Women were involved in the celibate enterprise as early as men. And in Christianity's first recognisably celibate group – which appeared in Syria in the second century – we see celibacy offering female believers liberating opportunities.
Syria was a pioneer in Christian music, and the involvement of women as well as men in public musical activity within the group radically infringed gender conventions in the Graeco-Roman world that women should keep silent in public. These proto-nuns were preserved from scandal by the holiness of their celibate state.
That's not to say, however, that early nuns didn't run into tensions with conventional male society. They could face misogynistic hostility, even from monks worried about their own emotions. One Egyptian monk turned aside from the road to avoid meeting some travelling nuns.…
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Bbc History (Digital) - 1 Issue, Christmas 2024