Published: 2024-12-31

Femininity and masculinity in selected authors of patristic literature

Stanisław Strękowski
Family Studies
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/snr.2024.63-64.1-2.2

Abstract

Church Fathers and Church writers were, like other Christians, drawn from the various cultures of the ancient world dominated by patriarchy. They were formed – before being narrated – by the Greco-Roman culture and traces of this formation are visible in their thinking and expressed judgments. In his writings, apart from very critical remarks about women, one can find texts in which respect and reverence for the heroic attitude of martyrs, abstinence and the perseverance of widows and virgins is clearly visible. In the first centuries of the church, institutions were established in which women of all ages and conditions outside marriage and family served the ecclesial community as virgins, widows and deaconesses, meeting the needs of other women for charitable and liturgical services. They have distanced themselves from various kinds of abuses, including pederasties, ephebophilia, homosexuality and male effeminacy.

Keywords:

femminity, masuclinity, Greek and Roman culture, primitive Christianity

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Strękowski, S. (2024). Femininity and masculinity in selected authors of patristic literature. Family Studies, 28(1-2(63-64), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.21697/snr.2024.63-64.1-2.2

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