Religiously, men claimed women were sent from the devil to lead men astray. What does this tell us about men's cultures

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

So what does this tell us about men's cultures?

[AssassinatedBeauty]

That they're misogynistic and patriarchal?

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

Oh it tells us far more than that!
Focus on this
*"Men believed women were sent by the devil to lead men astray?""

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

I don't know OP, maybe if you let us know we could discuss it?

[CuppaTeaAndAJammieDodger]

This isn’t a high school sociology lesson OP - what is it exactly that you’re getting at?

[PilarTernera]

It's really only Christianity and Islam that have the concept of the devil. Of course other religions are patriarchal, but they have different ways of explaining good and evil.

Your question should be Christian men claimed women were sent from the devil to lead men astray. What does this tell us about Christian cultures?

[Nomoresugar]

Men can't take personal responsibility?

[Njordsgrrrl]

I alwaysthink of Genesis as men passing the buck. "That woman, that YOU made, made me do it!"

[TheLastSoala]

Which religious scripture are you talking about OP? I don’t recognise your quote

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Why do I feel like I'm in an exam room, trying to work out what my professor is getting at with his poorly worded essay question?

[VerticalBlinds]

Adam and Eve? Quite famous for women ruining it all for men and listening to the devil and tempting the man and ruining it for everyone.

Having said that , OP has just done a long thread about religion. OP what do you think? And did the previous thread not satisfy you on this topic.

[TheLastSoala]

The Devil pays no part of the story of Adam and Eve. Eve ate the fruit and gave it to Adam. She hardly tricked or coerced him.

And the fruit was knowledge and wisdom it’s self. So really the story of Adam and Eve is about Eve opening up the world of learning for all mankind.

I agree it’s not an overly feminist passage, but to suggest that it teaches that women were sent from the devil is, well, blasphemous IMO

[Manderleyagain]

OP could you give some evidence of men claiming that women were sent by the devil? I'm guessing you are referring to the story of Eve and the fruit but that doesn't fit your description. Some theologians talked about Eve being deceived by the serpent and then tempting Adam. But if they thought Eve was 'sent' by anyone, it was by God to be Adam's 'help meet'.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Adam and Eve and the serpent is fascinating. I never understood why God basically set Adam and Eve to fail.This comes across really strongly in Paradise Lost which I doubt was Milton' s intention.

God's position is "dae whit ye're telt an' dinnae ask questions" (sorry but I always mentally see the god in Paradise Lost as a domineering , angry and irrational Scotsman) whereas the serpent offers the knowledge to assis them determine if they should.

[MismatchedCat]

I took a few mythology subjects in uni and we covered this subject a little bit.

There are a lot of myths revolving around this theme - men enjoy a happy golden age and then a woman does something to ruin it for everyone. Adam and Eve, also Pandora and the box. There were also some myths from eastern cultures which upheld this narrative. It's prevalent enough that I think it can be considered A Thing.

As for why, I believe that men tell themselves these stories in order to justify their terrible behaviour towards women over the centuries. These myths arise from a culture of misogyny, but they also reinforce and further perpetuate that misogyny to ensure that it continues down the generations. It's propaganda, if you will.

[Fekko]

Who says what now?

[kinkrules]

in The Quran it was Adam who was tricked by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit first, not Eve. But then OP will probably see that as muslim men being unable to allow women to do anything first.

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

If men saw women as sent by the devil to lead men astray, it means men did not see women as human beings but saw them as alien to their cultures, and as interlopers and a real danger to them and their society.
Therefore women were only recognised by men as unwelcome outsiders who merely existed to hold men back by distracting men from their real intended purpose in life.

Which is why men presumably marginalised women and attempted to keep them out of every form of power possible, so they wouldn't be able to influence men's decisions and disrupt their male run utopias.

books.google.co.uk/books?id=s83vH9PGVCcC&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=hindu+women+sent+b+the+devil+to+lead+men+astray&source=bl&ots=sDI-C6A1UP&sig=0gXNZa-I_2GjjKKKyZ0MyEmkGdI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjRroep_InYAhXQGuwKHf76AbIQ6AEIOjAD#v=onepage&q=hindu%20women%20sent%20b%20the%20devil%20to%20lead%20men%20astray&f=false

books.google.co.uk/books?id=8MdD-cJwEX8C&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=women+sent+by+the+devil+to+lead+men+astray&source=bl&ots=vUxPEvDb-P&sig=Tg1s_8JVcBxov2_wg-7fuWUdRbQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6ofb9-YnYAhUO6qQKHaLmC684ChDoAQhRMAg#v=onepage&q=women%20sent%20by%20the%20devil%20to%20lead%20men%20astray&f=false

[MrsTerryPratchett]

You've got you're chicken and egg mixed up. Men justified their exclusion and abuse of women by wrapping it in religion.

[TheLastSoala]

I understand your logic OP, but it doesn’t tally with what it says in the scripture. It is explicit that Eve is made from Adam, and therefore cannot be considered in any way alien.

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

There’s plenty of the Old Testament to criticise from a feminist standpoint, but your criticism really doesn’t hold up.

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

Religion is a very useful vehicle for men to promote their male supremacist ideology and stifle & suffocate women & girls with.

[TheLastSoala]

Sorry, I’ve just read your sources and seen that you aren’t talking about Adam and Eve but rather Hinduism and various Christian texts.

In which case I refer you to the answer given by MrsTerryPratchett. I don’t think it’s big news that there has been a dominance of misogyny across every culture in he world for the past few millennia.

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

@ThelastSoala
I haven't mentioned any scriptures
All I have said is men saw women as alien to their cultures and felt they had to suppress women because of that one odious idea, that men in their vanity believed themselves superior beings
twitter.com/MuslimIQ/status/898705873375301633

[Scorbus]

In Buddhism it is said that Mara sent his daughters to seduce and tempt Buddha but he resisted on his quest for enlightenment. However, this was not the only temptation sent.

[TheLastSoala]

The two sources you mention do talk about various scripture.

I genuinely don’t know what you mean by men saw women as alien to their culture. That, IMO, is completely incoherent and doesn’t resemble any religious teaching I’ve heard of. That twitter link doesn’t relate to it either.

Being patriarchal and mysogynistic, which is a valid criticism of most religions and cultures past and present, is not the same as viewing women as alien

[AssassinatedBeauty]

I don't think men would view their mothers, sisters and female family members as alien. The urge to control comes before the attempt to "other" women.