Historical Influence

This may not be a religious influence on the image of women in society, but I do know historically the culture in China (dating back as late as the 1500's) also promoted women as being an 'other' to men. The Chinese folk stories from the early modern period (for example writers such as P'u Sung-Ling: a short story writer in 17th century China) described women's jobs to be predominantly focused in raising successful heirs/sons in the family. The focus on male prosperity--and the exclusion of female prosperity--from the folk stories paints a picture of Chinese values in that time period. I think religion plays a great deal in influencing gendered imagery, however I wanted to also add that culture also plays a large role in influencing a societies perception on the matter!

• also I could not recall a different religious story that specifically segregated men and women*

I agree that culture plays an important role in segregation of men and women, especially Asian countries such as China. However, I think overall there is a tendency in any culture to emphasize women's role as reproduction of next generation, so I don't think that's merely a problem for Eastern cultures. I think the gender roles have huge impact in "othering" female, cause women are usually been portrayed as "weak" "soft" "need-saving" or even "not as worthy as male". These particular gender roles put women in the "others" position.