"I am a wall and my breasts are towers": Female Resistance to Patriarchal Oppression in the Song of Songs
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2015
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Haverford College. Department of Religion
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Thesis
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The Religion Prize
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
Feminist theorists Alicia Ostriker and Phyllis Trible argue that as a nonpatriarchal text free of gendered hierarchy and sexual stereotyping, the Song of Songs is the most prominent example of countertext in the Hebrew Bible. In challenging such theorists, I argue that the Song depicts not a utopia of gendered equality, but an empowered female protagonist resistant to the surrounding patriarchal society, which functions similarly to social order throughout much of biblical literature. Patriarchy in the Song is evidenced by the consistent assertion of male dominance through male regulation of the Shulamite’s sexuality, and the dehumanization of the female body. The Shulamite is not a liberated female figure but instead an active combatant to the forces of patriarchy which seek to control her. In critiquing these forces within the Song, we can both complicate an idealized depiction of the Shulamite, and identify the social barriers that limit her liberation and necessitate her radical resistance.