Time: 2013-03-29 12:37 Source: Online Compilation Author: Story King
Ordering women to be buried with women and killing "witches"—no matter how cruel, always treated only a few women. The issue of chastity can be said to be a form of sexual oppression against ancient women—a bloodless oppression and persecution that kills without blood. This distorted belief still exists to varying degrees in modern society.
In ancient society, preserving chastity was often more important for women than preserving their lives. Maintaining chastity means that a woman either never has sexual relations with a man in her life, or only has sexual relations with a legal relative (her only husband); otherwise, it is considered "losing chastity." "Loss of chastity" includes premarital sex, extramarital sex, remarriage, and rape, among others.
This situation applies only to women, not to men. When a man has sexual relations with a woman other than his wife, at best it can be called "immorality," yet no one calls it "unchaste." The concept of chastity was a law established specifically for women by men in ancient society.
1. Abstinence and "Circumcision"
\ Women should not be interested in sex; this is the fundamental principle of observing chastity. "Sex is the devil," so men must also remain vigilant about it. The Christian Church has always advocated abstinence and believes that the best tools to achieve this goal are whips and sticks. Hermits, monks, and nuns often frantically whipped each other, believing this was the only way to drive the devil out of their bodies. In some monasteries, if monks were found alone and having intimate conversations with women, they would be punished with a two-day fast or two hundred lashes.
The 16th-century historian Saint Gregory wrote in his book "History of the Franks" that two senators from the Frankish region each had an only son and daughter and were betrothed to each other. On the wedding day, the young couple was brought to the wedding bed. The bride wept facing the wall, and according to custom, her husband thought it was all reasonable. He routinely asked her why she was crying, but the bride's answer surprised him. She said that even if she cried for a lifetime, tears could not wash away her sorrow, because she had been determined to offer her "small, undefiled body" to Christ, but now, she condemned her broken promise and became the wife of an ordinary man.She was deeply grieved over her "tragic fate," tearfully recounting these words, which deeply moved the groom, who declared, "If she wishes to abstain from physical desire, I have no objection." The bride was deeply grateful, and they slept holding hands, thus maintaining their virginity and sharing the marital bed until death. This event became a celebrated story, and Saint Gregory seemed to believe it wholeheartedly, describing it with great enthusiasm in his book.
If the above were some "special cases," then circumcision on women was a relatively common phenomenon among many ancient regions and peoples. The purpose of "circumcision" is to seal a woman's vulva, preventing men from "entering" and thus maintaining her chastity; or to cut off the woman's sexually sensitive parts, causing her to lose her libido, thereby maintaining her chastity. This practice was widely practiced in ancient Arabia, Egypt, and East Africa.
For example, some East African tribes practiced chastity protection for girls approaching puberty: cutting off both sides of their labia majora, then lying in a fixed position for a long time until the wounds on both sides healed, completely sealing the vulva, but inserting a small tube to release urine and menstrual blood. A small part was cut at marriage, and only fully before childbirth, but after childbirth, surgery was performed again to seal most of the vulva.
There is also a type of "circumcision," which involves cutting off part of the female genitalia clitoris and labia (mainly the labia minora), believed to dull their sexual sensitivity. In these regions, girls are generally "circumcised" between the ages of eight to twelve or thirteen. Among the 15 ethnic groups in East Africa, about 9 have the custom of "circumcision," and there are many methods of circumcision. Some tribes insert a needle into the clitoris, then pull it up with a string and cut it off with a razor. As for the labia, they are forcefully stretched and cut off at the base with a razor or glass shard. Women are subjected to "circumcision," which is as painful as being tortured, and some even faint during the process. After the "circumcision" was performed, the wound was washed clean with cold water and milk was applied. Before the wound healed, they had to sleep in another isolated small room.Women must endure this great suffering out of coercion, of course; it is entirely not due to their own needs, but due to men's need for women's chastity.
2. Premarital Virginity Inspection and the Right of the First Night
In ancient times, it was common to inspect a bride's virginity before marriage, meaning that the husband or his relatives would check whether the bride was a virgin, that is, whether the husband had the 'right to first use.' Since women were considered an item for men's use, they were expected to be 'new goods.' If they were 'second-hand,' even if only used by someone else once, they would be greatly 'depreciated.'
At the same time, this was not merely a question of an item's 'value,' but also involved the idea that if a woman was not chaste before marriage, she would be unreliable after marriage; if she had sexual relations with someone else before marriage, then the first child born after marriage was likely to be an 'illegitimate child.' During the transition from group marriage and promiscuity to individual marriage systems in human society, some tribes had the custom of 'killing the firstborn,' because remnants of promiscuity still existed and premarital sexual behavior among women was not uncommon. However, the individual marriage system and the inheritance of private property required children to come from the male's lineage. Therefore, to prevent the first child born after the woman married from being an 'illegitimate child,' the child would be killed indiscriminately.
Throughout history, there were many methods for inspecting virginity and identifying virgins before marriage, many of which were absurd and unscientific.
For example, among the Hungarian Czigana people, the groom on the wedding night would have the bride step barefoot on a small round board made from a Bodhi tree. Both sides of this board were illustrated: one side had an outer ring shaped like a lock, representing that the wife is 'locked' to the husband; two pyramids symbolized misfortune, the central circle represented carnal desire, the snake below symbolized temptation, and the lowest tower represented the husband watching over the wife's chastity from the tower. The other side depicted flowers symbolizing love, and two sticks below symbolizing punishment for those who forget love and act unfaithfully. They believed that if a girl who had lost her chastity stepped on this wooden board, disaster would immediately follow.
Among some other Czigana people, on the wedding night, the groom would hide a boxwood branch with the heads of three skinned magpies under the bride's pillow, believing that if the wife was pure, she would sleep peacefully; otherwise, she would confess past unchastity in her sleep-talking.
\ In Mexico, during the engagement ceremony, the fiancée would sit on a new chair to show her purity and purity. After the ceremony of confessing her chastity, the marriage would soon take place in person. On the wedding night, the groom would personally test the bride's chastity; if she was proven to be chaste, the marriage was finalized; if she was found "unchaste," the marriage was called off.
If a woman was considered unvirgin at the time of the wedding, her fate was often very tragic. "The Old Testament, Deuteronomy, says: "If a newlywed woman is not a virgin, she shall be struck to death with a stone." "The Old Testament, Leviticus also states: "If a priest's daughter commits adultery, she shall be burned alive by fire." "
In some regions of Afghanistan, the worship of "falling red blood" has long been popular. If the newlyweds do not see "falling red blood," they are considered unchaste. The groom can divorce her or even execute her. The bride's family must not object and send the bride's sister to take her place. If there is no substitute, a large compensation of money must be paid as an apology.
In the Uratan tribe of Kerala in southern India, if it is proven that the bride is not a virgin, she is locked in a disgusting toilet overnight. The bride often faints in the cesspit, which is considered a proper punishment.
Since women had become men's vassals, playthings, and private property, and since the "virgin treasure"—the virgin's chastity—was so precious, some wealthy and powerful men sought not only to possess their wives' "virgin treasures" but to possess even more. Some people were keen to pay several times the price to prostitute virgin prostitutes and "deflower" them, reflecting this psychological state. The prevalence of virgin sex rights in ancient times for a long period was closely related to this. The issue of virgin virgin rights is quite complex and requires specific analysis.
In ancient times, there was a custom that on the bride's first wedding night, a man other than the groom must enjoy the virgin body, and her virgin body had to be "broken" by another man. Japanese scholar Nikaido Shoku Chohisa, who wrote the book 'The Right to the First Night,' defined the right of the first night as: 'When marrying, it is customary for one or more men to sleep with the groom first and then the bride together.'It also included the custom in which women who had reached or were about to reach sexual maturity were tried by specific men before marriage.
Having the bride's first night taken by a man other than the groom is a real humiliation; it is a very typical form of oppression, possession, and manipulation of women, something that no modern person can tolerate. However, this practice was prevalent in many parts of the world for a considerable period of time. Looking into European historical records, a few countries had not eliminated this custom even by the 18th century, and some Russian landlords exercised the right of the first night until the late 19th century. Even today, a few uncivilized tribes in the world still maintain this phenomenon.
By the European Middle Ages, enjoying the bride's first night had become the right of the rulers, turning into a means to possess serfs and exploit women; the nature of the "right of the first night" had completely changed. For feudal lords, young girls among the serfs were equivalent to free prostitutes, undifferentiated concubines. France referred to this right as the “right to spread the legs,” a custom that persisted for several centuries.
In the kingdom ruled by Charlemagne in Germany, young girls among the serfs were lodged in the lord's forehouse, left to be "deflowered." A proclamation issued by the Zurich council in 1538 stated: "The lord of the estate has the right to spend the night with the bride among the peasants (small-scale tenant farmers and serfs) within his territory, and the groom is obliged to offer the bride to the lord. If not willing, the groom must pay the lord compensation of about 4.3 marks." In the region of Bavaria, Germany, the bride's compensation to the lord was a large kettle "able to hold her hips" and a cheese "weighing as much as her hips," while the groom had to provide the lord with a fine jacket or blanket. This compensation was called the "marriage tax," and in Germany, the compensation for this "right of the first night" was referred to as "Konschuss money," "new bed money," "final seal money," "woman money," or "navel fee." If these "obligations" were not fulfilled, the marriage could not be recognized by a notary or receive the lord's permission. This is indeed one of the most shameful pages in human history.
Moreover, some transfers of the right of the first night also involved exchanges of benefits.A book titled "Black Sexuality" records: "African tribes living near the equator have a custom of publicly auctioning maidens' virginity rights. When their girls reach maturity, their virginity rights are sold to the buyers. The girls are wrapped in clothing, carried around the tribe, and then kneel under umbrellas in the tribal square, allowing onlookers to spend the night with the girl for a reasonable price." Thus, the price of selling the virgin night rights becomes the girl's dowry. Additionally, tribes in southern Sudan grant the girls' virginity rights to neighboring tribes to avoid invasion.
3. Tightly Locking Women's Hearts and Bodies
In ancient China, there was a saying that "men and women should not be physically close," "Men and women should not sit together, wear different shackles, wear different headscarves, and not be taught directly." This was a common practice in many ancient countries to prevent women from losing their chastity.
For example, in ancient Persia, girls could not see any men after the age of seven; After marriage, they could only stay in the husband's "back room" and were not allowed to be seen by any other man. When the wife had to go out, she had to cover her entire body with clothing and cover her face with four layers of veils. If she was a noblewoman, she would have to sit in an airtight carriage. The stricter the husband's restrictions on his wife, the more respected he was received, because it was a noble sign of his concern for his wife's chastity and helping her remain chaste.
\ In so-called enlightened ancient Greece, during the city-state era, women's status was still almost no different from that of slaves; strict chastity and absolute loyalty to their husbands were considered wives' duty. To maintain chastity, women could only be confined to their private chambers, forbidden from socializing with the opposite sex or entertaining their husbands' guests; otherwise, they would be considered prostitutes. Ancient Greek thinkers also admonished: whether virgin or married woman, be cautious in all things, even in the boudoir. If a man peeks at her from outside the window, she should feel infinite shame, immediately withdraw, reflect deeply, and wash her face with clean water.
\ In ancient Mexico, Tlaxcalans, regardless of gender, shaved their heads upon marriage to signify "from now on they will abandon any activities young people engage in."
In ancient India, male doctors were strictly restricted from treating female patients.Women had to wear masks, and doctors were forbidden from directly touching women, especially when entering the palace to treat female patients, where the doctor's head was completely covered. Consorts in the palace were absolutely forbidden from seeing male doctors. During treatment, doctors had to stand outside the curtain, and diagnosis was made using a stethoscope connected to the screen, with a maid placing one end of the stethoscope on the consort's chest and other areas, somewhat like traditional Chinese medicine using a vein to diagnose pulse. Of course, such treatment was very difficult to diagnose.
The most cruel and absurd way to imprison or lock women away was probably the chastity belt. This was an extremely barbaric "invention" that appeared in medieval Europe, cruelly punishing women, with the aim of forcing women to strictly observe chastity for men.
The so-called chastity belt is mainly made of two iron plates, with holes for urination and defecation, locked to a woman's lower body like a shackle. The husband holds the key; only by unlocking and removing the chastity belt can he have sex. This way, when the husband goes out, he can "trust" his wife. In Rabelais's "The Tales of Pitt Cruel," there is a passage: "When I leave home, I always have my wife wear a Bergamo-style lock to prevent a lecher from taking advantage." This "Bergamo-style lock" is the chastity belt. It can also be called the "Venice Belt," "Florence Belt," "Italian Belt," or "Vienna Belt," etc.
Researchers speculate that chastity belts appeared in Europe around the 12th century and continued to be used until the 17th and 18th centuries, meaning they circulated during Europe's dark Middle Ages. There are many different theories about its origin: some say it was brought back from the Arab harem during the Crusaders' invasion of Arabia and replicated it; others say it was invented by merchants from Venice and Pergamo who stayed abroad for long periods to prevent their wives from becoming unfaithful.
Is it effective to force women to "remain chaste" for their husbands? Many medieval novels and poems have described stories about this chastity belt. Many noblewomen bribed locksmiths with money, provided their own keys, and when their husbands were not around, they could unlock the locks and have sex with their lovers at any time.In one copperplate engraving, there is a woman wearing a chastity belt and a man. The woman reaches out one hand to a man and holds a money pouch in the other as if pleading; the man holds a key, likely a locksmith, and a maid rummaging through clothes. Next to this painting are four lines of poetry, roughly meaning: "No lock can hold a cunning woman in place; without love, there is no woman's fidelity; For this reason, I use your money to buy a key I do not have." There is also a French painting depicting a man about to travel and putting a chastity belt on his wife. In one corner of the painting, a man holding a key hides behind a tent; In the other, a fool covers a basket of lice with cloth, implying that the man's behavior is just like the fool who cannot keep the lice. For a time, "Yielding the Key" was one of the subjects of European satirical plays and satirical paintings.
One of the most celebrated stories is that King Francis I of France (1494–1547) coveted a baroness. While the baron was away with his troops, he sought her favor, but could not unlock her chastity belt. So he hired the best locksmith from Italy, ordering him to unlock the lock with success and no failure. The locksmith truly fulfilled his mission, unlocking the lock, receiving a generous reward, and secretly hammering a gold key in case the king needed it. The baroness could also wear the chastity belt again, thus saving the baron's dignity.
In the 19th century, the chastity belt industry flourished in Europe and the United States. Besides jealous husbands locking their wives, unmarried women also locked them, and in monasteries, they were used to lock nuns. Chastity belts were sometimes used on men, and in the 19th century, they were sometimes used to lock young, unmarried boys. It is said that in Africa, a tribal leader had to wear a chastity belt to focus on warfare and tribal affairs. However, chastity belts were mostly used by women, mainly reflecting men's sexual possession and oppression of women, which was historically undeniable.
4. Cruel punishment of adulterers\ In some parts of ancient Korea, to punish unfaithful women, brands were placed on their faces, similar to the tattooing marks on criminals' faces in Water Margin.In Europe, there was a practice of writing the red capital letter A on the face or clothing of a woman who had lost her virginity. The letter A meant "adultery" or "unchastity," making it clear at a glance that she was an "unfaithful woman" and shame her for life, much like the Nazis forcing Jews to wear clothes marked with yellow stars.
In the Marshall Islands, there was a custom of punishing lost virginity by swallowing the stool. If a woman lost her virginity after marriage, she was punished by publicly swallowing feces, which meant she was as foul-smelling as the dung.
In ancient India, punishing adultery was often associated with maintaining class rule. If a man and woman commit adultery at the same stage, two fingers would be cut off or a fine would be imposed. If the two parties were of different social classes, the punishment would be even harsher. If a low-class man had an affair with a woman of higher status, his genitals would be burned, and he would lie on a red-hot iron bed and be burned at the stake; and the high-class woman would have her vagina burned with iron objects.
There are many more such examples, such as Tanzanians imposing cruel or death punishments on women who had lost their virginity, meaning they were crippled or killed. Arab countries killed women who had lost their virginity by stones. In France, burning was used to punish women who had lost their virginity. In addition, there were many cruel punishments for adultery worldwide, such as burying alive, skinning, drowning in pools, flogging to death, frying, dismemberment, nail boards, cutting the genitals, burning buttocks, piercing breasts, cutting abdomen, cutting arms, and so on. In many countries, even if women who lost their virginity were not executed, extremely humiliating punishments were imposed, making women ashamed and unable to live normally. For example, being forced to be completely naked, riding a donkey backwards, and paraded through the city's streets. For instance, the mistress of the Duke of Orlen, brother of Louis XIII, was punished in Paris in this way, and ordinary women were even more so.
Punishing adultery sometimes leads to a very distorted social atmosphere. The Roman Emperor Augustus was Caesar's adopted son. He lived a debauched life and, when he fell in love with Livia, who was 17 years older and six months pregnant, he did not hesitate to depose his wife. However, he issued a decree severely punishing adultery, which was primarily aimed at women.If a man discovers that his wife has committed adultery, he must divorce her; otherwise, he risks being reported. An adulterous woman is exiled to a small island, half of her dowry and one-third of her property are confiscated, and any man who marries her again is considered an accomplice. A married man who commits adultery with her is also exiled, but he cannot be on the same island with her. In fact, any married man could be considered an accomplice in adultery and punished, while only bachelors are exempt. Furthermore, if the man's mistress is not officially registered, he could also be charged with the crime of 'unnatural misconduct.' As a result, the number of people applying for legal registration suddenly increased significantly, including many well-known women. However, as Engels said: 'Dealing with adultery is like dealing with death; there is no medicine for it.' In ancient Rome, the custom of nobles having warriors protect the chastity of noblewomen was very popular, yet among the mistresses of the noblewomen, many were precisely the warriors entrusted with the 'duty' of protecting the women's chastity. In ancient Western Asia and Central Asia, the inner chambers where wives lived were strictly monitored, but women still found ways to cheat on their husbands. Montesquieu, in 'Lettres Persanes,' even recounted several adultery stories through the mouths of Persians that left husbands astonished, which had a reliable basis in reality. Christian convents were monitored even more strictly than the inner chambers of Persian nobles, yet still could not ensure the nuns' chastity, as is clearly reflected in Boccaccio's "Decameron."\ \ In short, without one half, there cannot be the other half. When men are licentious, women cannot remain chaste.\ Widows practicing chastity. In ancient times, women were expected to remain faithful not only during their husbands' lifetimes but also after their husbands' deaths; this was known as practicing chastity. In ancient China, widows maintaining chastity was very common, with chastity arches and shrines for virtuous women being almost everywhere, burying countless women's youth and flowing with their blood and tears. In foreign countries, although there were no chastity arches like in China, such customs still existed in many regions.\ In the early Christian canon law, there was a regulation that a person could only marry once in a lifetime, which thus excluded the possibility of remarrying after a husband's death.In some countries in the Middle East, chastity is particularly revered, and a widow remarrying is not allowed.\ \ Especially in ancient India, a chaste woman, after her husband's death, was expected to embrace death by self-immolation to be with her husband. If she lacked the courage to follow her husband in death, she had to display the marks of a widow on her face and clothing and carefully avoid any men even more than when her husband was alive. Men, upon seeing a widow, were also expected to keep their distance, as widows were considered "ominous objects," and it was even believed that the misfortune of the wife caused her husband's death. Hindu doctrine stipulated that once a woman was united with her husband, it was an eternal union; even after the husband's death, she could never be separated from him. A woman could marry only once in her lifetime, and a widow had to remain chaste until death to attain heaven. Because widows bore the mark of misfortune, they became laborers for their in-laws, no longer enjoying the various rights and privileges of ordinary married women. They had no right to participate in social or religious activities, could not attend weddings, birthdays, or any celebratory events, and were even forbidden from adorning themselves. Some widows had to shave their heads. According to Hindu custom, widows were also required to devote themselves to asceticism and celibacy; in Bengal, widows were forbidden to eat fish or meat; in Andhra Pradesh, widows had to fast extensively.\ \ It was precisely because widows in India were so persecuted that many fled their homes and went to the sacred city of Benares (now called Varanasi). On the banks of the Ganges in Benares, there is a "Widow House," home to many widows from all over India who awaited death to come soon, many of whom were still very young.\ \ Even in modern times, the widow issue in India remains serious. Statistics show that in 1931, there were 32 million widows in India, many of whom were child widows; in 1951, there were 22 million widows, accounting for 12.3% of all women; in 1961, widows made up 10.8% of women.\ \ This shows that some unscientific, unreasonable, and even inhumane customs from ancient times still have considerable influence on modern society.\ \ Of course, the concept of chastity is so unreasonable that it has always been subject to criticism and reform throughout human history. The European Renaissance in the 14th to 16th centuries strongly opposed the asceticism and theological dominance of the Middle Ages and severely criticized the concept of chastity.Boccaccio's The Decameron was the trumpet of an era, shattering the idol of chastity and greatly contributing to the restoration of human nature. The 17th-century American bourgeois revolution fundamentally shook the rigid feudal hierarchy and the personal dependence of men and women, thus bringing the concept of chastity down from its pedestal and greatly weakening it. The 18th-century French Revolution destroyed France's feudal autocratic system, gradually placing the bourgeois view of sexuality in the mainstream and further washing away the concept of chastity. After the rise of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution, the residual ideas of feudal chastity were swept away with immense force, and in some Western countries, the concept of chastity began to be buried. Since the 20th century, the waves of 'sexual revolution' and 'sexual liberation' in Western countries have once again pushed this negation to another extreme. How to correctly restore order remains a historical question that people need to properly address.
