It’s fortunately very easy to tie our class discussions into real life/other classes I’m taking, has anyone else felt that way? One thing that struck gold with me in relation to our topic of bodies is the fact that women’s bodies within society throughout generations within a religious light have always been thought of as something that is a sin/sinful and that utilizing that body will result in horrible events for mankind.
Read more: Honey-coated FlytrapWe’re taught through the Greeks that Pandora opened a box after the wise Zeus, her creator, tells her not to, unleashing the “bad” into the world. But the thing we later realize is that Pandora was never given a physical box you and I think of – no, this box (or pithos) was what most cisgender women have: a uterus. She opened her uterus (had sex), and brought forth the worst imaginable things onto mankind. Does that sound familiar? Like in a specific garden, I don’t know, in Eden?
The thing is, women are always taught to “keep their legs closed”, to “take up less space” – things that make them smaller, make their bodies smaller, until they’re practically nonexistent. And for what? So that men can pass down a story through generations about a sexually active woman who “ruined it” for the rest of humanity? If a woman is going to be known as a horrid being, shameful and sinful, should she not be at least allowed to have a little fun and take up as much space as she desires? As if, for example, women have desires outside of doing whatever men tell them to do? Are women allowed to have desires, to be tempted by fruit, or are their bodies too small to house such things that they must turn to other things to fulfill those desires, and then be banned from society?
It’s a slippery slope from being a sinner or a saint – in Christianity, Mary is given sainthood by the miraculous conception of Jesus, but why is she exempt? Does a woman have to give birth to a miracle to be considered holy? Are their bodies not enough without holding the body of the next god? Who deems the gods from the men? If men decide, why are they demonizing themselves?
Are their bodies not enough for you, while simultaneously being too much that you need to restrict them from all their desires? Being a woman and being a man is similar to being a fly in a Venus flytrap – everything seems sweet until the jaws close down and your temptation is the death of you. You’re then just food for the plant.
Unruly Bodies 
That’s food for thought. I never imagined it that way, but it makes sense! Women – historically have been looked upon as a sort of “mystical” thing. They are to be covered and veiled, they are to be dependent on the man’s every whim, as well as be bountiful and dutiful. It is a slippery slope and you’re exactly right – why does a woman have to give birth to be deemed legitimate? I think the problem lies with an innate fear of women that seeps deeper than we’d like. However, I’d like to think the fly trap is loosening it’s grip a tad.
The initial statement about how easily this class blends with others was so relatable that I swore I could have written it myself. When this class first started, I felt as if it was a sort of bleed-out class that exposes students to a real world environment, one that welcomes more than just a specific phenotype of people. It’s refreshing, seeing as how a majority of my classes moving forward will most likely be related to engineering.
With that being said, I feel as if Women being restricted is so whack and throughout history and other cultures, we are still seeing the damages these requirements have on us (for example, the recent hijab revolution in Iran). Luckily, I feel that our culture is starting to fight back in this resolve; but how will our future generations perceive this? I support women being more than a baby having, clothes folding, washing machine! I look forward to seeing how we evolve as a society.