“Women frighten them. They pray to the Virgin Mary, but they’re thinking about Eve – and it’s Eve whom they see in every female shape or form. Those who are most chaste, they accuse of concealing their charms; those who are brazen they stone. Those who keep silent they accuse of harboring shameful desires; those who talk too much have their tongues cut out. They make fun of the ignorant ones; the clever ones make them fear impiety. The ugliest make them laugh; the most beautiful make them want to kill. They are hideous.” – Antoine Audouard, “Farewell My Only One: A Novel of Abelard and Heloise.”
This is a novel which takes place in the 1100s. The quote is a very real summation of how men saw women in the Middle Ages. This was the universally accepted attitude about women – all women, of every background. It was accepted and taught and acted upon by secular and religious authority, and not just in the 12th century. Look at the laws set down by the revered “Pilgrim Fathers” some time. Look up the reasons why a woman could be committed to a madhouse by her husband or father in the Victorian age (Like enjoying sex, or not enjoying sex, or even reading books.) Look at the laws denying women the right to vote or own property at the beginning of the 20th century. Look at the laws being proposed right now.
Grief's Journey and Garden Wars 