In the old, gods and goddesses were created to represent survival: female goddesses for female gatherers, male gods for male hunters. Women were considered equal, and perhaps were given special status as they alone could reproduce. When lands were conquered by people armed with male symbols of war and destruction, the mindset shifted to what was never explored before- writing & learning. This became a masculine tool and thus males dominated and women were repressed in religion and in the home. Women went from being fertile, motherly nurturers to being divided into virgins and whores (not to mention witches). Eventually feminism and Wiccan religions, with help from the media, brought the sexual and mystical female back into the spotlight. Women are still seen as property and sexual objects, but also as equal counterparts to men in society/work/sexual strength. Perhaps one of the stronger more threatening images was the androgynous look that women took on, just as men did. Now women can dress, act, look an overall BE how they please- they can have it all, just like men.
At the same time, religions concerning one omniscient God seem to be fading, or at the very least, are being replaced with different images and terms of a more spiritual/new age nature. Does this represent a shift back into the Goddess way of life, or do you think for the first time in a LONG time, that male/female associated religions can thrive together? Will the wise Crone and Holy Spirit finally join forces? Or will an entirely new ‘religion’ emerge that constitutes neither male nor female?