Western religion mirrors and reinforces the earthly father’s male authority over girls

Evidence

That prestige is reflected in the supernatural world. Generally, as a result of the role religion plays in women’s lives, the little girl, more dominated by the mother than the boy, is also more subjected to religious influences. And in Western religions, God the Father is a man, an old man endowed with a specifically virile attribute, luxuriant white beard. For Christians, Christ is even more concretely a man of flesh and blood with a long blond beard. Angels have no sex, according to theologians; but they have masculine names and are shown as handsome young men. God’s emissaries on earth—the pope, the bishop whose ring is kissed, the priest who says Mass, the preacher, the person one kneels before in the secrecy of the confessional—these are men. For a pious little girl, relations with the eternal Father are analogous to those she maintains with her earthly father; as they take place on an imaginary level, she experiences an even more total surrender. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 701

Categorization

• DEFINE: Demonstrates how the girl’s situation of being dominated extends into the imaginary/supernatural realm — the ‘situation’ concept applied.
• XREF: Connects to Feuerbachian projection-of-god-as-father and Freudian religion-as-illusion themes; also Lacan’s Name-of-the-Father. — connects to: Biblical courtship assigned fathers authority over daughters’ sexuality until marriage — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 392; Roman fathers held unique life-and-death authority over their children — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 1373; Patriarchal religions purify woman of her stained nature through male-defined submission — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 170 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Biblical courtship assigned fathers authority over daughters’ sexuality until marriage #corroborates (0.90) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 392
• Patriarchal religions purify woman of her stained nature through male-defined submission #corroborates (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 170
• Roman fathers held unique life-and-death authority over their children #expands (0.78) — , The Rod and the Child, 1373
• Early evangelical gender doctrine framed male domination and female self-denial as God’s design. #corroborates (0.78) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 151
• Biblical-era women were property bound to male kin and taboo-burdened #corroborates (0.72)