Why Are They So Afraid of Women?

One thing extremists of nearly every Abrahamic religion have in common is that they seem to be afraid of women tempting them. I should say females, rather than women, as Haredi Jews and Christian Dominionists both regard girls as young as six years old capable of tempting grown men. Furthermore, Islamic, Jewish and Christian extremists have no faith in the ability of grown men to control their lust-filled bodies and resist the temptation presented by female bodies.

This strikes me as insulting to men. But then, I think grown men should be able to make their own decisions and control their impulses. Silly me.

One of my favorite fanfic authors, a woman who uses the pen name TheKnittingLady, often uses Christian Dominionists as her villains. She was kind enough to share some of her research, so readers wouldn’t think she was persecuting Christians just to be mean. Her stories aren’t for everyone. She crunches MEAN. Don’t read if you’re under 18.

I don’t know modern Islam or Judaism as well as I know Christianity. But we’ve all read the newspapers. These people go beyond slut-shaming to blaming the victims or rape for enticing men and boys. And I want to clarify that I refer only to fundamentalists and extremists. Most Jews and Muslims are decent, normal people. I’m finding it difficult to still say most Christians are decent, normal people.

Feminism is the odd notion that women and men deserve equal rights and equal opportunities. This includes education. All too many Christian Dominionists don’t believe in educating females beyond what they need to read a cookbook and manage a household budget. This seems to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the 31st chapter of Proverbs. One of the things I’ve always liked best about the Bahá’í Faith is that they say if you can only afford to educate one child, educate your daughters, because as mothers they will be in charge of educating the next generation.

Look how many men hate/fear Greta Thunberg. Of course some of that is economic. Fighting climate change will mean expensive changes to business as usual, and worrying about long-term goals instead of short-term profit.

A lot of rapists are getting minimal sentences in courtrooms lately. How much of this judicial leniency is because of a boys will be boys attitude on the part of the judges, and a believe that males can’t (shouldn’t have to) control themselves?