Throughout History, women have always been dominated by men and their rights have been very limited. As our analysis is based on the religious field, we will start our work based on biblical references, as we will see below:

Purification after childbirth:

"... If a woman conceives and has a son, she will be unclean for seven days..." "Then she will be thirty-three days in the blood of her purification; she will touch no holy thing, and she will not come to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed; she will touch no holy thing, and she will not come to the sanctuary until her cleansing days are over.” "But if she has a female, she will be filthy for two weeks, as in her separation: afterwards she will be sixty-six days in the blood of her purification." (Lev, chap. 12). It is interesting to note that discrimination begins at birth. The birth of a girl imposes a greater penalty on her mother.

Proof of the woman suspected of adultery:

“And the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he becomes jealous of his wife, because she has been contaminated, or the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she has not been contaminated. Then that man will bring his wife before the priest, and together he will bring his offering for her. (...) And the priest will present the woman before the Lord, and will uncover the woman's head; and the memorial offering of meals, which is the offering of the meals of jealousy, will be placed on her hands, and the bitter water, which brings with it the curse, will be in the hand of the priest (...). And the bitter, cursing water will make the woman drink, and the cursing water will enter her will enter her to embitter. (...) ... the cursing water will enter her for bitterness, and her belly will swell up, and her thigh will fall, and that woman will be a curse among her people. And if the woman has not been contaminated, but is clean, then she will be free. (...) "This is the law of jealousy, when a woman, in her husband's power, goes astray and is contaminated." (Numbers, chapter 5)

'Look at the power that the husband had over his wife: “in the power of her husband”. It was very easy for a man to get rid of his wife when he wished, since the test she was subjected to was almost deadly, as it would be very difficult not to get sick while taking that drink.

Thus the woman was treated among the Jews, until the coming of Jesus. In fact, there were laws to punish the adulterous man as well, but it was the men who applied them...

“Also the man who adulterates with another's wife, having adulterated with his neighbor's wife, will certainly die the adulterer and the adulteress. (Leviticus, chap. 20).

Jesus had to face this situation of absolute dominance of the man in relation to the woman, when he defended the adulteress, speaking to the conscience of those who accused her and were ready to stone her to death: “And the scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman caught in adultery; and putting her in the middle, they said to him, Master, this woman was caught, in the very act, adulterating. And in the law Moses told us that they should be stoned. So what do you say?” (John, 3 to 5: 8).

 The men were already prepared for the execution, carrying the stones that would be thrown on the woman, when the Master pronounced the famous sentence: He who is without sin among you, be the first to throw the stone at her. (John, 7: 8).

Faced with these words, spoken with deep love and not in an accusatory tone, the crowd broke up and the woman was released. Jesus, however, warned her: "Nor do I condemn you: go, and sin no more." (Jo, 8: 11)

There are many references to the presence and performance of women in the group that followed Jesus: “... and He walked from city to city, and from village to village, preaching and announcing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God; and the twelve went with him. And some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, and Joana, Cusa's wife, Herod's household manager, and Suzana and many others who served Him with their means.” (Luke, 8: 1 to 3).

Note that Lucas seems to want to justify the presence of women in Jesus' group, by saying: “who served Him with their means”, which means that they were not there as peers, but only as servants.

However, Jesus did not discriminate against anyone. He supported, healed, served everyone with the same honor. Women, despite the restriction that society itself imposed on them, did not feel inhibited from approaching Jesus: “And, behold, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, came up behind Him, touched the edge of His cloak. Because she said to herself: if I just touch His cloak, I will be healed. And Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, "Take heart, daughter, your faith has saved you." And the woman was immediately healed.” (Mat, 9: 20 to 22).

Despite the restrictions imposed by men, women felt inclined to approach the Master, as they were received by Him with respect and affection: “And while Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman approached him with an alabaster vase, with an ointment of great value, and she poured it over His head when he was seated at the table. And his disciples, seeing this, were indignant, saying: Why this waste? For this ointment could be sold at a great price, and the money given to the poor. But Jesus, knowing this, said to them: Why do you afflict this woman? Because she did a good deed with me. Because you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me (Mat, 26: 8-11).

When Jesus was crucified, the women, without being able to act, courageously witnessed the crucifixion, according to Mark's account: “And there were also some women looking from afar, among whom Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, the youngest, and Joseph, and Salome. Which also followed and served Him when he was in Galilee; and many others who had gone up to Jerusalem with Him. (Mar, 15: 40 and 41).

In the course of the Golgotha ​​drama, women appeared more than men. “And after Saturday, Mary Magdalene, and Mary James's mother, and Salome, bought aromas to go and anoint Him.” (Mar, 16: 9).

Already disincarnated, with his spiritual body, Jesus first appeared to Magdalene, near the place where His tomb would be: “And Jesus, having risen on the morning of the first day of the week, first appeared to Magdalene, from which He had expelled seven demons. (Mar, 16: 9).

Jesus' appearance to Magdalene was so remarkable that it was reported by the four Evangelists.

“And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb at dawn, it was still dark, and saw the stone taken from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They took the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they put Him." (Jo, 20: 1 and 2).

Peter and John found that the body was no longer there and left, but Mary Magdalene remained there, crying. “And Mary was crying outside, by the tomb. (...) And she saw two angels dressed in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and one at the feet. And they asked her: Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them: Because they took my Lord and I don't know where they put Him. And having said that, she turned around, and saw Jesus standing, but she didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her: Mary! She, turning around, said: Rabboni (that is to say, Master). Jesus said to her: Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for? She, thinking it was the gardener, said to him, Lord, if you took it, tell me where you put it and I will take it. Jesus said to her: Mary! She, turning around, said: Rabboni (meaning Master). (John, 20: 15 and 16). Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples that she had seen the Lord. (John, 20: 18).

The other women then arrived at the place where Jesus' tomb would be, and talked with a Spirit who was there: “But the angel, answering, said to the women: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here because he has already risen, as he had said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Mat, 28: 5, 6).

As can be seen, the presence and performance of women was remarkable: “It is true that some women among us marveled us, who at dawn went to the tomb and, not finding His body, returned, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say He lives.” (Luke, 24: 22 and 23).

But, despite Jesus' uplifting lessons, women continued to be dominated, discriminated against, exploited, even within the Christian religions that were formed from the first centuries. This was how the years went by, until the end of the 18th century, the Feminist Movement, prepared by philosophers and writers, appeared at the time of the French Revolution, but soon fell into oblivion.

In 1869, a work appeared in London that touched public opinion, The Subjection of Women, by Stuart Mill, considered the first denunciation of the oppression suffered by women. But even this work was not able to sensitize religious circles: women continued to be treated as subordinates, with no relevant role in the religious sphere. They continued to be exploited.

In the United States, in the city of Cotton, on March 8, 1857, 129 women died in an arson attack by the police who, unable to remove the strikers from inside the factory where they worked, set fire to the place. The strike was motivated by the demand for a reduction in working hours.

Time passed, and it was only in 1910 that the German activist Clara Zetkin, during the Second Annual Conference of Women in Copenhagen, managed to establish Women's Day, in a struggle that continues to the present day.

The Book of Spirits was the first voice that stood up in defense of women's rights in the Christian milieu. Allan Kardec, deeply knowledgeable of Jesus' teachings and examples, regarding respect and compliance for women, dealt with the Superior Spirits with whom he spoke in the preparation of The Book of Spirits, asking a question, the answer to which would be unnecessary for his personal clarification, but that would serve as a warning mainly to those who held religious powers in their hands: “Are men and women equal before God and have the same rights?” The Spirits' answer was clear and concise: "Didn't God grant both the intelligence of good and evil and the faculty to progress?" (L.E – The Book of Spirits - item 817).

The Spiritist position does not appeal to many men who consider themselves superior, especially with regard to reincarnation, which teaches us that we are immortal Spirits, being able to reincarnate as a man or woman, depending on our evolutionary needs.

Faced with the inferiority of women in physical strength, Kardec asks the Spirits with whom he dialogued: “With what purpose is the woman weaker physically than the man?” The Spirits' answer is clear and conclusive: "To determine special functions for them (...)" (L. E., item 819).

But, for further clarification, Kardec still insists: "Doesn't the woman's physical weakness naturally place her under the man's dependence?" The Spirits' answer is clear and leaves no doubt: "God gave strength to some for them to protect the weak and not to enslave them." (The L. E., item 820).

Still to better evidence the non-superiority of men over women, Kardec asks the Spirits: "Will the functions to which women are destined by Nature have an importance as great as those deferred to men?" The Spirits' response was clear and concise: “Yes, and even bigger. It is she who gives him the first notions of life.” (The L. E. item 821). The understanding of this answer by the Spirits occurs perfectly when remembering an expression widely used in the past, given in the face of some serene or noble action of someone: "This creature had education from cradle to grave".

But it was only years later, in 1869, as we have already said, that the work The Subjection of Women, by Stuart Mill, was published, and it awakened public opinion to the theme of equal rights for men and women.

Although it has decreased a lot in recent times, the bad example set by many religions that discriminate against women has negative effects that are easily verified, as can be seen even in the scientific world. For example: very few people know the name of the discoverer of the radio, being known as Madame Curie, only by the name of her husband...

Among today's Christian religions, Spiritism, reviving the examples of Jesus, stands out for fully recognizing the absolute equality of rights between men and women and offers the opportunity to occupy all positions, both in the doctrinal and administrative fields.