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U. N., WOMEN'S RITES & EVE
The
United Nations Women's Conference ended with "no back-tracking."
There were fears that the delegates might "chip away" at the
Beijing platform. The opposition to equality for women around the world
is formidable. The Vatican and a group
of Islamic countries are objecting to the same proposals they did in Beijing
in 1995. These include sexual and reproductive rights, adolescent sex education
and the definition of the family.
"It's becoming very clear that there are a few countries that are trying to stand in the way of progress," said Linda Tarr-Whelan, the U.S. ambassador to the Commission on the Status of Women. Most observers agree that there have been some gains but much still remains to be done.
That is surely true for women in this country too, especially in light of the apparent disinterest of many women. Last week on The LIFETIME Channel, American Daughter by Wendy Wasserstein premiered. Christine Lahti stars. We saw an interview with Christine, and some of the clips from the movie. Both are impressive. A synopsis may be found at http://www.lifetimetv.com/flash.html
We urge you to watch this 2-hour movie and tell everyone you can about it. At least watch the first 10 minutes of the last half-hour where the character played by Lahti, speaks directly to every woman voter. IT WOULD MAKE AN ISSUE-AD FOR AL GORE THAT WOULD ROCK! That 10 minute segment is so powerful and truthful and moving that it MUST be made available for every woman to see. It is almost guaranteed to send even the most politically blasé to the polls in November.
Viewing times: Wednesday, June 14 at 9 p.m. EST/PT; Saturday, June 17 at 2 p.m.EST/PT; Sunday, June 25 at 12 p.m. EST/PT.
In Jerusalem a religious war is being mounted against women who want to pray together. A new Israeli Supreme Court ruling notwithstanding, praying women were met with a barrage of insults and heckling from mostly ultra-Orthodox men and women who found their praying offensive. "You are worse than Christians!" shouted one man. "You are not Jews!" shouted a woman.
The praying women were part of an ongoing effort to gain the right for women to worship at the Western Wall as men do. The Israeli Supremes ruled on May 22, 2000 that women, like men, do have the right "to pray aloud, read from the Torah and wear the fringed prayer shawl known as the talit".
Why should a group of women praying cause such consternation? Two answers were: "Men who are praying at the wall should not be exposed to their distracting voices" and "Women are supposed to pray only as individuals."
"The real answer," asserted one of the prayers, "is that they are losing control of women." The Israeli Parliament is working on a bill to send women who pray at the wall to prison for seven years.
Well,
of course, we all see the problem here, don't we? It all started with a
horrendous mistake on the part of Gee Hova (no relation to Gee Dubya),
who went and spoiled his perfect record by creating EVE.
Then he compounded his error by putting her in the Garden of Eden where
she messed around with a snake and got poor, misguided Adam thrown out
of Paradise.
Carol Meyers, author of WOMEN IN SCRIPTURE doesn't buy this. She thinks Eve and other women got a bum rap in the Bible. She contends that a careful reading of Scriptures in original Hebrew, rather than using an English translation indicate that there has been "a lot of distortion and misunderstanding about Biblical figures."
Dr. Meyers, Professor of archaeology and biblical studies at Duke University writes that ONLY MEN have done most of the biblical interpretation of women. She does not see this misrepresentation as intentionally evil, but certainly biased.
Pointing out that although Eve is usually associated with sin, she is not called a sinner, Meyers further declares that the word sin does not appear in the Old Testament until the story of Cain and Abel. In addition, Eve does not seduce Adam with an apple -- she gives it to him. For this, God did not curse Eve; "he curses the serpent and the ground underneath it."
You may never see this book on the bestseller list for obvious reasons, but it certainly should give us all pause for thought. Judeo-Christian women have carried huge loads of guilt throughout the ages because of this MISStranslation. Perhaps it's time to lay that outrageous burden down -- especially in light of all the new charges being brought against us as the anti-woman backlash continues to intensify. We need all the strength we can muster.
This Bible stuff, being hurled at women and other minorities, is coming to the fore all the time in politics. It's so confusing that someone had the foresight to seek answers by writing to a world authority -- Dr. Laura. Here is the letter:
http://www.gendergappers.org/deardoctorlaura.html
We'll be sure to send along Doc Laura's answer when we get it.
2000-024
Copyright 2000 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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