Response Paper to Hebrew Readings “He took one of his ribs… and the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a women” (Pg 40). “Your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Pg 41). These two quotes come from the first few chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Right away we can form this idea that man is expected to be superior to woman and he should rule over her as an owner. All throughout history we’ve seen this idea come about and it still exists even in today’s world. In American history all the way up until the 1900’s women were treated almost as lesser beings by the government when compared to man. They weren’t allowed to vote until the 20’s and didn’t fully get equal rights up until 1974 when the ERA was passed. Women couldn’t get the same jobs as men, didn’t get equal pay, and so on because the businesses believed man could do the job better. Women were expected to be the caretaker of the family/household and provide the husband what he wished for. Even in today’s society this idea remains a dominant factor, not only in America but nearly all countries as well. Whenever a couple has a new born baby, the woman is most likely going to be the one to do the majority part of providing for him/her while the husband goes out and works. Having a job and being the one that provides for the family puts that person in a higher standing and makes them feel more superior to one that stays at home to care for an infant. Also often times the wife will be submissive to the husband in times of arguments just because of the socialized norm that men are more powerful than women are. I have witnessed this multiple times from not only my parents, but also my friends’ parents. One of the ways that effectively shows this idea of men being the ruler comes from the fact that we have never had a female elected president. To me this is an important one because I don’t think in my entire lifetime we will have a women become president. The idea of that scares many because it’s something that has never happened in our society. Men have always been the leaders from the start. People like the idea of having a man making all the big choices and being the one to rule over the land. Some believe that a woman
