Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

ased solely on their reproductive threat to men. This socialconstruct still exists in the twenty-first century and while women areless likely to be labeled monstrous today, there is a specific societalrole that she must fill to balance out the authority she exerts dueto her biological capabilities. In patriarchal culture today, so thatmen do not lose their power, females must repress their sexualityand are objectified by men and even objectified by themselves. Thisobjectification also occurs in order for men to cope with the female’scloseness to nature or her ability to reproduce. Due to the biologicalnature that women posses, she has evolved from being considered amonster by patriarchal society to being objectified and sexualized bypatriarchal society.Females were not always labeled as dangerous and evil. ElinorGadon writes that in the Neolithic agricultural age in Europe andthe Indian subcontinent, the female was revered and considered theGoddess of her people. Called “the Great Mother,” she was honoredas the generative, pulsating, primal energy of people (Gadon). Itwas not until Western civilization’s influence came to refer to thefemale’s power as dangerous, evil, and in opposition to God, thatideas changed and the patriarchal culture began. These ideas werecarried by the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, andIslam. These religions began between the eleventh and thirteenthcenturies for the most part Palestine, Greece, and Rome (religion).Gadon writes that “Christian Theology demonized the female bodyand female sexuality, splitting the Goddess into the asexual, virtuousVirgin Mary and the carnal prostitute Mary Magdalene” (Gadon). Thefemale went from Goddess of her people to evil demon woman basedon the religious beliefs created by men most certainly to keep thefemale down as she threatened male’s manhood and authority. Thisis how misogyny and the patriarchal society began. Ruth Evans writesabout the legend of Albina, which originated sometime between thefourteenth and sixteenth century in Greece. In this legend Albina82 afternoons of alterity