/lit/ - Literature

Saint Isaac the syrian, great ascetics revered in the orthodox church for his universal compassion :

>“There have been not only men (martyrs), but also women and girls who by their nature are attached to this world, to the body and bodily things, and who have been assaulted by all the torture you think of”.
>To the last end, they (the martyrs) did not relax in these torments, neither in thought nor in words. Many of these things which have been written down have been borne by young women and by young girls, whose nature is friendly to the world and attached to the love of the body and to its pleasures, but they have endured it vigorously and have been courageous, evidence of the nobility of their soul, when they were asked to endure all this for the sake of God, as a columnist wrote in his story about them" >Saint Isaac the Syrian , Œuvres spirituelles III, spiritualité orientale n°88, Discours 12
Latter he says these women were "masculine" (i.e. courageous), and then proceed to mock coward who fear more than these women on the spiritual path of asceticism.

It has been universally recognized in all traditional religions :

In the Baghavad Gita for exemple, Krishna says :
>"For, taking refuge in Me, they also, who, O Arjuna, may be of sinful birth—women,Vaisyas as well as Sudras—attain the Supreme Goal!
>How much more easily then the holy Brahmins and devoted royal saints (attain the goal); having obtained this impermanent and unhappy world, do thou worship Me."
>Chant IX, 32-33

I can't quote all the wisdom of our elders since there would be too much to link to, be it the bible (New or Old testament), the veda, the taoism (with the Yin, feminine part of the existence, being the dark one), the jews even (that thanks God for giving them a masculine birth),...

tl;dr : women are the evil pole of the human existence, until modernity everyone agreed on this.