Response to Emily Shankman's "Margaret Fell"

I agree with your point of view. The only reason men of past times would have kept women from church was to keep them under control. However, when I think of other societies of the world from that time period, many of them were dominated or at least had equality for women. Many African and Native American tribes had a very strong association between women and leadership and/or religion. The question then becomes why Christianity developed into a patriarchal religion. It probably has to do with the fact that Judaism was very patriarchal. Where can it be traced from there? Probably back to ancient tribal structure and division of labor. However that still does not explain why many other cultures in the world were dominated by women in the past. It must have to do with how traditions developed and were ingrained into society. From there I would ask an anthropologist.