Many women are married before puberty, and divorce is easier for men. Women's inheritance is limited to half that of a man. In court, a man's testimony is equal to that of two women. Orthodox Jewish women are legally prevented from questioning a legal system created and continuously defined by men, Lalani writes. They are also precluded from leadership positions.
Law books emphasize control of women because of their evil character.
Women's primary duty is to submit to male authority. In Hinduism, women have access to salvation through devotion to deities. Women build female solidarity and seek alternative sources of religious power by participating in life-cycle rites that focus on the health and prosperity of the family. Even in the more egalitarian Buddhist tradition, cultural biases prevent women from full participation. Buddha preached to women and men, allowed women into religious communities and let them become nuns.