The Roots Of Gender Bias In Language ------- From the aspects of Bible
Gender bias exists in many parts of our social life. One of the most typical aspects is language. And of course, we know language is the carrier of culture. As Bible is the basis of western culture, as well as the key component of its tradition, which influences people's thoughts profoundly. Therefore, by studying Bible itself, we can get the original reasons of why gender bias exists in language and we can also know why women are treated unfairly afterwards.
There are several noticeable phenomena which exist in English. The most typical example of gender bias in English syntax is, generally speaking, the word order. That is man's name always put before woman's name or male word put before female word. For example, Romeo and Juliet, Dick and Jane, Burns and Allen, brother and sister, father and mother, boys and girls, husband and wife. These examples indirectly reflect that women are inferior to men. However, the phrase like '' ladies and gentlemen '' is an exception. Because it is quite common in western that lady comes first. This act is considered as a kind of care for woman as well as a bias. Because it implies that women belong to vulnerable group.
What's more, there is one quite interesting female naming pattern in English. Some woman's name evolves from man. For instance, Christian-Christiana, Glen-Glenda, Paul- Paula, Jacques-Jacqueline, Robert-Roberta, Patrick-Patricia, Stephan-Stephanie, the latter is woman's name.
We can see that all the phenomena I've mentioned mirror one thing--woman is subordinate to man. The Bible, is originally the gospel for women to look after equality and freedom. However, when we annotate it, we may find that in most cases discrimination against women is out-poured between the lines.So, we can find answers of why women are treated unfairly through analyzing it.
Gender bias can trace back to the second chapter of Genesis, when the LORD God created man. It's said like this: the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [or took part of the man's side] and closed up the place with flesh. Ge. 2:22 then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [or part] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Ge. 2:23 The man said, \my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man. It reveals that women are subject to men or we say women are the accessory of men.
Actually, the name ''Adam'' doesn't refer to man. ''Adam'' comes from Hebrew ''Adham'', which means mankind. Only when the LORD God took the rib from Adam, the word ''Adam'' could have the meaning of man. And we called that ''rib'' ish(man), at the same time, what the rib created is ishshah(woman). That is to say, woman is created by a rib, which is a part of a man. So, woman is destined to be an accessory of man from the beginning.
Besides, in the Bible, there are total 1426 people who have their names, but only 111 people are women. And there are also many paragraphs which emphasize the subordinate status of woman. e.g.'' In pain you shall bring forth children, yet you desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. '' \be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.\not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.\8) These sentences well explained woman's status in the Bible.
In the Bible, many evil features embody in woman. Like seven deadly sins----lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.Aholah and Aholibah are the symbol of lust; Eve is the symbol of gluttony; Dalila and Ahab's wife Jezebel represent greed; as for sloth, St.John refers ''the scarlet woman'' and ''the great harlot of Babylon'' to the Roman Empire, because at that time, the society was in mess and people were very lazy;
Salome represents wrath; Amran and Jochebed's daughter Miriam is the symbol of envy; for the last one, Queen Vashti deposed for refusing to display her beauty before King's guests, as a result, she represents pride. To conclude,gender bias is not only exist in our society, but language as well. And through studying Bible, we may find the original reasons of why gender bias exists in language.
参考文献：《圣经》
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