Sexual Inequality In OT Essays - Sexual Fidelity, Marriage

Sexual Inequality in OT In today's society women are looked upon ignorantly by the male gender. This attitude derived from the na?ve men of the Old Testament. They did not see women as being an important part of history and therefore hardly spoke of them. When women were mentioned it was usually in a condescending fashion. Even with genealogies in the Old Testament women were not listed as if to show that they were not important and of no concern. Women in the Old Testament our viewed as being inferior to men, sexual predators, and an item of property. In the first creation story (Genesis 1:27) God is described as creating man, both male and female at the same time. This might be interpreted as implying equality between the two genders. But in the second creation story, (Genesis 2:7) God formed only a man. Realizing that he needed a helper (Genesis 2:18), God marched all of the animals past Adam (Genesis 2:19-20) looking for a suitable animal. Finding none suitable, God created Eve out of one of Adam's ribs. The term "helper" has historically been interpreted as implying an inferior role for Eve. ("The Hebrew translated word helper is used twenty-one times in the Old Testament: twenty of these cases refer to help from a superior.")(Coogan 813)Adam later asserts his authority over Eve by naming her. In Genesis 19 the men of Sodom gathered around Lot's house, and asked that he bring his two guests out so that the men can "know" them. This in frequently interpreted as a desire to gang rape the visitors, although other interpretations are possible. Lot offers his two virgin daughters to be raped instead. Yet, even after this despicable act, Lot is still regarded as an honorable man, worth saving from the destruction of the city. Allowing one's daughters to be sexually assaulted by multiple rapists appears to be treated as a minor transgression, because of the low status of the young women. A man could simultaneously keep numerous concubines. These were sexual partners of an even lower status than a wife was. As implied in Genesis 21:10, she could be dismissed when no longer needed. Another example of this inferiority to men it is the book of Exodus. In Exodus 20:17 it lists the last of the Ten Commandments. It forbids coveting your neighbor's house, wife, slaves, animals or anything else that the neighbor owns. The wife is clearly regarded as equivalent to a piece of property and in no way would a piece of property be superior to a man. Also in Exodus 21:22-25 it describes a situation in which two men are fighting and hit a pregnant woman. If the woman has a miscarriage because of the blow, the men must pay a fine for their act - not to the woman, but to her husband, presumably because he has been deprived of a child. Leviticus 12:1-5 explains that a woman who has given birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 33 days. If the baby is a girl, the mother is unclean for 66 days. It would appear that the act of having a baby is a highly polluting act. To give birth to a girl is twice as polluting as is giving birth to a boy. In Leviticus 18:20 and 20:10, adultery was defined as a man having sexual intercourse with his neighbor's wife. Deuteronomy 22:23 extends this prohibition to a man sleeping with a woman who is engaged to be married. If a man has an affair with an unmarried woman, the act is not considered adultery. Although God wanted men to only have one wife, married men on many occasions visited prostitutes and received no punishment for this sin. This was a double standard among the sexes for a woman got severely punished if she committed such a sin. A man who committed adultery did not commit a wrongful act against his wife, but rather against his male neighbor implying that a woman did not matter. Another example of where the Bible insists that men are more important than women is in Leviticus 27:6. A child aged 1 month to five years of age was worth 5 shekels if a boy and 3 shekels if a girl and in Numbers 3:15 it shows that a census counted only male infants over the age of one month, boys and men. Females were not considered worthy of being included. Women were also thought of as inferior when it came to things such as

Preparing For a Rice University Essay Sample

Preparing For a Rice University Essay SamplePreparing for your university or college admissions essay is a time of great personal transformation. By preparing well, you can increase your chances of getting into the school of your choice. However, if you are using a poorly prepared essay, you may find that you are not going to be in the running for admission. If you want to prepare for a well-prepared essay, then you need to know about the reasons why did you choose rice.Using a rice essay at the college level can be very challenging. If you have chosen to use a rice essay, then you will have to explain in detail what kind of work you did. It may be possible to bring some information from a resource or two, but that doesn't mean that you can skip the explanation that goes along with the research that you did.You will need to have examples and help to draw out some of the information you have gathered. The sample sentences that you provide will help to make the essay flow. The resource should also help you with the topics of the essay.The rice essay sample should include five to ten reasons why did you choose rice. Don't think that you have to write a two page essay that has no room for variation. It is impossible to write too much or to write too little. Write the reason that you chose rice and then link it to a specific reason that you want students to remember.Give enough time to write your essay. The longer you leave it to write, the harder it will be to put into words. Take breaks and spend some time to organize your thoughts. Do a rough draft of the essay, then make some changes and move on to the next section of your essay.What is even more important than writing the essay is giving different answers to the same question. Write different answers that are based on different aspects of the research.Start writing your essay about four weeks before the deadline. Some students start their essay as early as a week before the deadline. As long as you have a deadl ine and as long as you take a break in between, you should be able to complete your essay in two to three weeks.Preparing a reason why did you choose rice will require that you give an example or two, and that you explain how you came up with the conclusion. Writing a rice essay is not hard, but it can take some time. Use this guide to prepare for your essay.