But somehow or other man has dominated woman from ages past, and so woman has developed an inferiority complex. She has believed in the truth of man's interested teaching that she is inferior to him. But the seers among men have recognized their equal status.[9]`Abdu'l-Bahá similarly cites lack of education as the primary reason for the inequality of men and women.
Woman's lack of progress and proficiency has been due to her need of equal education and opportunity. Had she been allowed this equality, there is no doubt she would be the counterpart of man in ability and capacity. The happiness of mankind will be realized when women and men coordinate and advance equally, for each is the complement and helpmeet of the other.[10]Although in the past men have dominated over women, `Abdu'l-Bahá explains that this dominance relationship is fast giving way to a more healthy and equal relationship between men and women:
The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.[11]
Having noted that the inequality of men and women is unjust and unhealthy, we can ask how people can foster the emancipation and progress of women, hence the advancement of humankind as a whole. Both Gandhi and the Bahá'ís agree that the roots of the problem lie in the lack of proper education. Bahá'ís thus give great importance to the education of girls, because as mothers they are potentially the first educators of their future children. `Abdu'l-Bahá writes,
Not surprisingly, Bahá'ís give preference to the education of girls over boys. `Abdu'l-Bahá writes,those present should concern themselves with every means of training the girl children; with teaching the various branches of knowledge, good behaviour, a proper way of life, the cultivation of a good character, chastity and constancy, perseverance, strength, determination, firmness of purpose; with household management, the education of children, and whatever especially applieth to the needs of girls--to the end that these girls, reared in the stronghold of all perfections, and with the protection of a goodly character, will, when they themselves become mothers, bring up their children from earliest infancy to have a good character and conduct themselves well.[12]
Furthermore, the education of woman is more necessary and important than that of man, for woman is the trainer of the child from its infancy. If she be defective and imperfect herself, the child will necessarily be deficient; therefore, imperfection of woman implies a condition of imperfection in all mankind, for it is the mother who rears, nurtures and guides the growth of the child. This is not the function of the father. If the educator be incompetent, the educated will be correspondingly lacking. This is evident and incontrovertible. Could the student be brilliant and accomplished if the teacher is illiterate and ignorant? The mothers are the first educators of mankind; if they be imperfect, alas for the condition and future of the race.[13]
Other ways to help women (and hence humankind) to advance may be inferred from some of Gandhi's writings. He condemned the physical and mental abuse of women by men. Such abuse includes but is not limited to domestic violence, rape, verbal abuse, and war. Gandhi writes,
Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity--to me, the female sex, not the weaker sex. It is the nobler of the two, for it is even today the embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith and knowledge.[14]Ironically, the oppression and abuse of women can be both astonishingly subtle and harsh concurrently. For on the one hand women are often given fewer privileges than men in important respects, but on the other hand more is frequently demanded from women. One example of this double standard is the ethics of sex. Women are often pressured on multiple fronts to become sexual objects, but at the same time they are expected to be more faithful and ``pure'' than their often unfaithful male counterparts. Gandhi disliked such hypocritical obsession with ``female purity,'' and felt that this double standard was unhealthy:[15]
And why is there all this morbid anxiety about female purity? Have women any say in the matter of male purity? We hear nothing of women's anxiety about men's chastity. Why should men arrogate to themselves the right to regulate female purity? It cannot be superimposed from without. It is a matter of evolution from within and therefore of self-effort.[16]