GENDERED LANGUAGE

The language surrounding the Catholic and Protestant religions in and of itself is a gendered language.1 For example, God when described in relation to humans is the father. Artistic renderings of God often portray an elderly man with a flowing beard—an obvious male characteristic. Conversely, the church itself was often referred to with feminine pronouns. A popular metaphor still in use amongst religious communities today invokes marriage as a means to explain the relationship between the church and God. The church is “the bride of Christ” and God is the head of the church. At times, the metaphors became sexually suggestive as Jesus was compared to a lover.2 The metaphorical use of marriage within a religious context is an important one. The idea of an individual's sexual propriety, specifically a woman's, was often reinforced with what was considered the ‘marital ideals' of the time: a chaste and obedient wife.

Upon analyzing the relationships between disparate religions, a negative gendered language is observed. While the church was considered a chaste, obedient wife, the “false church” (i.e., churches from opposing religions) were often referred to as whores. Aside from the word's denotation, it is important to note that the negative connotations surrounding the word—such as licentiousness, unlawfulness, and impurity—would often apply to a woman. Although the Oxford English Dictionary offers a definition of whore pertaining to males as well as females, the epithet is most widely used against women. As Patricia Crawford argues in her book Women and Religion in England 1500-1720 :

The most important feature of this metaphor for an understanding of gender relations was that men could condemn whores unreservedly. They could confidently scorn the woman for illicit sexuality, separating themselves from her by their condemnation. Women were less comfortable about this metaphor. To be labelled a whore was a risk they all ran.

Along with whore, other words such as harlot and strumpet were ways to describe the offending religion and even controversial theories within a particular sect.3

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