Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 48
who stayed and worked for him by saying they were on their eighth out of nine lives, while
the men were only on their sixth or seventh. Hence, the women could take on more
responsibility, give more. One of the leader‟s highest compliments was to tell a woman that
she was becoming more like a man.
Dominance and Submission
The everyday exercise of dominance and submission is so integral to our culture that we
barely see it. Built on the foundational belief of a basic flaw in the submissive, usually the
woman, and the perfection or mastery of the dominant, usually the man, this inequality
justifies one person‟s dominance over another.
While the dynamics of dominance and submission affect both men and women, they hit
women particularly hard, for more often women tend to be on the submission side of the
equation. As much as people talk about both parties being hurt by abusive relationships, the
one who is forced to submit feels the immediate pain of humiliation, self-doubt, craziness,
rage, and fear. For the perpetrator, the longer term effects of dominating --hardness, lack
of empathy, isolation, a narrow self-centeredness, close-mindedness, and illusions of
grandeur --develop only gradually. The immediate experience for the one in control is that
of power, strength, and self-confidence thus, exercising power over others gives immediate
satisfaction. In this dynamic, the humiliation of the submissive brings the sense of life-
enhancement to the dominator. While the addiction metaphor may be overused, in the short
run, abusive control brings --not unlike an addictive drug --a hit of reinforcing pleasure,
while only the longer term need to withdraw from the habit brings the pain. Why then
should the person living psychologically on control give up the high?
On the other hand, why doesn‟t the one on the receiving end of abusive control get away
from her tormenter? This is the question, of course, that most interests us. This same
question comes up repeatedly in reference to battered women. Why don‟t they just leave?
Thoughtful answers lead us into the thorny territory of the fearful, autocratic mind, a mind
that is cultivated through Western education, the media, religion, and the patriarchal family.
Though we pride ourselves on producing free thinkers, our cultural institutions forge
invisible chains between the sexes made of images of male glory (Rambo) and female
invisibleness (Sleeping Beauty) or subservience (Snow White), which lead too easily to both
psychological and physical violence.3
The Lesser Sex
Subtly imbued with sex-role stereotypes and gender inequities from an early age, women
are subjected to systematic training to be second best, taught that their worth and survival
depend on physical attractiveness and pleasing men. (Think of the myths alone that our
children hear: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rose Red, The Little Mermaid, to name just a few,
where the passive, beautiful heroine in distress is rescued by her prince). Women are raised
to be susceptible to dominant men, to expect to be saved by men, and to project their own
power and image of God onto men. Men, meanwhile, are vaunted in history, myth, and
science as natural leaders, thinkers, competitors, and creators. And they are socialized to be
oblivious to the abuse they perpetrate through this culturally privileged position and the
unconscious dominance and denigration of women (and the “feminine” in themselves) that
it inculcates.
Let us face, at last, the implications of this worldview, let us face them head-on. In the
Western intellectual tradition, woman is viewed as less than man. This view is supported by
science through the hierarchical ordering of biology by religion through the creation myths
and by a philosophy that since Socrates has contrasted the objective, rational mind of the
masculine with the subjective, feeling body of the female. (Both female and body are
posited therein as an impediment to knowledge). These prejudices are woven so deeply into
who stayed and worked for him by saying they were on their eighth out of nine lives, while
the men were only on their sixth or seventh. Hence, the women could take on more
responsibility, give more. One of the leader‟s highest compliments was to tell a woman that
she was becoming more like a man.
Dominance and Submission
The everyday exercise of dominance and submission is so integral to our culture that we
barely see it. Built on the foundational belief of a basic flaw in the submissive, usually the
woman, and the perfection or mastery of the dominant, usually the man, this inequality
justifies one person‟s dominance over another.
While the dynamics of dominance and submission affect both men and women, they hit
women particularly hard, for more often women tend to be on the submission side of the
equation. As much as people talk about both parties being hurt by abusive relationships, the
one who is forced to submit feels the immediate pain of humiliation, self-doubt, craziness,
rage, and fear. For the perpetrator, the longer term effects of dominating --hardness, lack
of empathy, isolation, a narrow self-centeredness, close-mindedness, and illusions of
grandeur --develop only gradually. The immediate experience for the one in control is that
of power, strength, and self-confidence thus, exercising power over others gives immediate
satisfaction. In this dynamic, the humiliation of the submissive brings the sense of life-
enhancement to the dominator. While the addiction metaphor may be overused, in the short
run, abusive control brings --not unlike an addictive drug --a hit of reinforcing pleasure,
while only the longer term need to withdraw from the habit brings the pain. Why then
should the person living psychologically on control give up the high?
On the other hand, why doesn‟t the one on the receiving end of abusive control get away
from her tormenter? This is the question, of course, that most interests us. This same
question comes up repeatedly in reference to battered women. Why don‟t they just leave?
Thoughtful answers lead us into the thorny territory of the fearful, autocratic mind, a mind
that is cultivated through Western education, the media, religion, and the patriarchal family.
Though we pride ourselves on producing free thinkers, our cultural institutions forge
invisible chains between the sexes made of images of male glory (Rambo) and female
invisibleness (Sleeping Beauty) or subservience (Snow White), which lead too easily to both
psychological and physical violence.3
The Lesser Sex
Subtly imbued with sex-role stereotypes and gender inequities from an early age, women
are subjected to systematic training to be second best, taught that their worth and survival
depend on physical attractiveness and pleasing men. (Think of the myths alone that our
children hear: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rose Red, The Little Mermaid, to name just a few,
where the passive, beautiful heroine in distress is rescued by her prince). Women are raised
to be susceptible to dominant men, to expect to be saved by men, and to project their own
power and image of God onto men. Men, meanwhile, are vaunted in history, myth, and
science as natural leaders, thinkers, competitors, and creators. And they are socialized to be
oblivious to the abuse they perpetrate through this culturally privileged position and the
unconscious dominance and denigration of women (and the “feminine” in themselves) that
it inculcates.
Let us face, at last, the implications of this worldview, let us face them head-on. In the
Western intellectual tradition, woman is viewed as less than man. This view is supported by
science through the hierarchical ordering of biology by religion through the creation myths
and by a philosophy that since Socrates has contrasted the objective, rational mind of the
masculine with the subjective, feeling body of the female. (Both female and body are
posited therein as an impediment to knowledge). These prejudices are woven so deeply into
