Were the Leviticus' laws of cleanliness sexist?

The theme in which women were treated was very disturbing to me as I read through Leviticus and Numbers. The overall treatment of women is appalling. It seems to me that the Bible sets women up to be the excuse for all “MAN’s” sins. Women’s periods are discussed with no care or concern for a women’s feeling. It is sickening to see women treated this way. It appears to me that women are seen as no more than a household pet used for entertainment purposes and breeding, then left to do the daily chores with no regard to their value.

 Rich Deem’s article “Sexism in the Bible: Is Christianity Sexist?” found at http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sexism.html#.UFSxLKMjU8U discusses how the Bible is not really sexist at all. His interpretation of the Hebrew language is very different from what we read and understand in the Bible. For example the word “Ezer” with is a term used to describe Eve as a suitable helper to Adam. The word suitable in the Hebrew language translates to someone completely opposite to themselves, and not the translation we are most commonly accustom to. This website presents many examples of how the “Church” has used the Bible in order to treat women as second class citizens. He however does not address the Leviticus' Laws in his examples. I think this is because there is no way that the Bible is not sexist when it comes to these Leviticus' Laws. Women were treated as second class citizens when Moses wrote these. In some parts of the world women are still treated this way based on these ideas laid out in the Bible.

The second site I used to try to prove my theory of how women are treated in the Bible was http://www.religioustolerance.org/ofe_bibl.htm. This site identifies how women were looked at and defines how women should be treated according to the Old Testament. It gives reference to specific Bible verses to support its findings. Most of the laws listed can be justified by women being the weaker race and how men have to keep women safe. It was Eve’s sin that caused Adam to sin. This theory that women will sin if a man is not around to protect us from ourselves is crazy. I live in the twenty first century. This idea is so far out there for me.

Were the Leviticus laws of cleanliness sexist? Yes. Leviticus chapter 12 verses 1-5 specifically describe how a woman giving birth to a boy child is unclean for far less time than giving birth to a girl baby. Leviticus chapter 27 verses 6 give the worth of a boy infant as being more valuable than a girl infant. Numbers chapter 3 verses 15 don’t even allow females to be counted in the census. It goes on and on. Sexism is very evident in the description of a women’s monthly cycle and how long they are unclean. This in contrast to a man who discharges semen is only uncleaned until night fall. A man is unclean for less than 24 hours but a female on her menstrual cycle is unclean for 14 days at the earliest. It is not hard to see why men in the Bible days would often have more than one wife. Even with the two websites listed, it is clear to me that the Leviticus' Laws very sexist in nature.