...Mark) Statistics have shown that women tent to be more religious than men across most cultures globally. This is reflected by the Church Census records as it shows that participation in churches and denominations in England and Wales between 1979 and 2005 women were consistently more likely to attend. There are various reasons why females are more religious than men ranging from socialization, exploitation to patriarchy in traditional religions. Women’s sexuality has always been a dangerous factor in religion; this is because women menstruate and give birth they are considered to have a great capacity to pollute religious rituals. This can be seen in the Adam and Eve story in Christianity as Eve has ‘seduced’ Adam in order to eat the apple which God had forbidden to do so. This shows that the presence of a female can distract men from performing religious rituals and worshipping God. Bird argues that sexuality is an important factor in many religions. In Roman Catholic churches priests are expected to be celibate meaning they have to deliberately refrain from sexual activity while in other religions such as Islam are opposed to homosexuality. This means that in order for priests to carry out their duty appropriately there needs to be a degree of policing of the body; and the presence of women makes it more difficult. Due to patriarchal ideologies women have refrained from serving as priests in many of the traditional and great religions – until recently. Religious organisations...
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...William McCravy Religion 134 6 December 2015 Introduction A religion our modern world, believers of different religions responds to many different challenges in today’s world. This paper to covered common characteristics of religion that share with each other, how a specific religion is responding to challenges in the modern world and what have changed about the roles of women over time. As times change, so do people’s views and attitudes about religion. What are common characteristics the assigned religion shares with the others? There are numerous common characteristics religion share with other religions. All religions pretty much exist on the belief of its followers, religious prophecies, ceremonies, texts and writings. Most religions believe in spirits, gods or even one God, a higher power in which created everything that exists. Other characteristics which religions share, they all have a requirement of certain rituals and traditions for individuals and certain faith communities. Religions also help humans cope and deal with the cycle of life and death. All religions promote great moral codes and values for individuals and people of their faith. All religions have the promise of peace with in an individual regardless of how life can be. Most religions share the theme of helping people that are suffering from illness, being poor and less fortunate while always showing compassion. Almost every religion has a God that is the supreme judge for the way in which we...
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...of feminist theories of religion. (33 marks) Like Marxist’s, feminists believe that religion can be an instrument of alienation and oppression , the key difference between Marxist theories of religion and feminism is that feminist’s believe religion exists to serve patriarchy as opposed to capitalism. The key feminist thinkers of religion are, Mary Daly, Simone de Beauvoir, Karen Armstrong, Jean Holme and Nawal El Sadawi. They all think that the church has and continues to support inequalities between men and women, this is due to the fact that the teachings benefit men more than women, the main concerns of feminists are religious organisations, place of worship, sacred texts and religious laws and customs. However, another area for concern are the religious professionals, these have traditionally been male and women have not been able to become priests or rabbi’s and were only able to be adorned in 1992 however, this is slowly changing with the vote for female bishops being passed, we should be seeing female bishops before the end of the year. Whilst women remain the main attendees of the church, they still are restricted within their roles, whilst men’s roles within the church tend to be primary, i.e. priest or organ player, women’s roles tend to be behind the scenes and secondary. The place of worship can be very problematic for females, especially of the Jewish faith as they are not allowed to touch their holy book, the Torah. Within religion, females are limited to...
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...Carolina Oquendo Sociology of Gender Final Project Gender roles in religion have always been a controversial topic. All of the major world religions belittle women to some degree. It is not a secret that women have historically gotten the short end of the stick, so to speak, when it comes to how they are treated and viewed in religion. After researching this topic, I can safely say that the women do all the work and the men take all the credit. Women are treated less than equal to men in most religious settings. Below I will touch upon women’s roles in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Rastafari Movement, Mormonism and Islam and how they have in fact, gotten the “short end of the stick” and how women have been belittled in every major religion. Christianity is a religion wholly based on the life teachings of Jesus Christ as presented by the gospel. Followers of this faith, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the son of God. They refer to Jesus as Christ or the Messiah. There are many denominations within Christianity. Some of these include Catholicism, Orthodox, Protestant and Restorationists. The Roman Catholic Church is headed by the pope. Catholics believe that there is one holy catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus. The Protestants are people that separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th century. They often refer to themselves as being born again and when asked what religion they follow, they answer that they are Christian. All these...
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...Task Essay Question(s): Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today (18marks) Patriarchal Vehicle Evidence of patriarchy; * Sacred text, places of worship etc. Woodhead, Armstrong etc Criticism and strengths. Task Essay Question(s): Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today (18marks) Patriarchal Vehicle Evidence of patriarchy; * Sacred text, places of worship etc. Woodhead, Armstrong etc Criticism and strengths. Evaluate postmodernist explanations of the role & functions of religion in contemporary society (33marks) (Plan and case) Evaluate postmodernist explanations of the role & functions of religion in contemporary society (33marks) (Plan and case) Feminists see religion as a patriarchal institution; maintaining male dominance over women by allowing them to believe that it is their divine right to dominate. As well as this, they believe that religion functions as a patriarchal ideology that is a vehicle that perpetuates inequity and such beliefs legitimizes female subservience and oppression. El Saadawi, says that religion is distorted to acquiesce patriarchal domination in which they exploit women in multiple ways; prostitution, slavery and abortion. However, functionalists believe otherwise and argue that its function is not to oppress women but necessary as to keep society stable whilst Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class and serves capitalism not females...
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...gender and religion (33marks) Many feminists view religion as a patriarchal institution that reflects and perpetuates this inequality. There is much evidence of this female subordination in religion; They are male dominated and in Orthodox Catholicism and Judaism women are forbidden to become priests. Also Christianity teaches that men made in ‘the image and glory of God’ and women made ‘for the glory of man. This is supported by the Old Testament which states ‘...for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.’ There are many female characters in the biblical texts and some are portrayed as acting charitably or bravely, however the primary roles are reserved for males and most female roles are either evil (Eve) or subordinate (Mary). Similarly in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam contends that ‘men are in charge of women’. Even Christianity and Buddhism are dominated by a patriarchal power structure in which the feminine is mainly associated with the secular, powerless, profane and imperfect. Even women’s bodies and sexuality are felt to be dangerous by many religious. Because women menstruate and give birth, they are considered to have the capacity to ‘pollute’ religious rituals. The presence of women is seen to distract men from their important roles involving worship. Even though there is evidence to suggest that religious institutions have patriarchal values, it should not be assumed that all religions are equally oppressive to women. Gender-neutral...
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...Assess feminist views on the role and function of religion (33 marks) Feminists regard religion as a main component in the perpetuation of patriarchy in contemporary society, it perpetuates oppressive gender roles, marginalises women and ensures male domination is retained. In terms of the structure of religious organisations, feminists point to the fact that they are male dominated, even though women often make up more of the attendees, often men will occupy the more central and sacred positions in places of worship. This reinforces the subordination of women, and their exclusion from sacred practices mirrors their continued exclusion from high ranking careers, specifically in politics, via the glass ceiling effect. Armstrong identifies women’s exclusion from priesthood in most traditional religions as undeniable evidence of marginalisation, such as in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church. This argument is credible, the marginalisation of women is rife in religion, Islam for example, in which female Muslims are not allowed to touch the Quran whilst on their period. Holm describes this as the devaluation of women in contemporary religion. Disregarding the blatant sexism in religious structures, feminists point to the patriarchy reinforced by monotheistic religious texts, Judaism and Islam for example. The sacred texts, The Bible, Torah and Koran for example, are all written by men, featuring male gods and male prophets. On top of this male domination, the female sex is...
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...Evaluate feminist views on the role of religion in society today. (33 marks) Feminists argue that in religion there is evidence of an oppression against women. Feminists highlight four main ways in which religion oppresses and subordinates’ women, these are: Sacred texts (feature predominantly male gods and profits as well as being written and interpreted by men. Women in sacred texts are presented in a negative light.); Places of worship (There are often rules preventing women from participating fully, for example, in Islam, women are not able to touch the Qur’an); Religious organization and hierarchy (male dominated- Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism forbid women to become priests); and religious laws and customs (Many religions legitimate and regulate women’s traditional domestic and reproductive role e.g. Catholic Church bans abortion and artificial contraception). These examples clearly show that there is a gender issue in religion, however are these feminist views as valid in todays society as in the past? Some would say that feminist views on the role of religion are valid as they do recognise gender inequality in religion. It is clear that religion is extremely patriarchal from the teachings to the hierarchy. Within religious organisations, women are often found at the bottom of the career ladder, facing the same glass ceiling barrier of prejudice and discrimination that stops them from rising higher up the hierarchy in the workplace. Despite legal obstacles...
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...between gender and religion 33marks Although there is only one God in most contemporary religions, Hinduism being an exception, men and women tend to view that God differently. Davie showed that women see God more as a God love, comfort and forgiveness whereas men tend to see more as a God of power and control. It could be argued that these traits that men and women tend to associate with God are similar to typical masculine and feminine values e.g. Power and control is stereotypically a male trait. In the majority of religions, males are given the more significant roles. An example of this is Christianity which is seen as inherently patriarchal with men made in ‘the image and glory of God’ and women made ‘for the glory of man. This is supported by the Old Testament which states ‘...for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.’ There are many female characters in the biblical texts and some are portrayed as acting charitably or bravely, however the primary roles are reserved for males. All the most significant Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Moses are male, while in the New Testament all the apostles are men. The most prominent females in the Bible, Eve and Mary mother of Jesus can be interpreted as reinforcing patriarchal idea regarding, on one hand, the dangers of female sexuality and on the other, the virtues of motherhood. Similarly in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam contends that ‘men are in charge of women’. Even Christianity...
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...feminist views on the role of religion in society today. [33 marks] Feminism is a structural theory that takes a conflict view upon society. They view religion as a socially constructed institution in society that promotes patriarchy and is a tool used by men to oppress women. Feminism point out that religion is founded upon male-values, and use the example of Mary Magdalen’s unknown marriage to Jesus as a key point. However, some may point out that Feminist views on religion are outdated as religion today is less prevalent and no longer holds these patriarchal values as they previously have, and if there are any left, they are quickly disappearing. Firstly, a strength of Feminist views on religion is that they have recognised and criticised the inequality that is prevalent in religious organisations. They point out that women are not allowed access to the upper positions in the religious hierarchy in many of the traditional religions. For example, Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism forbid women to become priests. Karen Armstrong says to this that ‘the exclusion of women from the priesthood as evidence of their marginalisation’. On the other hand, the Church of England allowed for female vicars in 1994, and more recently in 2014/5, allowed for female bishops, with Libby Lane being the first. In addition, on the 12th January 2016, New Jersey Synagogue announced that they had hired the first female Orthodox Rabbi. However, one could point out that although women can today become...
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...Feminists describe religion as patriarchal and a way of legitimising female subordination. Feminists believe that religion oppresses women and that religion is also a way of justifying female subordination by giving better promises of greater rewards later in a sexless life . However, functionalists argue that its function is not to oppress women but to keep society stable.and Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class and serves capitalism not women Feminists argue that women’s oppression is shown in almost every religion and criticise the religious organisations,places of worship,sacred texts and religious laws and customs of all religions. They argue that women put most efforts into religious organisations yet it is quite male dominated .Armstrong uses Judaism and Catholicism as good examples of where women are forbidden from priesthood . Places of worship today still remain segregated between both men and women and e.g. in Islam , women tend to pray behind men in prayers while women cannot preach or lead prayers while men are present,in Islam menstruation is considered as “unclean” and are not allowed to touch the Quaran during menstruation. sacred texts are also quite male dominated as they mostly feature male gods and are usually red and interpreted by men most of the time. In most religion laws and customs women did not have as many male rights e.g. in divorce and the way to dress. All these teachings of religions make it clear that women are inferior...
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...participation. Sociologists have put forward several explanations for gender differences in religious belief and practice however these tend to focus on the reasons for women’s relatively high levels of participation rather than men’s lower levels. While the priesthoods of most religions are male, more women than men participate in religious activities and believe in God. For example, in 2005, 1.8 million women in England were churchgoers, as against only 1.36 million men. Miller and Hoffman (1995) identify two main theories explaining women’s greater religiosity. Firstly there is differential socialisation where women are taught to be more submissive and passive than men and these characteristics are associated with being more religious. Traditional religions tend to expect their followers to be passive and obedient. The second theory is structural location where women take part in religion because of their social roles. Men are more likely to take on the instrumental role whereas the women take on the expressive role. This gives women more time for church-related jobs. However as sociologists go on to quote this research and take these factors into account they have criticised it for no fully explaining why women are more religious than men. Greeley (1992) argues that taking care of other family members increases women’s religiosity because it involves responsibility for their ‘ultimate’ welfare as well as their everyday needs. Similarly, Davie (1994) argues that women’s closer...
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...views on the role of religion in society today (18 marks: AO1: 6, AO2: 12) This question is asking you to examine the strengths/limitations of feminism in comparison to other social theories. You will need to critically analyse and evaluate the following claims in your essay. * Feminist theorists argue that religion is a: Instrument of domination A product of patriarchy Serves the interest of men * Women are always unequal to men in terms of: Institutions – leadership and hierarchy Representation – culture, in scriptures. Attitudes and beliefs - socialisation Item A Sociologists disagree about the role of religion in society. Functionalists, for example, see religion mainly as a positive force. However, Marxists see religion as a tool of capitalism. They argue that it acts to justify inequality, helping to keep the poor satisfied by giving them hope of better times to come and preventing social unrest and revolution. Feminists see religion as a force for subordination and patriarchal oppression. This view is supported by evidence such as the differential treatment of women in religious congregations. Other sociologists argue that such evidence is out of date and that women are no longer the victims of religious oppression. Introduction Briefly explain the feminist view of religion– negative – patriarchy – conservative force. Briefly compare to the Marxist view as it is similar. Feminists show us the negative elements of religion but fail to...
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...Comparative Religion Final Exam 3. Compare the ways that Eastern and Western religions deal with the animal world. To what extent do these practices reflect a respect for life? Western revealed religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, human nature has a set of external checks and balances. Eastern religions, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, more focus on improving the self-cultivation. Human beings should be kings upon the animals’ world in western religions. When God created the real world, God created animals, but all the animals don’t have the intelligence, but the human beings have the intelligence, so God created human, let them control the animals’ world. Because only people worship their God, only people can communicate with the God. People always use the animals to offer up a sacrifice in these three religions. In eastern religions, people are living with all the animals, and all the human beings and animals need to be focus the rule “coming again and again”. In Buddhism, Buddhists pursue nirvana and assert that Elysium is the final destination, so people cannot kill the animals, just because they are all have life, everything which was alive, that cannot be killed, should be respected. In Taoism, Lao Tzu said, “when people was born, they are so kind.” So in these three religions in eastern, people always respect the animals, and make a balance of the nature world. In eastern religions, they believe in saints’ conscientious. But in western...
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...Modern Challenges XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX REL/134 March 23, 2015 Professor XXXXXXXXXXXX Modern Challenges Out of the many religions of the world and that were focused on during this class, I chose to focus on Christianity, specifically Catholicism. As the oldest Christian religion and notably the most unique and specific, Catholicism is revered throughout the world. It is the most talked about, both in society and religiously and the most controversial among the different Christian religions. As a world religion, there are some similarities that are shared with the other religions. The first similarity is the deity God that is worships. Among the Christian, Jewish and Islam world, God is the only deity that is worshipped. How he is viewed and worshipped is the only difference. The second similarity is between the Jewish, Islam and Catholic religions. This similarity is the traditions and rituals. Even though these traditions and rituals are performed in different ways and for different reasons, they are the foundation that holds our religions together. Finally the last similarity between the Christian, Jewish, Islam and Catholic faiths is that they originated from the same genealogy. In the Bible the reader gets to the story of Abraham. It is during this story that two faiths emerge, Jewish (Hebrew) and the Islam religion. The rest of the Bible focuses on the Jewish history and leaves behind Islam. However, it is during the time after Jesus’ death that the reader is introduced...
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