Out of the Darkness

The science of post-traumatic growth.

by Steve Taylor
Why Men Oppress Women
The psychology of male domination
Published on August !" #!$# by Steve Taylor" Ph.%. in Out of the %ar&ness
'ven if they belonged to higher social classes" most women
throughout history have effectively been slaves. (ntil recent
times" women throughout 'urope" the Middle 'ast and Asia
were unable to have any influence over the
political" religiousor cultural lives of their societies. They
couldn)t own property or inherit land and wealth" and were
fre*uently treated as mere property themselves. +n some
countries they could be confiscated by money lenders or ta,
collectors to help settle debts- in ancient Assyria"
the punishment for rape was the handing over of the rapist)s
wife to the husband of his victim" to use as he desired. Most
gruesomely of all" some cultures practised what anthropologists have called ritual widow murder .or
ritual widow suicide/" when women would be &illed .or &ill themselves/ shortly after the deaths of
their husbands. This was common throughout +ndia and 0hina until the twentieth century" and there
are still occasional cases nowadays.
'ven in the so-called 1enlightened1 society of ancient 2reece 3 where the concept of democracy
supposedly originated 3 women had no property or political rights" and were forbidden to leave their
homes after dar&. Similarly" in ancient 4ome women unable to ta&e part in social events .e,cept as
employed 1escort girls1/ and were only allowed to leave their homes with their husband or a male
relative.
+n 'urope the status of women has risen significantly over the last few decades" but in many parts of
the world male domination and oppression continues. +n many Middle 'astern countries" for
e,ample" women effectively live as prisoners" unable to leave the house e,cept under the
guardianship of a male guardian. .There are many Saudi Arabian women who have only left their
houses a handful of times in their whole lives./ And when 3 or if 3 they do go outside" they are
obliged to cover themselves from head to toe in blac&" leaving them in danger of vitamin deficiency
and dehydration. They have no role at all in determining their own lives- they are seen as nothing
more than a commodity" property of the males of the family" and as owners" the men have the right
to ma&e decisions for them. Their male owners have the right to have se, with them on demand too.
+n 'gypt" surveys have shown that the vast ma5ority of men and women believe it is acceptable for a
man to beat his wife if she refuses se,.
There have been attempts to e,plain the oppression of women in biological terms. 6or e,ample" in
his boo& The Inevitablity of Patriarchy" the sociologist Stephen 2oldberg suggests that men are
naturally more competitive than women because of their high level of testosterone. This ma&es them
aggressive and power-hungry" so that they inevitably ta&e over the high status positions in a society"
leaving women to the more subordinate roles.
7owever" in my view the maltreatment of women has more deep-rooted psychological causes. +n my
new boo& 8ac& to Sanity" + suggest that most human beings suffer from an underlying psychological
disorder" which + call 9humania.1 The oppression of women is a symptom of this disorder. +t)s one
thing to ta&e over the positions of power in a society" but another to seemingly despise women" and
inflict so much brutality and degradation on them. What sane species would treat half of its
members 3 and the very half which gives birth to the whole species 3 with such contempt and
in5ustice: %espite their high level of testosterone" the men of many ancient and indigenous cultures
revered women for their life-giving and nurturing role" so why don)t we:
The oppression of women stems largely from men)s desire for power and control. The same need
which" throughout history" has driven men to try to con*uer and sub5ugate other groups or nations"
and to oppress other classes or groups in their own society" drives them to dominate and oppress
women. Since men feel the need to gain as much power and control as they can" they steal away
power and control from women. They deny women the right to ma&e decisions so that they can
ma&e them for them" leave women unable to direct their own lives so that they can direct their lives
for them. (ltimately" they)re trying to increase their sense of significance and status" in an effort to
offset the discontent and sense of lac& created by humania.
8ut even this isn)t enough to e,plain the full terrible saga of man)s inhumanity to woman. Many
cultures have had a strong antagonism towards women" viewing them as impure and innately sinful
creatures who have been sent by the devil to lead men astray. This view was at the heart of the
'uropean witch-&illing mania of the $;th to $<th centuries" and has featured strongly in all three
Abrahamic religions. As the =ewish Testament of 4euben states>
Women are evil" my children?they use wiles and try to ensnare @manA by their charms?They lay
plots in their hearts against men> by the way they adorn themselves they first lead their minds astray"
and by a loo& they instil the poison" and then in the act itself they ta&e them captive?So shun
fornication" my children and command your wives and daughters not to adorn their heads and faces.
This is lin&ed to the view 3 encouraged by religions 3 that instincts and sensual desires are base
and sinful. Men associated themselves with the BpurityC of the mind" and women with the BcorruptionC
of the body. Since biological process li&e se," menstruation" breast-feeding and
evenpregnancy were disgusting" women themselves disgusted them too.
+n connection with this" perhaps men have resented the se,ual power that women have over them
too. 6eeling that se, was sinful" they were bound to feel animosity to the women who produced their
se,ual desires. +n addition" women)s se,ual power must have affronted their need for control. This
meant that they couldn)t have the complete domination over women 3 and over their own bodies 3
that they craved. They might be able to force women to cover their bodies and faces and ma&e them
live li&e slaves" but any woman was capable of arousing powerful and uncontrollable se,ual
impulses inside them at any moment. The last D!!! years of man)s inhumanity to woman can partly
be seen as a revenge for this.
We can only be than&ful that" in some parts of the world at least" this antagonism 3 and the
oppression that it leads to 3 has begun to fade away.
Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology at Eeeds Metropolitan (niversity" (F. 7e is the author
of Back to Sanity: Healing the Madness of the Human Mind. stevenmtaylor.co.u&