...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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...Assess the feminist 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...
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...Evaluate Feminist views on the role of religion in society today The feminist school of thought is not just an ideology nor paradigm that can be accepted; but has been (and may always will be) a growing political movement for the equality of women, fair treatment of females all over the globe and annihilation of the oppression of patriarchy and misogyny. Feminist pioneers include Oakley and Woodhead who are usually the face of modern feminist ideology. There are many different types of feminists in the world today: Liberal, Marxist, Radical and Black feminists all play a part in the fight for female equality with men and many of their fights have been going on for very long times (one such example is the Suffragettes’ fight for the right to vote). The feminist school of thought is a structuralist theory and a macro-theory, focusing on the entire population rather than mere individuals. However feminists do take on board some ideas from micro-theory schools of thought such as their research methods – an example of this is when Ann Oakley conducted (unstructured) interviews with pregnant women for over 9 hours. On the basis of religion, the feminist school of thought (based on its ontological assumptions) would see religion’s role as a patriarchal and misogynistic apparatus of society. It’s possible to go far into history and look at the misogyny of biblical times to support the feminist’s point of patriarchy in society. Christ Jesus had 12 male disciples. King Solomon, nearing...
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...Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today (33 Marks) All over the world religion is portrayed differently giving people many different opinions on it. In general feminists portray the view that women are oppressed by men and they believe that this is enforced through different ways including religion. Feminist believe that religion is a product of patriarchy meaning it serves the purpose of men. This could be suggested due to the majority of religious figures being men including God himself. Some sociologists such as Armstrong (1993) believe that women are marginalised through the church as they are not able to become priests in the catholic religion. They see this as being pushed out of society and discriminated against by men. Although the majority of religious figures are men it cannot be disregarded that there are also important females recognised by religion such as the mother Mary and Mother Teresa who is soon to be a saint. As well as religious figures women are permitted by the Church of England to be ordained since 1992. Religion is seen by some feminists to act as an instrument of domination of society in particular women. Some of the rules that are enforced by certain religions could be seen as unbeneficial to females within the religion. The catholic church enforce such rules as no sex before marriage, no contraception and no abortion even in circumstances such as rape. On the other hand a similar view is seen by Marxists...
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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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...Religious Feminist There is undeniable doubt that there is a sense of inequality towards women in terms of religion. The purpose of this research paper is to discover and understand feminist views on religion, as well as define the term “religious feminist.” In my findings, I have yet to conclude whether being a feminist and being a full devote, faithful follower to a religion can coexist. Although, when researching on the topic of “religion and feminism,” sites such as religionandfeminism.com are full of commentators and scholars who believe otherwise: that there can be such a thing as the religious feminist. However, it seems as though equality within religion is a never-ending battle. Author of Bad Feminist: Take One/ Take Two, Roxanne Gay, describes her favorite definition of feminism as “just women who don’t want to be treated like shit.” (303). Like others, Gay feels as if she falls short of what a true feminist is. The online dictionary describes a feminist as one who advocates social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men. So what does it mean when one claims to be a “bad” feminist? Gay goes on in her excerpt about how some feminist public speakers often contradict themselves when advocating the ideal feminist. Does being a religious feminist mean you are a contradictory? In Kristin Aune’s Why Feminists Are Less Religious, she tries to examine the possibility of feminism leading to women rejecting traditional religion. Aune...
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...Evaluate 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...
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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...
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...usefulness 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...
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...that religions main role is to dull the pain of oppression. They believe that religions act is the opium of the masses, and acts as a drug to ‘dull the pain of oppression’. Religion dumbs the pain of oppression by the promise of paradise in the next life. This shown by the Hindu Caste system where the poor believe that they will be rewarded in their next life. Religion also justifies social order. For example the hymn All things bright and beautiful demonstrates class equalities as ‘The Rich Man in his castle, the poor man at his gate; god made them high or lowly and ordered their estate’. Religion prevents people from attempting change, so the dominant groups can retain their power. Religion is used by the ruling class to justify their position. Marxist believes religion is a tool of class exploitation and oppression. Since religion disguises and legitimates the exploitative relationships of society by implying the world is shaped by god's will, which is therefore unchangeable. Due to religion people don’t attempt to change ‘gods will’ as they are promised rewards in the afterlife which will ease their pain of exploitation. Althusser argues that religion is a conservative force as religion, which prevents change so maintains being an ideological state apparatus, which distorts people’s perception of reality to serve the interests of the ruling class. For example the poor will contain to obey the ruling class, as they believe it is Gods will. He believes that religion provides...
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...One function of religion would come from the functionalist perspective. The function of religious ritual is to maintain social solidarity by affirming the moral superiority of society over its individual members. Durkheim believed that social life could only exist if values were shared and society integrated into a coherent whole. Religion is an important aspect of this process, not only providing a set of unifying practices and beliefs, but also by providing a way in which people can interpret and give meaning to the world. A second view would be the Marxist view, this is a negative view. They say religion is a tool of oppression creating false consciousness and cons people into thinking everything is fair. They believe religion diverts them from focusing on the inequalities in their life and religion would disappear during communism. The reason Marxist think religion distracts people from their currently life is because it promises paradise in their next life. However this is the view of the classical Marxists not the neo Marxists. They argue religion does help social change. The final view on the function of religion comes from feminists. Feminists believe that religion is a patriarchal institution. They criticise the sacred texts as in almost all the world’s religions, the gods are male. (Hindus come close to being an exception, with its female goddesses). Feminists have also been written and interpreted by males by incorporating many traditional male stereotypes and biases...
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...relationship between 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...
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...1. FEMINIST THEORIES OF RELIGIONFOR A2 SOCIOLOGY:BELIEFS IN SOCIETY 2. • Feminists see society as patriarchal- based on male domination.• Many feminists regard religion as also patriarchal that reflects and perpetuates this inequality.• Religious beliefs function as a patriarchal ideology that legitimates female subordination. 3. EVIDENCE OF PATRIARCHYRELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS• They are mainly male dominated despite the fact that women often participate more than men in organisations. For example, Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism forbid women to become priests. Armstrong sees women’s exclusion from the priesthood of most religions as evidence of marginalisation. View slide 4. PLACES OF WORSHIP• They often separate the sexes and marginalise women, e.g. seating them behind screens while the men occupy the central and more sacred spaces.• Women’s participation may be restricted, for example, not being able to preach or to read from sacred texts. Taboos that regard menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth as polluting may also prevent participation. For example, in Islam, menstruating women are not allowed to touch the Qur’an. Holm describes this as the devaluation of women in contemporary religion. View slide 5. SACRED TEXTS• They largely feature the doings of male gods, prophets ect, and are usually written and interpreted by men. Stories often reflect anti-female stereotypes, such as that of Eve who in the Judaeo-Christian story of Genesis, caused by humanity’s fall from grace...
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...Over the past years, there has been a great differ in the views of society and how people see religion and how important and influential it is to our moral values in contemporary societies today. This essay will look at why various different theory ideologies and their ideas about religion, and how it influences us day to day in our lives. The definition of a religion can vary depending on who you ask. The simplest definition of a religion is that for a religion to become a religion, there must be a belief of the supernatural and must also be a belief in God. The functionalists hold a different perspective on religion. Functionalists see religion as being there to fulfil the needs of society for example, functionalists feel that religion sets certain norms and values for society and gives people morals. Durkheim see's religion as something that contributes to society, rather than to any specific belief in god or any supernatural life form. For functionalists, society is a system of interrelated parts with basic needs that must be met in order to survive. Religion plays a key function for society as it creates social solidarity and a value consensus. Durkheim says that the key feature of religion is not a belief in gods or the supernatural, but a fundamental distinction between the sacred and the profane, as long as you see what you worship as sacred then Durkheim says that it is fine to be a religion. Durkheim believes in the collective conscience - a set of shared norms, values...
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...Many feminist sociologists argue that religious institutions and beliefs help legitimise gender inequality. Like Marxists, feminists argue that religion is a source of domination and oppression. However, unlike Marxism, they see religion as a product of patriarchy, rather than capitalism. They argue that religion is patriarchal in that women are exploited by men and seen as subordinate. Feminist sociologists are interested in how women have become subservient and how religion has promoted patriarchy. This view is not just shared by female and feminist sociologists. Anthony Giddens argues that; “The Christian religion is a resolutely male affair in its symbolism as well as its hierarchy. While Mary, the mother of Jesus may sometimes be treated as if she had divine qualities, God is the father, a male figure, and Jesus took the human shape of a man.” Religious texts tend to tell the stories of men rather than women, for example, in the bible, it tells the story of Jesus and in the Qur’an it tells the story of Prophet Muhammad. Women are mentioned in the religious sacred texts but feminists argue that when religious texts do, they often reflect anti-female stereotypes. The story of Eve is an example of this; she was the cause for humanity’s fall from grace and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. However, the stories in religious texts that do contain women portray them with an important role such as Mary, the mother of Jesus and the three women who helped Jesus after he resurrected...
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