According to Webster’s Dictionary, gender is the property that distinguishes organisms on the basis of their reproductive and social role as well as identity. Social role and identity serve a large part in understanding early Christian texts. Gender was not solely determined by one’s anatomy. Through these texts, one can understand how each social role was constructed and what it took to be masculine or feminine in each culture. This gives us a glimpse of how our gender construction is configured today. These cultures did not define people as male or female based on Christianity. There are many different ways in which someone could have been seen as a male or a female. 

Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas is a good example of this altered gender construction. Perpetua and Felicitas both undergo changes from female to male throughout the story. At the beginning, both have female reproductive parts, and had female social roles. They were, at this point, viewed as women. Their first step to becoming male was when they admitted to being Christian. “Well, so too I cannot be called anything other than what I am, a christina”(Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 1). Christians were viewed, in their own eyes, as more masculine. Perpetua and Felicitas, along with other christians, were then captured for practicing the Christian religion. Once they were captured, they baptized themselves. “During these few days, I was baptized, and I was inspired by the spirits not to ask for any other favor after the water but simply the perseverance of the flesh” (Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 1). This act breaks their womanly ties and shows that the Christian men and women were all shown as equals. They were Christians and their captors were not. This male progression was then halted because Perpetua still had a nursing son. Childbearing is a female characteristic. “ I nursed my baby, who was faint from hunger”(Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 1). This was a sign of weakness as it brought her pain to see her child suffering and also to not be with her child. Perpetua was then allowed to keep the child in the prison with her for the well-being of the child. This allowed her to shed her pain and continue on the path that was ultimately leading her to masculinity. These Christian prisoners were condemed to the arena to be killed by wild animals. Felicitas was eight monthes pregnant. “It was against the law for women with children to be executed” (Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 4). She wanted to battle the beasts ultimately because she wanted to be viewed as a man. “They poured forth a prayer to the Lord in one torrent grief. And immediately after their prayers the birth pains came upon her”(Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 4). This ended her ties to femininity. She was no longer viewed as a female in the eyes of the Christians. In the eyes of the captors, both women were viewed as females. The Christina men were matched with a leopard, a bear and a boar. The women were matched with a heifer. “ For the young women, however, the devil had prepared a mad heifer. This was an unusual animal, but it was chosen that their sex might be matched with that of the beast” (Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 5). Some of the men were killed by the equal matched animals, but both women paired with the womanly creature were not killed. The soldiers had to finish them off. “The others took the sword in silence and without moving”(Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 6). Being penetrated is normally seen as something feminine. Romans wanted to be the man and do the penetrating. If you look at the Messiah of Christianity, Jesus, was killed in a degrading way. It is difficult to follow a penetrated Messiah. Christians changed their views and made penetration something manly. One could be penetrated and be viewed as more of a man. This is why the christians took the sword. They were able to talk death and in their eyes, were viewed as men. At the end, Perpetua was viewed as more of a man than her killer. “She screamed as she was struck on the bone, then she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat. It was as though so great a woman, feared as she was by the unclear spirit, could not be dispatched unless she herself were willing” (Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas 6). The gladiator was not able to penetrate her. He could not kill her. She had to penetrate herself. He was viewed as not a man because of this. She was then viewed as a man in both cultures. Not only was she the one who was doing the penetrating, she was taking the penetration. In the beginning both women were seen as women. Throughout the story the reverted back and forth from male to female. At the end of the story, both women ultimately became men. 

Looking at the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was killed in a degrading way. “And when they crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. Now it was the third hour and they crucified him”( luke 539). This is what changed the view of christians on masculinity. Their messiah had been tortured and killed and was still victorious in the end. “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of god”(luke 539). Their view on masculinity was that you could be be at the losing end and still be classified as a man. Back on the topic of penetration, one that is penetrated could be more masculine than the one doing the penetrating. This is again how Perpetua and Felicities became men. They were penetrated, which to Christians is the ultimate masculine characteristic. To be penetrated was to be like Jesus, and Jesus was divine. 

In the Acts of Paul and Thecla, Thecla undergoes a change similar to that of Perpetua and Felicitas. All three are woman figures that end up as male figures. The difference is that Thecla undergoes a slow change from female to male where as Perpetua and Felicitas switch back and forth between male and female untill the end where they are ultimately male. Just as Perpetua and Felicitas, Thecla begins in a female social role. “ A certain vergin Thecla, the Daughter of Theocleia, betrothed to a man named Thamyris”( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 2). Thecla had already been planed to be married off when the change began. This change started with Paul comming and preaching the word of God to the people. This gave Thecla the initial want for the transformation. Paul was arrested for “depriving young men of wives and maidens of husbands”( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 3). This metamorphosis began when she sneaks into the prison to learn more about christianity form paul. “She went into the prison, and haing given the jailor a silver mirror, she went in beside paul, and, sitting at his feet, she heard the great things of God”( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 4). This was the first step in her conversion to man. Her next step was the cutting of her hair. “I shall cut my hair, and follow thee whithersoever thou mayst go”( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 6). This is a giant step towards manhood. Hair is a major defining characteristic between men and women. The way women wear their hair can show some insight into who they are. Hair length also helps differentiate man and women. women are normally seen with long hair and men are normally seen with short hair. When Thecla changed her appearance to resemble a mans, this shows that she is undertaking a change. She is breaking her womanly ties. Theclas next stride to masculinity would be when she embarrasses Alexander. “Taking hold of Alexander, She tore his cloak, and pulled off his crown, and made him a laughing stock” ( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 6). This is, in a sense, similar to the way Perpetua gained her masculinity. She showed dominance over another male when he was unable to penetrate her with his sword and she had to do it for him. In both cases, the female is dominant over a masculine figure. This helps show their manly characteristics. It proves that they have become more of a man when they dominate over other men. because of her action, Thecla is taken to prison and sentenced to death by wild animal. This is similar to that of Perpetua and Felicitas. All three of the women’s final transformations from female to male occurred in the arena. This is because the arena is a symbol of masculinity. This is because there are many ways one can achieve masculinity in the arena. One can either take it like a man or be the penetrator. Thecla is thrown to the wild animals but is protected by a lioness. Her final shift from male to female then occurs. There is a body of water in the arena. She baptizes herself in this body of water.” Now it is time to wash myself. She threw herself in, saying: In the name of Jesus Christ I am baptized on my last day”( The Acts of Paul and Thecla 8). This is her concluding act that results in her transmogrification from female to male. After this point, she is viewed as male by Paul as well as others. This was the same final result of Pepetua and Felicites. After their death in the arena, Pepetua and Felicites were viewed as men, just as Thecla was viewed as a man after her arena battle.

In the Acts of the Apostles, there is a different Schema of genders. This gender scheme is some what different that that of Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas well as The Gospel of Mark. This gender scheme is separated more by class than action. It basically goes from most holy to least holly in the eyes of the Christians. The most masculine character in this writing would be God. He is the most divine and perfect thus he is the most manly. “ But peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 578). This shows that no other human man should be above God. He is the ultimate virile figure. Next in the order of manliness would be Jesus. He is the son of God. This would make him less masculine than God, but still more divine than any one person. “Him, God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins”(Acts 578). This shows that Jesus is in fact under god as it references him as his right hand. It also implies that Jesus is over all others as it says he is to be prince and savior. Notice it says prince. This would imply that he is not king. In The Gospel of Mark, It references Jesus as the King of the Jews. This shows the differences in the gender construction. In one story he is the ultimate man, and in the other he is not. This is most likely because one is dealing with just an earthly situation, where as in the Acts of the Apostles it is not only dealing with earth, but also the heavens. When mentioned as a prince, it still insinuates that he is over all others. Next in the order of masculinity would be the Apostles.”Then I remembered the word of the lord, how he said, John indeed babtized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit”(Acts 582). This shows that God favors the Apostles over all other men. These are the people he has chosen to spread his word. The next manliness group would be the christians or gentiles. “I have seen you as a light to the gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth”(Acts 548). The Christians are the people that follow God and Jesus. These are the two most masculine figures. They strive to be like them, thus they strive to be manly. They work to be like God and Jesus and in return are favored by them. Apart from the Apostles, these are the most macho of all the people on earth. After the Christians, the jews would be the next most valorous. These people still follow the same God, but do not follow jesus. They are still favored by god, thus are still manlier than others. They still adhere to the same laws as the Christians and hold themselves to high standards. They strive to be like God, the manliest figure, thus are manly themselves. Finally the most feminine would be the non believers and those of other religion. They supposedly do not hold themselves to the high standards that Christians do. The Christians strive to be like he manliest figure that they know. To them, all others fail in comparison. This order from masculine to feminine would be: God, Jesus, Apostles, Christians, Jews, and Finally Non believers and those of other religions. This gender scheme is different than that of Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas of The Gospel of Mark. In both of those stories, Actions of the characters show who is the most masculine. In The Gospel of Mark, Jesus was tortured and died but in the end still came out victorious. THis made him the ultimate masculine figure. In Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas Perpetua and Felicitas took death valiantly, and this made them men. The actions in both of these stories is what made them men. In the Acts of the Apostles, there is a preset order to  masculinity. It does not matter so much what you do, but rather where you fit in society and your beliefs that made you a man. 

In each text,  there are similarties and differences in the construction of gender. Both Martyrdom of Pepetua and Felicites and Acts of the Apostles had distinct constructions of gender. Martyrdom of Pepetua and Felicites constructed gender on the acts of certain individuals. Depending on what those individuals did defined if they were male or female. The Acts of Paul and Thecla was used to compare the change of genders of certain characters. It also showed how similar situations resulted in the same effect because of the construction of gender in Christianity.  The Gospel of Mark was used to show where each gender construction came from in each story. This story helped shape gender construction. It Is why the characters preformed certain acts to minipulate their classification. The Acts of the Apostles was used to to show a different gender arrangement. This organized masculinity by classification of religion. The more holy you were, the more manly you were. There are many different factors that go into determining gender. These past constructions help us understand how the gender constructions of today work.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible.  Fully rev. ed.  Kenneth L. Barker, gen. ed.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.  Print 

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

Martyrdom of Pepetua and Felicites