Man Smart, Woman Smarter?

It is quite obvious that while revered religious leaders have treated women and men equally, the perceived inferiority of women has been a social construct coming through the ages.  It is encouraging that, at least at the present time, humans are measured by their intellect and not by an arbitrary scale of physical prowess.

by Ruwantissa Abeyratne

( June 10, 2015, Montreal, Sri Lanka Guardian) The old adage immortalized by Jamaica Johnny and Harry Belafonte has been endorsed by The Economist in the  theme of its  latest issue entitled “The Weaker Sex”.  Unlike the two singers who sang about the innate ability to outsmart the man in infidelity (contrary to the common claim that it is the other way around) The Economist addresses issues of actual smartness when it comes to intellect and multi tasking.  The newspaper says: ” Working class men need to catch up.  Women have learnt that they can be surgeons and physicists without losing their femininity…”  Of men it says: “Men cluster at the bottom as well as the top.  They are far more likely than women to be jailed, estranged from their children, or to kill themselves.  They earn fewer university degrees than women.  Boys in the developed world are 50% more likely to flunk their basic maths reading and science entirely”.

So what happened to us men over the years?  We were the ones who were considered superior.  It is said in the Book of Genesis: “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee..”. Genesis 3:16.  In Letters to the Corinthians it is said: ” But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God”… 1 Corinthians 11:3, as well :”Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church”. 1 Corinthians 14:34-36.

Biblical wisdom decreed that wives had to keep their mouths shut, be deprived of teaching and education,  and regard their husbands as their superiors. ” Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing”… 1 Timothy 2:11-15..”like ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands”…1 Peter 3.1.

However, Jesus showed an enormous sympathy and respect for women. It is said in the Gospel of St. Mathew that Jesus  didn’t reveal himself to his chosen few apostles, until after he had appeared to some of his favourite female followers.. Mathew 28.1.10.

Life was not any different in Ancient India in the time of the Buddha.  Buddhist Studies, an internet column says: ” In ancient India the position of women does not appear to have been a very happy one. Generally women seem to have been looked upon as being inferior to men. And, at times they were considered as being on the same level as the Sudras, the lowest of the four castes. Their freedom was extremely limited. The general view appears to be that they had to be under the care of parents in their childhood, under the protection of husbands in their youth; and in their old age they had to be under the control of their sons. Therefore, it was thought that they do not deserve any freedom. Their main role was considered to be that of housewives, managing the affairs in the house according to the wishes of their husbands”. 

However, it is also recorded in the same column that the Buddha’s teaching were completely different and that he considered men and women to be equal: “Buddhism does not consider women as being inferior to men. Buddhism, while accepting the biological and physical differences between the two sexes, does consider men and women to be equally useful to the society. The Buddha emphasises the fruitful role the women can play and should play as a wife, a good mother in making the family life a success. In the family both husbands and wives are expected to share equal responsibility and discharge their duties with equal dedication. The husband is admonished to consider the wife a friend, a companion, a partner. In family affairs the wife was expected to be a substitute for the husband when the husband happened to be indisposed. In fact, a wife was expected even to acquaint herself with the trade, business or industries in which the husband engaged, so that she would be in a position to manage his affairs in his absence. This shows that in the Buddhist society the wife occupied an equal position with the husband”.

Simone de Beauvoir in her book The Second Sex (1949) agrees: “Legends notwithstanding, no physiological destiny imposes an eternal hostility upon Male and Female as such; even the famous praying mantis devours her male only for want of other food and for the good of the species: it is to this, the species, that all individuals are subordinated, from the top to the bottom of the scale of animal life. Moreover, humanity is something more than a mere species: it is a historical development; it is to be defined by the manner in which it deals with its natural, fixed characteristics, its facticité. Indeed, even with the most extreme bad faith, it is impossible to demonstrate the existence of a rivalry between the human male and female of a truly physiological nature”.

It is quite obvious that while revered religious leaders have treated women and men equally, the perceived inferiority of women has been a social construct coming through the ages.  It is encouraging that, at least at the present time, humans are measured by their intellect and not by an arbitrary scale of physical prowess.