ABSTRACT
The rhetoric of early Christianity is often very negative in its attitudes to females and femininity, attracting a great deal of attention in the last number of years under the broader heading of gender studies. It is, however, only very recently that discussions of such gender-related topics have also begun to incorporate questions regarding males and masculinity. What is slowly becoming understood is that the proscriptions issued in this rhetoric against women and certain aspects of their behaviour can be read in two ways. The anti-female discourse prevalent in the third and fourth centuries AD does of course indicate a deep suspicion and distrust of the sex. However, such rhetoric also highlights the expectations placed on the opposite sex, including those who constructed the discourse itself. Thus we find the system of patriarchy demanding certain modes of behaviour from those on both sides of the power divide, so that even the upholders of the system are as constrained by their own rules as those they aim to constrain.
