So, a thought popped into my head today after thinking about the various cultures of the world.

It seems that, in some form, most cultures have history of female subjugation.  The Indians, Chinese, Japanese, English, Italians, Jewish, French, Africans (insert numerous groups here), and many others have all had periods of time where women were considered the lesser gender, barred from numerous rights, and rigidly pushed into traditional roles. 

I have a few questions about this.

1. Is female subjugation a necessary part of our evolution?  Is it something that we are to move beyond and therefore there will be a time where gender equality is a reality?  (if you think it is a reality now, I’d really be interested in your theory behind that.)
2. Is female subjugation part of human nature?  Is it part of “How It Is” and it will be an eternal struggle?
3. Do we believe that female subjugation existed in any of these cultures before the influx of religious belief?  It occurred to me that many of the religious texts specifically are quoted when referring to the “duties” of women in comparison to men.  Is there existence of subjugation before religion?
   1. If pre-religious proof exists, can it be tied to a purpose?
   2. If pre-religious proof does not exist, is there a reason why religion felt it was important to subjugate women?  Because it doesn’t make much sense - if religious leaders/prophets/whathaveyou really thought ahead, they would have created something that was welcoming for men AND women.  Because here you are with more than half of the world being women, and few (if any) major religions being kind towards them.  In my opinion, if you want a major reason why religion probably is losing its hold and more people are turning a-religious, it could be because a major population of the world is hugely disenfranchised by religion.
      1. On that note, wouldn’t an all-knowing god/deity have known that the population would teeter towards more women, and therefore have planned ahead in its holy texts to create buy-in for that population? Or…is that a major component of armageddon?  Perhaps the Deity DOES see ahead and feels that a world with a majority of women (many of whom have growing power and influence) needs to be destroyed?  Does that Deity feel that many women = hell? (I know several men that feel this way, so it would be pretty strong proof that God is a man…although I also know a few women that feel this way too.)
   3. What purpose does Female subjugation serve in Religion?
4. What purpose does Female Subjugation serve in our world? 
5. (gets ready for flaming) Did women ask for female subjugation or…even more difficult to imagine…did they create it, or help create it?

Seriously - were women looked at by men who realized, “Holy crap…she creates life.  Perhaps I need to find a way to harness that power!” and thus the subjugation begins?  Is it born of fear?  Is it born of necessity?  Is it born of desire?  Did women decide that the best way to get along would be to create a culture where women had a place?  Did women have anything to do with it?  If you read The HandMaid’s Tale, you realize that the world of subjugated women is really dreamed up by a woman, but put into action by a man.

Some of these may seem obvious, but I’m not willing to discount any theory.  Things are so muddled in this area that I am often wondering how men could have pulled it off by themselves…I often find that to have true, heart-striking cruelty, you need a woman’s touch.  But perhaps it only took subjugating one woman to the point where she believed in it enough to add those nicely subtle details that really tear down progress. 

Your thoughts are welcome, invited, and will be considered.