Women’s Rights

The movement for women’s rights and equality of the sexes that began in the last century is a major force for human betterment. Yet amidst the profusion of feminist ideas and trends, can scriptures instruct us to discern what is best and most enduring?

This section deals specifically with women’s rights in society. The more fundamental man-woman relationship is marriage, and there the matter of sex roles and equality of the sexes comes up with special force—see Chapter 19: Ethics of Married Life.

Against the persistent mistreatment of women, scriptures affirm the essential equality and dignity of both man and woman before God.

Scriptures also affirm the right of women to an education and to seek the highest goal of faith—an outstanding Buddhist passage praises the resolve of a nun who defeats the Devil’s whispering that women are not fit for enlightenment.

On the other hand, the scriptures encourage the traditional womanly role of childbearing as the basis of female dignity.

Further, there is scriptural warrant for the subordination of women as a consequence of the Fall and the first woman’s sin—a theme to which Father Moon adds a unique twist when he attributes women’s subordination at least in part to the degradation of men to the level of “archangels.” It is undeniable that men and women are distinctly unequal in their physical stature and abilities.

A Buddhist text ridicules the notion that such external differences have any meaning, based on its perspective that mind is the only reality. That won’t do for Father Moon, who affirms the reality of the created world. Rather, he teaches that love is the basis of the equality of men and women.

He supports the traditional value of childbearing, calling it God’s special gift to women, but at the same time he applauds women who aspire to leadership positions in society, and he encourages his women followers to take on traditional male roles. In this respect his thought resonates with the dreams of the pioneering American feminist Susan B. Anthony, who is quoted here.

The Basis of Equality between Men and Women

God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1.27

And their Lord answers them, “I waste not the labor of any that labors among you, be you male or female—the one of you is as the other.” Qur’an 3.195

When women are honored, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honored, no sacred rite yields rewards. When the female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers. Laws of Manu 3.56-57 (Hinduism)

My dear sisters the women, you have had a hard life to live in this world, yet without you this world would not be what it is. Wakan Tanka intends that you should bear much sorrow—comfort others in time of sorrow. By your hands the family moves. Sioux Tradition of the Sacred Pipe (Native American Religion)

The sister Soma… when she was returning from her alms-round, after her meal, entered Dark Wood for noonday rest, and plunging into its depths sat down under a certain tree. Then Mara the Evil One, desirous of arousing fear, wavering and dread in her, desirous of making her desist from concentrated thought, went up to her and addressed her in verse, That opportunity [for arahantship] the sages may attain is hard to win. But with her two-finger wit that may no woman ever hope to achieve. Then Soma thought, “Who now is this, human or non-human, that speaks verse? Surely it is Mara the Evil One who speaks verse, desirous of arousing in me fear, wavering and dread…” The sister replied in verses: What should the woman’s nature signify when consciousness is tense and firmly set, when knowledge rolls ever on, when she by insight rightly comprehends the Dhamma? To one for whom the question arises: Am I a woman [in these matters], or am I a man, or what not am I then? To such a one is Mara fit to talk. Then Mara the Evil One thought, “Sister Soma recognizes me!” and sad and sorrowful he vanished. Samyutta Nikaya 1.128, Suttas of Sisters (Buddhism)

Thou art woman, Thou art man; Thou art youth and maiden… it is Thou alone who, when born, assumes diverse forms. Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.3 (Hinduism)

Shariputra, “Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state, by nature filthy and an unfit vessel?” Goddess, “Although I have sought my ‘female state’ for these twelve years, I have not yet found it. Reverend Shariputra, if a magician were to incarnate a woman by magic, would you ask her, ‘What prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?’” Shariputra, “No! Such a woman would not really exist, so what would there be to transform?” “Just so, Reverend Shariputra, all things do not really exist. Now, would you think, “What prevents one whose nature is that of a magical incarnation from transforming herself out of her female state?” Thereupon, the goddess employed her magical power to cause the elder Shariputra to appear in her form and to cause herself to appear in his form. Then the goddess, transformed into Shariputra, said to Shariputra, transformed into a goddess, “Reverend Shariputra, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?” And Shariputra, transformed into a goddess, replied, “I no longer appear in the form of a male! My body has changed into the body of a woman! I do not know what to transform!” The goddess continued, “If the elder could again change out of the female state, then all women could also change out of their female states. All women appear in the form of women in just the same way as the elder appears in the form of a woman. While they are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, ‘In all things, there is neither male nor female.’”30 Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 7 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Even in America, where the women’s rights movement has been promoting equality between the sexes, men today still have more privileges than women.

Although American women may be somewhat better off, generally speaking women throughout the world live their lives dominated by men and carry resentment that they were born as women.

The United States has laws granting equality between men and women. Nevertheless, in a fight, a man has the strength to defeat even two women combined! Don’t many women still think, “I wish I were born a man”? Throughout history, while men have enjoyed good fortune, a woman’s lot has been miserable.

Is it mainly women who assault and violate men, or men who violate women? Men violate women. It has been this way throughout history. In case of criminal assault against the opposite sex, over ninety percent are committed against women. For this reason, women have been holding a grudge against men and pursue women’s rights.

Why doesn’t God solve this problem and establish equality among the sexes? Why doesn’t He make those malicious men surrender, but instead just allow them to continue? This is the issue. (243:268, January 28, 1993)

How are you going to assure equal rights? By force? External laws? Emotional persuasion? It is through love. It is through love that women can be equal to men.

Through love, a mother can be equal to her son, even though he may be the president of a nation. Where there is love, everything can be equal. In this sense, we have to understand that the central core of equality lies in men and women who hope for a peaceful family centered on true love.

A husband wants to return to his wife’s bosom and a wife wants to return to her husband’s bosom and become one. There, nothing is high or low. They are indeed experiencing equality. Can there be equality in any other place? Equal rights for men and women exist only in a peaceful family (129:51-52, October 1, 1983)

Equality is born from the concept of “we.” It does not exist when “I” am the center. The center must be “we.” You must understand this. Equality arises from “we”-centeredness, in the love among “we.”

It cannot arise from self-centeredness. Unfortunately, most feminists have an “I” centered concept, and most men who believe in traditional male superiority think the same way. They are both wrong; the correct viewpoint is to advocate human rights for all people.

To seek equality by putting women first does not make sense. The only sensible way to seek equality is to uphold the rights of everyone, centered on love. I don’t favor either the feminist movement or the tradition of male superiority. Men should live for the sake of women, and women should live for the sake of men. (131:109, April 22, 1984)

Just as human beings want to see God during their lifetime, God also wants to see true individuals. Yet if God called for either the man first or the woman first, the one who was not picked would complain.

Therefore, God cannot help but make love supreme. In that way, both the man and the woman can see God together, touch God together, and share God together. If the most precious thing in the world were some material thing, surely the man and woman would fight over it; but once they understand that it is love, they will become one and possess it together by caring for each other. (True Family and World Peace, March 14, 1999)

The Human Fall as the Cause of Male Domination

The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The Lord God said… to the woman, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”31 Genesis 3.12-16

Let a woman show deference, not being a slave to her husband; let her show she is ready to be guided, not coerced. She is not worthy of wedlock who is worthy of chiding. Let the husband too, manage his wife like a steersman, pay honor to her as his life partner, share with her as the co-heir of grace… Those temptations are most severe which are brought about through women. Indeed, through Eve Adam was deceived, and thus did it come about that he departed from the divine commands. When he learned his mistake and was conscious of the sin within himself, he wished to hide but could not. And so God said to him, “Adam, where art thou?… You desired to leave the Lord your God for one woman, and you are fleeing the One whom formerly you wished to behold. With one woman you have preferred to hide yourself, to abandon the Mirror of the world, the abode of paradise, the grace of Christ.”32 Should I go on to tell of how Jezebel severely persecuted Elijah, and Herodias caused John the Baptist to be put to death? Ambrose of Milan, Letters 59, 60 (Christianity)

I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head… For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.) That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels.33 1 Corinthians 11.3-11

I looked into Paradise and found that the majority of its dwellers were the poor people, and I looked into the (Hell) Fire and found that the majority of its dwellers were women. Hadith of Bukhari 8.76.554 (Islam)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Until now, it was mainly women who were required to keep their chastity, wasn’t it? Who lost their chastity in the Garden of Eden?

Was it the woman or the man? The woman, you say? The man also lost it. The man who was the center of Eden also lost it. Adam became involved with Eve, and by his action the original root was cut off.

Nevertheless, it was the woman—Eve—who caused the man—Adam—to fall.

Hence, to indemnify this, women have been mistreated by men. Isn’t that so? I am carrying out a movement for equality of the sexes and the liberation of women. This must be done for the sake of future generations. (26:334-35, October 3, 1969)

To this day, have women been mistreated or honored? Have they been punished for being seductive? Yes, but that was not the chief reason. The reason women suffer is that their husbands are not their true husbands.

Fallen men are in the position of archangels, and angels are not supposed to have a spouse. This is why higher religions have encouraged people to remain single. Men are archangel figures, like the archangel Lucifer at the Fall who seduced a woman when he was not supposed to have a wife. For this reason, women do not have proper husbands. (39:214, January 10, 1971)

Because Eve drove a nail into God’s heart, archangelic men have been driving many nails into women’s hearts. (302:232, June 14, 1999)

Eve was created as God’s princess and, at the same time as God’s future partner. God created her to become His beloved partner, even God’s wife. Why is this? To share love, God needs a body, a form.

God has no form in the spirit world. Light like that of the sun stays in the sky twenty-four hours a day; thus does the incorporeal God manage everything from above. But it is not possible for an incorporeal being to become the love partner of human beings who have bodily form.

For this reason, the incorporeal God created Adam and Eve, each with a body. They were His absolute works, created for the ideal of love, as His partners. Whose form does God take?

God takes the form of both Adam and Eve. God is the internal Father embodied in Adam the external Father; God is the internal Mother embodied in Eve, the external Mother. (199:361, February 21, 1990)

Striving for Equality of the Sexes

Learning is incumbent upon every believer, man and woman. Sunnan of Ibn Majah 224 (Islam)

Women should have equal pay for equal work and they should be considered equally eligible to the offices of principal and superintendent, professor and president. So you must insist that qualifications, not sex, shall govern appointments and salaries. Susan B. Anthony

Husband and wife are also equal. Their differences should be respected but not used to justify the domination of one by the other. In collaboration with society, the Church must collectively affirm and defend the rights of women. Pope John Paul II34 (Christianity)

In the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman.35 And all things are from God. 1 Corinthians 11.11-12

Women naturally have important roles to play in peacemaking. Nearly all of us receive our first lessons in peaceful living from our mothers because our need for love is the very foundation for human existence. From the earliest stages of our growth, we are completely dependent on our mother’s care and it is very important that she expresses her love… If children do not receive the proper affection, in later life they will find it harder to love others. This is how a mother’s love has a bearing on peace. Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama (Buddhism)

The day will come when man will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside but in the councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union, between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race. Susan B. Anthony

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Man is woman’s teacher and woman is man’s teacher. Men and women learn from each other. (247:174, May 2, 1993)

When a woman shares in her husband’s work, or a man shares in his wife’s work, they will better know each other. Then they can do anything (116:183, January 1, 1982)

I am going to make you ladies into fishing captains. You will take well-educated men, even Ivy League graduates, out to sea. They will become your crew. Do you women want to do it? Can you answer “yes” with a strong voice? “Yes!” That’s what I want to hear! You must learn to have guts. To become a great woman captain, you must be trained to take charge in the midst of a storm.

When the men of your crew are scared to death, you will command them, even by using your fists. How will you feel when those men obey your orders? You will feel good! (95:97-98, November 1, 1977)

How can women claim equality with men? A man eats two portions of food to a woman’s one. Men work at heavy labor while women follow timidly behind. Is that equality? What about wrestling? Have you ever seen a woman and a man wrestle each other? How, then, can a woman be equal to a man? Only in love are men and women equal; that is how it is meant to be.

How does God love women when He appointed men to do the hard work and fighting? Nowadays, we can purchase rice and cook it, but in the old days men had to go into the mountains or the fields and hunt for game to put on the table while fighting off lions and tigers.

On the other hand, women have one ability that gives them standing before men: the ability to bear a child. I believe that God gave women the privilege of childbearing as a condition to maintain some measure of equality with men.

The Creator made women to bear children in order to balance their weaknesses in other respects. But lately women are refusing to have children… (103:273, March 11, 1979)

There is an old saying, “Women are weak, but mothers are strong.” A woman by herself may be weak, but if as a mother she assumes the position of the subject of love, or as a wife or a daughter she takes up the role as the center of love, then she becomes the strongest of all.

How can this be? When a woman—as a mother, wife or daughter—assumes the position of the subject of love and then gives one hundred percent to her object partners, God’s love comes in to fill up the vacuum that is left after she has given everything.

That is when the power of God’s love starts working. So even though she is a woman, by resembling God and assuming the position of the subject of love, she generates tremendous force. The power of that love will give life to the family, give life to the nation, and give life to the world. (True Family and World Peace, May 11, 1992)

The age of women has arrived. Now, we women throughout the world should create a movement for the practice of true love. It begins by embracing our husbands and properly educating our children… and it expands as we women take up leadership roles in the political arena, in business, in culture and the arts, in society and so on, to work for world peace.

Let us remember our forbearers, Rebecca, Tamar and Mary, who went through difficult trials as they fulfilled the major responsibilities of women in God’s providence of salvation.

Let us inherit their strong spirit and willpower by which they overcame life-threatening dangers and obstacles and opened the way for us to make a relationship with Heaven.

Let us also cultivate our families and make them into havens where true parents, true couples, and true children dwell. In these ways, let us arise and join in the holy cause of changing this evil world into the heavenly world. (April 10, 1992)