Gender Roles: A Literary Analysis

Quotation:
“Once it was simply assumed that gender was socially constructed but firmly rooted in biological sexual differences. Now there are many feminist scholars who argue that such differences are made important and central because they keep the male-dominant power structure” (Anderson and Young 206).
My Questions:
Why are women portrayed the way they are in the bible of other sacred texts? How did gender roles form? Were roles based on gender simply created to maintain a power dominance? If roles are sent by God and considered tradition, then why have they changed over the history of Christianity?
Reflection:
While completing this chapter on Christianity, I found a common theme on how gender roles or differences are used to justify discrimination and sexism

Women are described as temptress, servants to men, evil, simply a body, and more likely to sin. This idea can be seen in the quote, “…Women were equated with the body and men with the mind. This made women sexually dangerous to men. According to Augustin, women are more carnal than men and therefore more subject to temptation and sin” (Anderson and Young 182) It is almost as if they are saying the women have no control over their actions and must be controlled, which hands all the power over to the men. Women were expected to take care of their children, their house, and their husbands.
Women very seldom had leadership roles within the church, such as ordination. However, women were expected to be the first teachers of Christianity to their children. “The home came to be seen as the first site of Christian learning, and it was the responsibility of mother to teach their children what it meant to be a good Christian” (Anderson and Young 192). This fact surprised me because women aren’t seen worthy enough to teach or preach to a congregation, but are given the responsibility to introduce their children to the religion. It is this fact that makes me believe that women being unable to be ordained