Abrahamic Religions Damage To A Women’s Self-Concept & Self-Worth”

For centuries, women have carried the weight of religious systems that both exalt and erase them. As someone who walked with God through two bible based religions and also believes in the restoration of truth, I find myself asking deeper questions—not just about what’s been written, but about how it’s been interpreted, weaponized, and more importantly internalized.

What if many of the limiting beliefs women carry about money, power, voice, and visibility are not psychological in origin, but spiritual? What if they were birthed in scripture—and have been reinforced by systems that insist women are less worthy, less capable, or less divine?

Let’s talk about it.

Because the truth is: across the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even Rastafarianism—there are embedded narratives that have deeply shaped how women see themselves. These traditions often root themselves in the Old Testament or Torah, and it’s from there that many of our earliest messages about gender, power, and worth begin.

As a woman who spent the first 19 years as a pastor’s daughter in evangelical christianity and the next 11 years as a Rastafarian woman, I would like to share with you 10 scriptural narratives that have damaged women’s self-concept and spiritual identity—and continue to influence our lives, businesses, and beliefs even today.

1. Eve as the Source of Sin

“Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” – Genesis 3:6, 16

From the very beginning, woman is framed as the problem. The reason for the fall. The one who “shouldn’t have listened to the serpent.” God’s punishment? Pain in childbirth and submission to a man.

This created a template of guilt and silence—a narrative that said women should obey, not lead. Suffer, not speak. Submit, not rise.

2. Virginity Over Value

“…the men of her city shall stone her to death…because she has done a disgraceful thing…” – Deuteronomy 22:20-21

A woman’s worth was tied to whether her hymen was intact. Let that sink in. Virginity wasn’t just a personal decision—it was a community concern, and her life was on the line.

This ideology still lives in purity culture, shame cycles, and the idea that a woman is only as good as her modesty.

3. Inheritance Goes to the Men

“If a man dies…his inheritance shall pass to his son.” –Numbers 27:8-11

Even wealth was reserved for men. Women could only inherit in the absence of sons, reinforcing the belief that men were the builders, owners, and holders of legacy.

This mindset still shows up when women feel unworthy of wealth, uncomfortable charging for their gifts, or invisible in business.

4. Your Period Makes You Unclean

“When a woman has her regular flow of blood…she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days…” –Leviticus 15:19

Natural biology was deemed impure. Holy spaces were off-limits. She had to isolate. This idea didn’t just control her body—it framed her essence as spiritually inferior.

Rastafarianism continues this tradition. We call this period being “in house”. It is required that a woman on her cycle remain separated from everyone, including her family as she was considered unclean. It is also inappropriate to touch or read any holy books during this time.

Further, anyone who had reason to come into her space (her room, house, etc) or touched anything she touched was also deemed unclean and had to remain separated from others until 6pm that evening.

So many women still carry internalized shame about their cycles, bodies, and sacred femininity.

5. You Can Be a Wife or a Concubine—Pick One

“He had 700 wives…and 300 concubines.” – Genesis 16:1-4, 1 Kings 11:3

Patriarchs like Abraham and Solomon had multiple women, often for status, pleasure, or fertility. Women weren’t partners—they were possessions.

This laid the groundwork for the commodification of women, where we’re seen as valuable only in relation to a man’s desires or goals.

6. Rape Is a Property Crime—Against Her Father

“…he must pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl…”

–Deuteronomy 22:28-29

This one is particularly chilling. A man who raped a virgin could avoid punishment by marrying her. Why? Because the real crime wasn’t the assault—it was damaging another man’s property.

The ripple effects? Women silenced. Justice denied. Trauma spiritualized.

7. Only Men Can Be Priests

God calls Aaron and his sons—not his daughters—to serve as priests.

– Exodus 28, Leviticus 21

Spiritual authority was gendered. Women were excluded from leading, preaching, or mediating the sacred.

This belief still exists today in many denominations and traditions, where women are expected to follow, not speak.

8. The Ideal Woman Never Complains

“She rises while it is yet night…Her husband is known in the gates…She does not eat the bread of idleness.” –Proverbs 31:10-31

While this passage is often quoted in praise, the Proverbs 31 woman is celebrated for being quiet, productive, supportive, and self-sacrificing. She has no voice. No needs. No rest.

It’s perfectionism cloaked in piety—and it teaches women to earn love through over-functioning.

9. Women Are the Ultimate Temptation

Delilah seduced Samson. Jezebel destroyed Israel. Eve led Adam astray.

– Judges 16, 1 Kings 21

The theme? Women = danger. Sex = deception. Female power = destruction.

This toxic lens creates mistrust around female intuition, sensuality, and leadership—and it has cost women their safety, authority, and identity for generations.

10. Daughters Can Be Sacrificed for Honor

Jephthah sacrifices his daughter to fulfill a vow to God. – Judges 11:30-40

Her obedience is praised. Her name is never mentioned. Her death is considered righteous.

This story echoes every time a woman is asked to stay silent, endure abuse, or destroy herself for the sake of religion, family, or appearances.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

We are divine daughters, raised on damaged scripts.

Many of us have inherited subconscious messages that:

  • God prefers men.
  • Our bodies are shameful.
  • Our voices are dangerous.
  • Our leadership is illegitimate.

But what if that’s not the full truth?

What if God never asked us to shrink?
What if spiritual power and feminine identity were never meant to conflict?
What if we are already worthy—without silence, shame, or submission?

We, the Feminine are Rising

Across the world, women are reclaiming the sacred. We’re re-reading the texts, re-claiming our voices, and re-writing the story.

Not because we’re rebelling against God.
But because we’re returning to truth.