Woman as Abject: Resisting Cultural and Religious Myths That Condone Violence against Women1

As long as the of feminine evil is allowed to dominate human consciousness and social arrangements, it provides the setting for women 's victimization. Mary Daly When I was 9 years old, my mom called me a whore one day and I had no clue what the word meant. So I looked it up and I read the definition. I don't remember what the definition said, but what I remember was this horrible sense of shock that came over me that this was the reason that my uncle had done these things to me all my life, that basically men treated me the way that they did because somehow I was born that way, that it was a condition you were born with and that's what was wrong with me. And I internalized that very much, I guess because my mother said it to me. Steven had some hang-ups about sexuality. I wouldn 't say we, dated, because we didn 't go to the shows or anything. We would ride around his truck a lot and then, after things developed, we started petting. Or, let 's say he initiated petting, and I enjoyed it even though I didn 't really feel nght about it, not being married, but I still enjoyed it. But after we were finished, he would say, You know, I really think that Satan is influencing you letting me do this and you need to pray about this because you are the woman and you really have the control. So, every time that we would pet, then I would have to get on my knees and ask God to forgive me. And he would say things to me like, Well, maybe you have been chosen as a vessel of dishonor. Maybe God chooses some people to be vessels of honor and maybe you are one of dishonor. He would put just this little twist on scripture. So I began to think of myself as, maybe, not so good. I don't understand why they gel as destructive as they do-like is it stamped here [motions to her forehead] I mean is it stamped here, you know, abuse me'? I mean, why can't they [men] just leave me alone? I want to know why I keep doing the repeats [abusive relationships] all the lime. Is it me? Do I do these things to cause it? Sometimes I think, yeah, I do. The and cultural significance of the biblical story of Adam and Eve and their behaviors the Garden of Eden has serious repercussions even the post-modern context of contemporary society. Both religious and nonreligious citizens the United States, and certainly many persons even globally, know this story and could recite a version of it without much trouble-whether it is part of their myth or not. What is more surprising, perhaps, than its tenacity is the continued potency of this story, one of the oldest creation stories that has its roots both oral and literary art and culture, particularly the ways it prescribes beliefs about women. Even as the various versions of this story are questioned, the power of the core story remains tact. Re-readings of the Genesis creation texts point to the fact that there are actually two distinct narratives these passages: one that posits Adam's creation first, with Eve's creation as a second thought and a companion for Adam, plucked from his rib; the other narrative, also the canonical texts, tells about how God created both creatures, male and female, at the same moment in his image. Feminists' re-readings of the story defy interpretations that posit that Eve's weak curiosity was the downfall of humankind. It has been suggested that Eve's curiosity was not weak at all but a healthy curiosity that brought about humankind's liberation from the passivity of the pastoral. Arguments such as these, however, tend to get played out the journals of academic journals; few of these suggestive re-readings have actually been absorbed into the cultural and consciousness of the lived lives of people the American cultural landscape. This article is a theoretical exploration based on field research that I believe substantiates my basic propositions. …