Gemstone Segulot & Financial Reality

All other arguments aside, the truth lights up near the end of Kallah Magazine's responsa to Hirhurim's post:

"and, hey, what woman would want to say no to wearing jewels?"

On one hand, this final reflection points to a real root of the matter regarding gemstone segulot for pregnant women and their fetuses. Historically, it is quite conceivable and very likely that the superstitious idea that gemstones protect pregnant women (and their fetuses) developed as a feminine ploy to extort valuable jewels from husbands. We should pity the uneducated and poor man whose wife has such a passion for jewels that she would inculcate and enforce superstition to acquire them.

On the other hand, perhaps these "protection" jewels provided (and still provide) a measure of financial safety to women who have historically needed (and still need) this "in a man's world". This is particularly true when a woman finds herself embedded within "a man's world" where women are primarily homemakers as opposed to wage earners. Given the historical mistreatment of women by abusive husbands, and the fact that even today, married women are more at risk for being murdered by their husbands than by a stranger, it is understandable how this superstition is allowed to persist. It's like insurance for many women.

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