Abstract
The author argues that a verse of the New Testament spoken by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) should be interpreted as an admonishment to women (and not men) reproaching their head-coverings (and not hairstyles). In attempting to understand the logic of Paul's argument, the author appeals to the work of the anthropologist Carol Delaney, who has studied the system of ideas and practices that constitute the honor-shame code that is pervasive in Mediterranean cultures, particularly as it concerns gender, power and religion. Delaney demonstrates in multiples ways that male honor requires female shame. Women must remain sexually closed and clean rather than open and defiled. By contrast, the fact that men are open and uncovered is a source of pride. Delaney also links the belief in monogensis -- the primacy of the man's seed in reproduction -- to monotheism. Using the work of Anne Carson, the author argues that the society of the contemporary Eastern Mediterranean is similar to Paul's society in its attitudes to the covering and veiling of women and monogenesis. The Pauline statement of anthropology -- that man is the head ("kephal") of woman -- is consonant with the gender constructions of the Mediterranean honor-shame complex. Man, as opposed to woman, is also honor worthy from Paul's interpretation of the Hebrew creation myth. Adapted from the source document.