It’s a man’s world ~Ashlyn Scism

     Sin is like the sirens from Ancient Greece. Beautiful and alluring on the surface but dangerous and fatal in reality. In Paradise Lost, Sin is depicted as a beautiful woman from the waist up and a monstrous being from the waist down. 

        Sin is so often depicted as a feminine temptress. I find myself asking why this is and then I realise it’s because women are sexualized and objectified. Since the fall men have been blaming their sin on women. Adam blamed his wife and the men after him would go on to blame women for tempting their thoughts into lust and sin. Not to say women are without sin but men hold women accountable for sins that are their own. We see this today saturating our culture and society. Young girls are told to cover up as to not to distract the boys. These girls are literal children who are being sexualized and made to feel at fault for sin that boys might commit. As they get older girls are called out for dressing too modestly and for dressing not modest enough. No matter the case it is always girls’ fault. Similarly in situations of sexual assault/abuse/harassment the woman/girl is questioned about what she was doing what she was wearing how she acted and the villain who committed the terrible act is barely given a second thought. Furthermore when one pictures the cardinal sin Lust it is almost always depicted as a woman. All of this leads back to the idea that women are responsible for sin— at least in the mind of men. Milton followed this line of thinking when he decided sin was a woman.

    In addition to being extremely harmful for women, this also has a tremendous negative impact on men. When men grow up in a world that tells them that they are not responsible for their actions and their sins it causes them to push the blame onto women so they do not have to confront their own shortcomings. Boys are raised to believe that they are better than girls. A lot of men would argue that they were not raised to think this way, however, I would like to point out that they also were not realized to notice how they are themselves treated better than women. 

    Therefore, not only are girls raised to be constantly ashamed of existing, but boys are raised to inherit the patriarchy. 

PS: I commented on Song and Andrew’s posts.