Italian Priest to [battered] Women Everywhere: Stop Hitting Yourself

[RainDog]

50. The entire canon of western lit is grounded in sexism

Milton, who gains high praise for his respect for freedom from religious coercion, spends far too much time heaping scorn on females in Paradise Lost.

But the misogyny goes beyond current religions.

Greek society was extremely sexist as well. It was also a society that could justify slavery while expounding democracy.

We still see vestiges of this pro-slavery mentality in unregulated capitalism. We still see sexism in democracy in the application of law.

Native American nations in the northeast had the great treaty of peace long before any white person on these shores gave a thought to democracy. Their constitution was influential on the thinking of the founders - Franklin and others knew of the Great Treaty. However, Native American applications of democracy were left out of mention when teaching about the founders because those Iroquois and other nations had roles for females in governance - something that was anathema to the "civilized" Europeans who got their god from among the many women-hating groups in the middle east.

It took western Europe centuries to recover from the turn toward christianity with the conversion of Constantine. This has been termed "the closing of the western mind" with the turn from logic and demand for proof and the right to question authority that was part of the Greek system of philosophy.

Of course, the Greeks were sexist too, so even reasoning isn't enough to overcome fear of cuckholding and property rights.