Is this really happening to women nowadays?

Question

Back then, the institutional structure of marriage has invested the husband with authority and backed it by the power of church and state. How did this came about? Nowadays, are women still submissive to their husbands?

Answer 1

Yep. I am.

Answer 2

Katey, I'm not sure what your level of knowledge is concerning the Bible or Christianity. Yes, men are considered the head of the house-hold according to the Bible. With this authority, comes great responsibility. Christian Men are responsible for every aspect of the family. They are ultimately responsible for the souls of their children. Just as women are instructed to submit to their husbands, Men are to submit to God. Men are to give their lives for their families just as Christ gave his life for us. This are deep theological themes that I could expand on for hours. I can only add that Christian Men are to Love their Wives as God loves us. The abuse of this authority will be judged harshly by God.

Yes, there are still women who believe in God and keep his commandments. Submission is not synonymous with Submit in the Biblical sense.

Answer 3

Yes, many women either choose, or have no choice but to be "helpmeets." Even today. In Western countries women have more choices than in other countries, but male-dominated marriages are still the norm globally.

The reason this emerged has to do with the fact that our earliest religions and societies were female dominated. The worship of God as a Mother was ubiquitous in prehistoric times since people were unaware of the male contribution to procreation. Women were seen as the Creators of life and, during those challenging times, revered for their fertility.

After the rise of agriculture (which was incidentally, like language, a female invention) and animal husbandry (the male contribution to agriculture) men began to understand their role in procreation and the Mother Goddess was slowly replaced by gods (and goddesses) of war. People became more numerous because of food availability and began conflicting over access to land and water.

Eventually political power emerged as the dominant force in growing civilizations and religious power supported and fed from political power in an oppressive symbiotic relationship. The enforcement of the now traditional female role as empty vessel (baby maker), maid and s*x slave was necessary to maintain newly achieved male dominance.

Feminism burst onto the scene a few decades before we recognized that this imbalance of power has led us to the point of annihilation. Because of the male obsession with  war (as a route to power and prestige) and the domination of nature, we now live in a world which is unlikely to sustain life much longer -- unless the female principle, the principle that matriarchal cultures once upheld, is integrated, our ability to destroy ourselves will not be countered by an ability to love each other as members of the human family. Our obsessive drive toward ecological destruction will not be countered by the feminine desire to nurture and heal.

Unfortunately feminism had denigrated the archetypal feminine in a quest to have masculine power. Luckily this is changing as more people embrace the feminine spiritually.  

Answer 4

Some women are, but now that the influence of the church has been greatly reduced and there's more opportunity NOT to be submissive, the numbers have dropped considerably.

Answer 5

You can look throughout the world, at any period and any society, you won't find one where men are not dominant in marriage.  Social institutions have generally backed the man's right to be dominant in a marriage, because it seemed the natural state of affairs to most people.  The origins go back to prehistory, if you look at hunter-gatherer societies, which are the most likely model for how our distant ancestors lived, you will find that male dominance is the norm in those societies just as in all others.

It is a natural tendency of men to rise to dominant positions.  Western civilisation in the last century has done something to reduce the power of men to dominate, and has evened things up somewhat.  However, human nature cannot be entirely controlled by civilisation, and many couples still prefer to relate to each other in a way that gives the man the dominant role.  Nowadays, however, this is purely voluntary.  The state does not back the man's dominance.

While most religions teach that women should be submissive to their husbands, the Christian church has generally given more respect to women than any other religion.  It is not a coincidence that those societies where women have been least oppressed by men and have had the most rights have been those that have been in the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

Answer 6

The problem with that arrangement is that much of the time, the men abuse their power. They use their authority as an excuse to cheat on their wives, abuse them and their children, and tell their wives how to act and what they can or can't do.

Answer 7

according to a 90 year old man I know women were never submissive to their husbands even then.

Answer 8

Today it's the reverse.  The state, corporations, media, etc have invested women with authority & backed it with the power of police guns.    

Answer 9

Unfortunately, most religious myths and doctrines tend to be oppressive of women. There is a deep, long history of it and, in my opinion, we've just begun to confront the truth. In my opinion, religion needs to change to be more inclusive of women and the myths and doctrines need to change in order for women to be seen as equal to men on earth as well as in other realms.