About 10,000 years ago, due to overpopulation of humans in the region of Palestine, it became necessary to find other means than nomadism and reliance on natural food sources to maintain the population. Abraham's tribe, an offshoot of the existing Arabic culture then in possession of the territory had rejected the traditional feminist deities in vogue at the time and settled instead on a single and singular masculine god of the spirit as the tribal supreme deity, which produced an enmity between his tribe, known now as the Jews and the popular culture. As a system of land ownership came into being, a necessary prerequisite to farming, and because of the weakness of the Jews due to their inferior numbers, they were ejected from the Palestinian region into the southern desert to continue their nomadic life.
Abraham, recognizing the futility of this life style in pursuit of long term survival and dominance in the region, considered what steps should be taken to acquire tribal supremacy in the region. His conclusion was that their religion could be the vehicle that would allow them to reach deliverance, and that it could hold a means of gaining revenge for the treatment they had received at the hands of the dominant culture. The crucial issue was to gain in numbers. This could be achieved, he considered, if his tribe were to adopt rules that gave them a survival advantage over their enemies. This would mean better methods of controlling disease and the maximization of procreative potential.
To this end, a system of religious rules had to be established that would provide for taboos against individual actions tending to limit population growth. These would include rules against food sources that appeared to be connected in some way with disease and sexual rules limiting the methods used to satisfy masculine sexual aggression. The sexual taboos would call for male ownership of all female members of his family, including slaves and the requirement that they submit to him sexually on demand. Males, on reaching maturity would be required to establish their own families, either by purchase of the daughters of established households or by buying or capturing slave women. This had the effect of limiting male conflict over female companionship and maximization of the procreative potential of individual male tribal members.
In order to establish the superiority of the masculine deity, ritual sacrifice was installed as a method of religious observance and the deity was identified as the tribal god whose special concern was the well being of this individual tribe. Ritual sacrifice, by causing families to give up prized possessions to their god, had the effect of placing their god in debt to them and created an account on which they could draw in times of need. It also tended to limit rejection of the god because of vested interest. All positive events having about them an incomprehensibility were identified as miraculous and evidence of the special relationship between this tribe and their god. Thus the two main events in Abraham's life, the near sacrifice of his son and the pregnancy of his wife at advanced age were both interpreted in this way.
The Mosaic Law includes the requirement that women be segregated from the
rest of the tribe during menstruation. What are the reasons for this requirement and what
would be the expected outcome?
The most likely reason that occurs to this author, is the wish to protect the
tribe from disease that may accompany this state. In a nomadic desert tribe with limited
ability to maintain cleanliness due to a limited water supply, it might be expected that
biological infestations could accompany menstruation, or at least a higher likelihood of
them. So, I expect that the motive here, as with many of the rules regarding what can be
eaten, will be to restrain disease. Why is it included by Moses and not practiced by other
tribes? Because, in my view, the main underlying motive for the Mosaic Law was to
increase the numbers of the tribe, so that, eventually, they could contend for supremacy in
Palestine.
For us, today, the second question is more interesting. What would be the
effect of sequestration of females during menstruation? This effect has echoed down the
centuries, because Jesus endorsed the Old Testament, even though He changed the
emphasis in several crucial areas, particularly with regard to compassion. So, the Bible,
the most important written document for our culture, contained this provision, even though
not practiced anymore. This will color the cultural view of the female as distinct from the
male. Every woman will adopt an attitude to this distinction and will pass it on to her
daughters, and when they get old enough, they will read it, and the cycle goes on, as long
as the Bible remains a crucial cultural influence.
To try to get a handle on this, try to imagine yourself as a thirteen year old,
experiencing her first menstruation, and finding herself effectively in jail for a week or so,
and profoundly impressed that she is and her brothers have no such experience. It must be
expected, that some at least, would ponder this at great length. They would ask why they
should be burdened with this bodily function, so disgusting that they have to be
incarcerated while it is in progress. They would envy the males. They would wish they
could get rid of it. They would, eventually, refer to it as the "curse". A curse from God on
their sex. And why would God do that? No doubt this question was presented to the
Rabbi. He cast about for an answer, and came up with an old myth, The Garden of
Eden.
In fact, we must assume, such a rule will produce some form of self hatred in
some experiencers. We have to keep in mind that the psychological complex, a demon
causing endless mischief for humanity, is only too happy to fasten onto a falsehood, the
notion that women are inferior to men due to menstruation, and wreak a little devilment.
Some girls would effectively forget their periods, when possible, and therefore a crucial
aspect of their identity. This would then form the root of a complex which would soon
attract every negative idea in the tribe regarding femininity. Sexual promiscuity,
prostitution, evil spells, witches, etc. As with all complexes, in some small number of
experiencers, the complex would become so large it would, in the end, take over the
personality of the victim. This complex would also attract inclinations to every other
violation of the Mosaic Law and, if and when dominant in an individual, could and would
produce, from time to time a profoundly evil creature.
We can assume that Moses might have understood this was the price to be
paid for sequestration, and concluded he had to do it anyway, because, if the tribe didn't
survive, nothing mattered anyway. And reading of the trials of the tribe during their
wandering, their survival was a near thing. Think of the manna incident, or the one where
Moses struck the stone to produce water. They were hungry and thirsty a good many
times.
I am not suggesting that the Biblical story of Eden is untrue. I am suggesting
that it is a masculinist view of an event that may have happened as I have described it in Eve, A Fable. Many artists have rendered this story over the
centuries, from Michaelangelo to M.C. Escher, so it is crucial to Western thought regarding
our origins and therefore, who we are.
I have a picture of a young woman, posing nude, and holding a handkerchief
over her crotch. Not a new idea. In fact most pictures including feminine nudity from the
European period of Christian dominance, portray females in just this way. So, what does
this picture say? It says to me, "look at my beautiful body, and since I know you think my
crotch the essence of evil ugliness, I will cover it up so you will see only my beauty." We
males protest that this is far from what we think, but, the women have it on higher
authority that this is exactly what we think. I remember a story of a professor who,
confronted by a female student in the front row with legs apart, asked her to cross them so
that he would not be confronted by "The Gates of Hell".