In the past it was the oman's role to take
care of the home and raise children, while
the man went out to work.
The man was the head of
the household, and his wife
was expected to be obedient.
After WWII these attitudes, in the UK,
started to change. It is now considered
perfectly normal for a woman to go out
and work and for men to take part in
house work and childcare.
Religious views on men and women
have shifted in a similar way.
Christianity
The Bible talks about
wives submitting to
their husbands and
doing as they say.
"Wives, submit to
your husbands as
to the Lord. For the
husband is the
head of the wife as
Christ is the head of
the church..."
Ephesians 5:22-23
Many Christians argue that this just
reflects the ideas of society at that
time, and doesn't correspond with
Jesus's attitude towards women.
Women are found
among Jesus's
followers, and he
treated them equally.
Nowadays
Christians believe
men and women
should have equal
roles in the family.
Women have also been treat
differently within the Church.
For much of the
Church's history,
women haven't
been allowed to be
ordained as
priests. One of the
reasons for this is
that Jesus only
called men to be
Apostles.
Over the last 50 years
this has started to
change. Women can
now be ordained as
ministers in most
Protestant
denominations and as
Anglican priests, but
not as Roman Catholic
or Orthodox priests.