Gender roles in different myths

Every community or specific group of individuals has certain ideas about where they all came from. Different gods were regarded differently as a result of these myths with various roots. The existence of various faiths, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Paganism, is due to this. Despite the variations in each religion’s historical background, we must respect everyone’s decision because it is the conviction that guides them every day.

Women and men have played distinct parts in the origin of these beliefs in the Judeo-Christian myth about the beginning of creation. When we look at the second story of creation; we realize that woman was created after the man. God created her from Adam’s rib. The role of the woman was to be a compliment to the man-working as a companion. It is believed that it is the woman who caused sufferings in the world. She sinned against God by eating the forbidden fruit in the middle of the Garden of Eden and later giving it to Adam. God was unhappy about this and He cursed them out of the garden.

The role of man was to till the land so that he could get his daily bread. To date, human beings must work hard to put food in the table. He had to sweat to provide for his family’s needs. The woman was to give birth and fill the earth. They both had the role of procreation. Due to sin, woman was to suffer during birth. Walton, John H. The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate. This gives the reason why women have to go through pain while giving birth.

In the Chinese myth, Confucius looked down on women and declared the man superior in his writings. He termed women inferior and he had all the negative things to say about them. Women were expected to adhere to all the society’s norms and regulations. Their role was reduced to procreation. In Chinese history story of creation, a woman in the name of Nu Kwa created humans out of loneliness. She is believed to have been the source of the social class differences between the people of China to date. The people created from the yellow earth are the rich and the noble ones whereas the rest are referred to as the ‘ordinary ones’. This is because they were created when she was tired out of the builder’s cord. All the same, it is believed to be through her that peace and harmony were restored. This is after she corrected the damage inflicted to the sky. She used her knowledge. This damage had been caused by Kung-Kung, the primeval god. However, Nu Kwa was demoted after she was caught having an incestuous relationship with her brother Fu His. This was very shameful and she could no longer act like a goddess. All the same the “feminine principle” could not be done away with in China and the gap was filled in by Kuan Yin.

In the Buddhism religion, a woman was seen as an obstacle to getting closer to their gods. In the communities that practiced communism, women were seen as a threat to the stability of such leadership. The leaders therefore had to practice chastity. Therefore, it was the role of the men to lead the society. Women were not given a chance to rule. A woman was actually looked as a victim of sex. It was sex that led her to pains, suffering and bondage as she had to look after the kids. Gombrich, Richard F. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. London:

In these myths we notice that women are mostly given the role of procreation as the men act superior in all dynamics. Men are mostly in control of leadership. Women come second to men.

Cited works

Gombrich, Richard F. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.

Walton, John H. The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate. , 2015. Print.