Maremia
Most religions this millenia are Patriarchal.
Earlier 'pagan' beliefs, but not all, worshipped the Mother Goddess.
Worthy of its own Thread.
I've always known this, but did an online course on feminist theology.
Women were the Mother goddess before it was known that men had any part in making babies, doing the most important thing, ie producing the next generation.
Of course, by the time male based religions got a hold, it was then believed that all women did was to "grow the mans seed".
The fact that it's an equal undertaking in the initial producing bit, but women actually do the real work, still seems to escape many.
The fear of women being powerful? Years of indoctrination generation to generation cast women's power as dangerous and transgressive has not yet gone.
Thank fully of course most of us probably also know men who love and accept that power, not just in the birth aspects, but our abilities to understand the world in a "different but equal" way.
(what shocked me in my recent experience was that the other men in our smallish group were more supportive than some of the women. The men thought, "that was disgusting, I'd never do that to a woman, if I fancied her, I'd ask her out for coffee.
but some of the older women I'm sad to say thought and said "oh, but he's such a lovely man!" blah blah.
