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‘Men and Women Are Equal’. Discuss This Statement. (12 Marks)

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‘Men and Women Are Equal’. Discuss This Statement. (12 Marks)
There are various different views on whether ‘men and women are equal’. Some people believe that men and women are not equal because of the Bible which could be interpreted in many ways. For example, Eve was the first to disobey God and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis 1, which suggests that women is weaker in will and had less self-control. Besides, some might argue that God created women as a ‘helper’ for men and as a companion. According to Genesis 2 in the bible, Eve is created from Adam’s ribs, therefore women is inferior to men. Some people also believe that the curse in Genesis 3 affects the men by having more outdoor and physical labour while the women is affected in relation to childbirth at home, thus this gives more responsibility to the men and therefore is argued to be more important than women.
On the other hand, some people argue that the first person ‘Adam’ is neither male nor female, and that God creates a partner when no suitable companion is found, hence the partner also has to be very important having to be also having ‘the breath of life and created ‘in the image of God’– ‘imago dei’. Many people also argue that men and women are different but equal. They have different responsibilities and roles in life that are crucial in supporting one another. They are different in a way that one is physically stronger whilst the other is more subtle, but not weak by nature. In addition, some people even argue that women and men have the same authority to command or to dominate. For example, in Act 16 of the bible, Lydia, who had a high powered job and a keen God worshipper, invited men to stay at her house. Men and women are also believed to be equally important because in order for them to be complete, they must possess each other’s strength and to ‘become one flesh’, as stated in the Genesis chapter 2.

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