After discussing the use of gender roles present in mythologies our group came to a general consensus that many of the mythologies we’ve studied tend to perceive women as less than their male counterparts. However, this isn’t always the case, we’ve also been exposed to myths that celebrate females. Unfortunately, at least for the myths covered this week, males seemed to be the dominate focus with females being viewed as less than. The topic of gender roles and sexism has been discussed extensively, in fact, in recent years a spotlight has been shone on the wage gap between females and males in nearly all professions. And while the gap between men and women appears to be getting smaller having such a large part of history depict this negative stereotype effectively helps to maintain it.
When you look at the myth on the “Origin of the Japanese Islands” we see a man (Izanagi) and a woman (Izanami) put together to create a world. Both Izanagi and Izanami were missing a “part” of themselves and in order to fulfill that part they needed the other. While at first glance this myth appears to be demonstrating the equality between male and female to bring creation to the world it quickly becomes something else. When the pair finally start to reproduce, they fail. The first two offspring they produce are both unfit and are left to drift away in the ocean. When the two inquire about this to the heavenly gods they explain that the offspring were inadequate simply because the women spoke first. In order to create good offspring, they must go back and do it again, but this time the man must speak first. The gods do as they are told and successfully create the Japanese Islands. One group member was able to further this point by bringing focus to Izanagi and Izanami discussing how their bodies were created. Izanami describes her body as “made in one place insufficiently”, while Izanagi describes his as “made in perfect excess”. It is likely that both Izanami and Izanagi were referencing the female and male genitalia, and again are depicting women as somehow beneath men. This myth demonstrates that Izanagi and Izanami were only triumphant because of the male, Izanagi. Both were gods, yet the male was still superior.
The myth of Shiva and Parvati is yet another myth with a strong message regarding gender roles, points out another group member. Shiva was said to be the destroyer of evil and was responsible for observing the universe for its smooth function, while on the other hand, his wife Parvati was the agent of growth and energy on Earth. Both maintained the equilibrium between thought and action effectively showing the importance of both their roles to maintain harmony in the universe as well as bringing fertility and connection to all living things. Parvati was worshipped for being the mother of the natural world, which again, solidified her importance. However, eventually, Shiva started to question his wife’s role stating that he did not regard Parvati’s contribution to be as important as his. The fallout of Shiva’s statement resulted in Parvati withdrawing her half of the cosmic energy ultimately leading to scarcity on the Earth as land slowly became dry and barren, rivers shrank, and humanity was left in hunger. This demonstrates how important Parvati’s role was in the universe. Even Shiva himself had started to feel empty without her. In the end Parvati returns and sustains life once again. The myth of Shiva and Parvati is able to demonstrate gender roles while also rejecting them.
The narratives about Gods and religions that have been passed down are typically male-centric. In Hinduism, Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the provider) and Shiva (the destroyer) are all portrayed as male. Vishnu’s wife, Lakshmi, is presented in a subservient role in this ancient narrative. This seems to mirror Abrahamic religions, as well, that often focused on one male god. This made one group member question what the world looked like during the creation of these religions and how narratives can change. According to an article from History.com, scholars date the origins of Hinduism back “between 2300 and 1500 B.C., in the Indus valley, near modern-day Pakistan…”. However, the oldest surviving texts are from about 800 B.C. Just like the Sikh kirpan symbolizes the need to protect one’s identity and culture from invading forces in the region that the religion began, the exclusion of women can tell us something about the way societies lived then. North American Indigenous groups tended to view women and men equally, which was reflected in their myths, so what can gender inequality tell us about the world in this region at the time? The same group member suggested that perhaps it is because of the organization of agricultural societies, which also lead her to posit that cultures and ideas were intermingling more than we even thought and perhaps religiosity was more permeable and much less fixed. This ties into the myth “Brahma creates the world” because while it offers an explanation for the creation of the world, it also places focus on karma. Even though it seems obvious to us today, the delineation of good and evil may not have been as clear then and as societies grew and more people began to live together, it may have become necessary to create a code and hierarchy to help organize these societies.
After our group studied several different myths, we were able to see a clear usage of gender roles throughout. However, the sexism I believed we would encounter time and time again wasn’t always present. While the myth on the Origin of the Japanese Islands was able to successfully confirm my beliefs about mythologies portraying women as less than men, the myth of Shiva and Parvati served to do the opposite. Therefore, while negative depiction of gender roles are often present in mythologies it isn’t always the case.
References:
Brahma Creates the World – From Library of Myths on D2L
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izanagi
Origin of the Japanese Islands – From Library of Myths on D2L
https://www.templepurohit.com/origin-lord-shiva-lord-vishnu/
https://www.templepurohit.com/shiva-parvati/
The Legend of Annapurna – From the Library of Myths on D2L
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