For years, women have suffered through gender inequality at the hands of men. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, which takes place in a community of Puritans, women were expected to be the perfect, pure, and as close to saintly, housewife. If a woman committed a sin, it was taken a lot worse than when a man did. If Dimmesdale had owned up to being the father of Hester’s child, the outcome and the punishment would have been more severe for Hester, and not as bad for Dimmesdale, because Dimmesdale is a priest, Hester is a woman, and the Puritan religion was the Law. Dimmesdale being a priest gave him the trust of the people; therefore the benefit of the doubt came with it. "'People say,' said another, 'that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to his heart that such a scandal has come upon his congregation." (Chapter II, 'The Market-Place'). Dimmesdale was a priest. His position meant that he was held on a high pedestal where he could do no wrong. There is a possibility that even if he did confess earlier than he did, he would have been pardoned by the town. Dimmesdale was a powerful speaker able to sway an audience. If he wanted to, Dimmesdale could have convinced the town that her seduction of him was the Devil’s work, clearing himself of fault. Dimmesdale was a man, more importantly, a man with a high position. That combination would have gotten him out of trouble and Hester into more trouble, especially since she was a woman. Hester being a woman put her at a disadvantage. The Puritans, like many societies in this time period, believed that women were culturally inferior to men (education-portal.com). Because of the gender inequality, Hester’s wrong-doing is seen as a woman’s weakness and lack of control, while Dimmesdale’s is simply him being a man. "One token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another." (Chapter II, 'The Market-Place'). Hester would have been seen