of course Gothard was caught with a long list of underage girls. What is typical in these systems is that it is not older, or mature women who are most often victims. Older women have lost their appeal to men and their value has diminished. Having them teach or preside over men is not in the cards. One of the arguments against having a female President is often hidden in these systems. The peculiar ad in the Austin Statesman has another twist. The wealthy male donors listed as sponsors to the full page spread, had many of their wives signing on. Strange that these ladies allowed their names to be used as backing of this expression of support for a system that was more than harmful, but even dangerous to women.
50 Shades of Patriarchal Grey | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
50 Shades of Patriarchal Grey | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
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