Women are evil and penis envious!

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Green’s subtle feminism throughout Aroma of Righteousness sparked many ideas in my head.

In another course I’m taking, Psychology of Women, we recently discussed Freud’s “groundbreaking” psychological theories of women and girls being born with this innate “penis envy”, yes, penis envy. His theory proposes the idea that men are superior, and when girls get to an age when they realize that they do not have a penis, they realize their inferiority and are therefore envious. As a rebuttal to Freud’s prospections, psychoanalyst Karen Horney proposes that power inequalities, not biology, cause the psychological differences observed in girls and women and that there is more likely to be “Womb envy” present among men- an envy of women’s reproductive ability, which motivated men’s desire to dominate women. This made me think of the ways in which, throughout religion specifically, scent has been so heavily associated with women and their oh so evil seductiveness and sexuality.

I get really confused thinking about the idea of seduction being so evil, when the men are the one’s who allow themselves to be seduced, but whateverrr.

Anyways, a woman’s sexuality is the reason any person has to thank for their very existence, a quite obvious statement that has been made to seem so un-obvious and even terrible, which I feel is relative to the apprehensiveness towards discussion and study of scent in religion, as I feel Green touches on and may agree with to an extent. Is it the truth, possibly, that men for centuries and even thousands of years have had this fear of women? Fear that without oppression, degredation, and domination they’ll realize their power, value, and importance? So much so that they must deem the very reason they are alive to be evil? Possibly. Although it does sound very plausible that the owning of a penis rather than ovaries, a uterus, and vagina that allow life to produce and grow inside of them grants someone superiority. Very, very plausible. Ya ok Freud

Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausMarch 1, 2022 at 7:43 AM

    I am so glad you pointed out Green's "subtle feminism." It really pervades her book (like perfume ;-))? Perhaps the rabbis (and so many others) label seduction, sexuality, and the most material senses of taste, touch, and smell as evil, and associate it with women precisely because they fear women's power. They want to constrain it, to preserve the inequity of power Karen Horney points out. So, what do you think we are to do with this situation? I see what you and Green and Karen Horney are doing. You're balancing the inequity of power, by as women re-framing the issue to "restore" women's power. Go for it!

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