Vestal Virgins: Commitment To The Fullest Vestal Virgins were perceived and viewed as an ultimately central organization and Roman’s very survival depended on the chastity and legality of the Vestal Virgins who were considered more significant than all of the female cults and priestesses in the Roman society. The Cult of Vesta was formed in 715 B.C. by King Numa Pompilius who was the most religious of Rome’s seven kings and managed to withstand the Cult of Vesta over thousand of years. The main reason behind forming the Vestal Virgin groups was for the protection and a secure strategy in Rome which was a warlike national so the idea of Vestal Virgin was used for the main purpose of protecting the survival and safety of the Roman interior
Puritans believed that marriage was embedded in procreation, love, and, most importantly, salvation, based on Biblical portrayals of Adam and Eve (Norton, 2011). Husbands were the spiritual heads of the house, while women were to demonstrate religious obedience under male superiority (Norton, 2011). Furthermore, marriage represented not only the relationship between husband and wife, but also the relationship between spouses and God. Puritan husbands commanded authority through family direction and prayer. The female relationship to her husband and to God was marked by submissiveness and humility (Porterfield, 1992).
(Doc 54). This woman is deemed virtuous because of the loyalty and affection she possesses for her husband, valued for neither her intellect nor talents. It is foolish to base a woman’s value on her chastity and dedication to a man, the saddest part being that she was still less valued than the man she was so loyal to. In a letter from Hilarion to his wife, Alis, he emphasizes, “If you have the baby before I return, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it” (Doc 31). Females were less valued than males in Ancient Rome, as many female infants were exposed because they could not carry on the family name and they required a dowry at their marriage.
It also helps preserve men's image of virility and masculinity, but men do not admit this; on the contrary they claim that one of the purposes of the veil is to guard women's honor” (Fernea 2). This quote shows how one item can be meant for one person, but bring meaning to others relating to that person: As the saying goes, you are who you associate with. Furthermore, the text describes how veils are represented by women: “The veil and purdah are symbols of restriction, to men as well as to women. A respectable woman wearing a veil on a public street is signaling, "Hands off. Don't touch me or you'll be sorry."
Thus, Davis establishes the omission of single women in the Hebrew Bible as the invisible women. Moreover, she suggests that the Numbers 30 view of women has long been outdated, for “women no longer transition strictly and inevitably from virgin daughters to chaste wives” (Davis 22). For this reason, Davis adamantly argues that “Virginity as a concept was invented as an attempt to control (female) sexuality” (30); a concept used still today to control single women within the Church. Ultimately, Davis concludes that women, specifically single black women, should not be identified in relation to marriage, or lack of marriage, as well as their sexual activity, or lack of sexual activity. Rather, single women should be embraced
She then gave the fruit to the man, who eats also. "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). The woman lacked real understanding as to who and whose she was and therefore ‘knowledge’ had higher value and was more appealing than being obedient. Real Love can’t freely thrive when the participants are unsure of their identity. Fruitfulness requires each person to understand, appreciate, respect and honor their role without competing with the other.
Unfortunately, due to the discrimination against women, they are forced to become men’s property. In the present day, marriage is built upon love because it is a fusion of two families. In The Taming of the Shrew, written in the Renaissance period, demonstrates the ideas of marriage that the people believed in during the16th century. In the early periods, the Catholic church believes that marriage which is also called matrimony is considered the necessary passage to adulthood. “The man and woman establish a formal relationship to maintain for their entire life and the partnership are dedicated to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of the offsprings.” (Canon law of the Catholic Church) Since love wasn’t even considered as a criterion for marriages, women rarely get to be married
The value of a woman’s role in society was often measured by the purity of marriage in which one partook. “The myths locate fears about women’s roles in exchange within the context of marriage, or rather its failure, showing how deeply intertwined with anxiety about women’s fidelity.” (Lyons 109) In Greek Mythology, rules don’t always apply to the Gods and Goddesses and can avoid or intervene in the affairs of mortals. One mortal, Phaedra, received this divine interference, but the practice of Greek law, also, was not her favor. Due to the social constructs of everyday Hellenistic activity, the transfer into a written medium sealed Phaedra’s fate in more ways than one. Though mythology is seen as fantasy and governing morals, it gives us further insight on women and the male expectation.
By distinguishing woman as more moral than men, the ideas of the cult of domesticity spread and more people started to believe that it was the womanś job to preserve the nationś moral compass. While women were deemed morally superior, they were still considered inferior to men physically and intellectually. Purtnamś Monthly Magazine stated that ¨Women are by nature inferior to man. She is inferior in passion, his intellect, and his inferior in physical strength.” (doc 6). This was a similar view among Americans at this time, so it was accepted by society.
In fact chastity is invented by patriarchal culture but it enslaved women. Many women lose their lives to protect their chastity and many other women bear in