Response Paper

to Michelle Blank?s:

Autonomy of the Womb

first words in the Bible read: ?In the beginning, there were powerful

women.? What if these women were named, Chaos and Gaia (another word for

Earth), and what if they were our first image of divinity? It?s often been

said that God created the world and in a Judeo-Christian context, there

exists a vivid picture of the old, white-guy in the sky sweeping his hand

over the land with great claps of thunder (at least, this is how it is

frequently presented at many of our Sunday schools). Two women of immense

magnitude literally giving birth to the universe is a different proposition

altogether.

In her essay, ?Autonomy of the Womb,? the esteemed scholar, Michelle

Blank, illustrates the radical nature of this depiction of genesis and also

reports on how male influences immediately vie for control over this

procreative vitality. Fundamentally, Blank asserts that men (male gods and

mortals) are in direct opposition to women possessing and exercising the

power of creation.

My response to her exposition is one of agreement and further

strengthening of her already sound argument. In alignment with her

substantive conviction I simply submit another perspective that

additionally enhances her case: not only did the male gods sabotage female

fertility, we see that because of this example and pattern, Hesiod, in the

?Works and Days,? builds this same philosophy into his advice for mortal

men ?men and gods have a common descent (108).? Using male superiority as

his platform, he denigrates whatever power women do utilize by the process

of dehumanization and demonization. ?You trust a thief when you trust a

woman.? (line 375)

Furthermore, he extends his tirade by suggesting that men, ?marry a virgin

so that you can teach her right from wrong,? (line 699) thereby implying

that women are somehow empty vessels that need to be filled by the will of

their husbands. It is almost as if the husband is supposed to give birth

to his wife?s intellect and morality. Ultimately, one wonders what

Hesiod?s words of wisdom might be had the initial supremacy and fecundity

of the female gods been upheld and uplifted.