Christianity spiritualized woman into the soul of home and nation

Evidence

It is clear how spiritualized the figure of woman became with the birth of Christianity; the beauty, warmth, and intimacy that man wishes to grasp through her are no longer tangible qualities; instead of being the summation of the pleasurable quality of things, she becomes their soul; deeper than carnal mystery, her heart holds a secret and pure presence that reflects truth in the world. She is the soul of the house, the family, and the home, as well as larger groups: the town, province, or nation. Jung observes that cities have always been compared to the Mother because they hold their citizens in their bosoms: this is why Cybele was depicted crowned with towers; for the same reason the term “mother country” is used and not only because of the nourishing soil; rather, a more subtle reality found its symbol in the woman. In the Old Testament and in the Apocalypse, Jerusalem and Babylon are not only mothers: they are also wives. There are virgin cities and prostitute cities such as Babel and Tyre. France too has been called “the eldest daughter” of the Church; France and Italy are Latin sisters. Woman’s function is not specified, but femininity is, in statues that represent France, Rome, and Germany and those on the Place de la Concorde that evoke Strasbourg and Lyon. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 377

Categorization

• DEFINE: Traces how woman as sexual/economic being became metaphorically the ‘soul’ of places — a key step in the Other’s symbolic construction.
• XREF: Connects to her chapter on myths of woman later, and to Victorian-gendered domesticity themes from the silence reading. — connects to: The Virgin Mary replaced goddesses with a male-serving image of woman — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 367; Exalting woman spiritually sanctions her earthly subordination rather than liberating her — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 591; Patriarchal religions purify woman of her stained nature through male-defined submission — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 170 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Exalting woman spiritually sanctions her earthly subordination rather than liberating her #corroborates (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 591
• The mystical exaltation of woman still subordinates her as man’s instrument of salvation #corroborates (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 589
• Patriarchal religions purify woman of her stained nature through male-defined submission #corroborates (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 170
• Patriarchal mythology projects its own values onto woman and calls imposed immanence her nature #corroborates (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 655