This was in part because they were so deeply intertwined in the goddess-based religions that they were trying to supplant. Riane Eisler's book Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth and the Politics of the Body is an excellent and really interesting read, talking not just about our history, but how a religion built around denying the body and finding spiritual power in pain rather than pleasure, has warped our societies in all sorts of ways.

Thanks for the shout out as well❣️