Evaluate Feminist Views on the Role and Functions of Religion in Society Today.

Throughout most of documented history women of all cultures and civilizations have lived under patriarchal circumstances. In almost every religion and civilization women's status was not equal to that of a man's. Women in most cultures are looked at as subservient, obedient creatures that were put on this world for very few reasons, mainly to bear children and do what their husbands require of them. In fact, religions are a big part of the reason of this oppression due to the religion's reinforcement and justification of patriarchal conditions. In this week's selected readings from different aspects of Islamic, Byzantine Christian, and Western Christian cultures, it is very apparent as to how these three religions did reinforce and

They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys. Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right, to bodily integrity and autonomy, to be free from sexual violence, to vote, to hold public office, to enter into legal contracts, to have equal rights in family law, to work, to fair wages or equal pay, to have reproductive rights, to own property, to

In these religions there is no gender equality being practiced. There are some religions that have enhanced the activities in Women. The Mormon women in Utah were the first to vote in 1870, but it was later revoked by congress in 1887 (Women’s Suffrage). The Mormon Religion has enhanced the activities of women because they both genders equally. Mormons are one of the few religions that do

May religious women are still not permitted to become priests or are only allowed to work themselves up to a certain level before they hit a religious ‘glass ceiling’, identifying where they want to be, but not being able to reach it due to the constraints set upon them. On the other hand, there are views to suggest that women are no longer oppressed in religion. For example, many cults are run by women and Paganism, from which many New Age religions originate, remains the most female-friendly approach to religion with a strong feminist element, where God is a mixture of male and female, and strong female leadership is common.

Religion is powerful in that it controls followers’ behaviours and beliefs throughout their entire lives; it is a form of social control. Catholicism is one of the most widely known religions influencing more than 2 billion people around the world (Ross). Within Catholicism not everyone are seen as equals; men have greater privilege than women. The bible and church are from a male’s point of view (Christ 86) and passages within the bible are used to enforce a sexual hierarchy. In fact, the oppression of women begins with the first story in Genesis about creation, which portrays females as being inferior to men and even of an evil nature. This one passage is the main source of justification of oppression of woman in the church (Daly 13).

Gender Issues in Religion Amongst the world religions are many different attitudes towards gender issues and sexuality. A hundred years ago, or even a lot less, these different perspectives did not exist, as they were often considered unimportant, as King noted 'until recently little attention has been paid to gender differences and their impact on religious teaching and practice. '[1] With some religions, their scriptures are considered to be infallible and therefore not to be questioned.

Discuss the contribution feminism has made to our understanding of the sociology of religion. Illustrate your arguments with sociological examples.

Gender is a key aspect in anthropology of religion. It is important to understand that there is a clear distinction between sex and gender. Sex is biologically defined and gender is socially constructed. This means that society and culture have influenced the expectations of gender roles. ( Eisenchlas, 2013) In the western society, there is a clear distinction between male and female and what is expected from both gender roles, however the expectations and understandings of genders vary within religions. The understanding and meaning of gender has changed dramatically over time. According to Michelle Zimbalist Kosaldo and Louise Lamphere (1974) many ethnographic studies tell us very little about the role of women within religions, therefore there was limited understanding. The focus on women only came about in the 1970’s and 1980’s when feminist’s studies began to focus on ritual roles, restrictions and menstrual taboos to understand the role of women. The examination of gender roles within Tuareg religion is a good example to demonstrate the dynamic and understanding of gender and religion.

The role of women in religious scripture dictates an inferior position in society. Beginning with the creation of Adam and then Eve, as his helpmate. Her purpose was that Adam would not be lonely. This origin provides the ground work for inequality of genders on the basis of religious scripture. The roles prescribed determined that women should be in a subordinate position to man. The female role and relationship with God is defined by the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the reported actions of Jesus Christ, and finally the Qur'an.

Until recently, women were not allowed to preach or even speak in the Christian Church, but in modern times women are beginning to play a more significant. While sects of Christianity still hold the traditional teachings about women, others have given them equal status within the church, an increasingly accepted interpretation.

In many cultures, such as Judaism, Islam and the Roman Catholic Church, religious leadership positions are reserved for men only because their deities are identified in masculine terms. Female religious specialists are found in societies where women are believed to greatly contribute to the economy, as well as to the gods and goddesses that the culture believes in. Some cultures even go as far to form all-female convents, such as nunneries.

It has always been an interest to me how human rights have been able to evolve over time. Which is why I have chosen the article Married Women’s Legal status in Eighteenth-Century New York and Virginia by Joan R. Gunderson and Gwen Victor Gample. Learning how men and women’s rights differed in earlier centuries, and mostly why they differed has always been a question of interest I had in which this article helped answer in certain ways. I know that up to today even though women have the same legal rights as men; a part of society hasn't been able to enforce those rights clear enough. For example, theres men in society that still believe women should stay at home and care for household duties. However thats mainly under personal beliefs not necessarily under women legal status.

The holy book such as the Bible, Torah and the Qur’an suggest that religion has been around since the existence of man. Both man and woman have made an enormous contribution to the development of religion and both have believed in the higher power as the reason for their existence. With the distinct variation of religion man and women have different roles on their distinct spirituality. However, as seen in the society, men have the same superiority over a woman in religion. Major world religions have excessively diminished women to a degree seeing them as simple helpers of the men. In major religions, women do not have a voice in the place of worship, and they are urged to be subordinate to their husbands. The idea of women as helpers is

By using opiate to describe religion, “he meant that religion, like a drug, makes people happy with their existing conditions. (“17.3 Sociological Perspectives on Religion,” 2017). In the views of Karl Marx, he stated that “religion played an important role in lifting up the existing social structure, as well as, covering the sight of individuals to prevent seeing their lives and social conditions in their society political terms” (Witt, 191-192). Although an interactionalist and a functionalist would disagree with some of the midpoints in Karl Marx’s conflict theory of religion, they share one common perspective on religion by reinstating the idea of how “religion only helps perpetuate a pattern of social inequality” (Witt, 191). Correspondingly,

When talking about religion and gender, sociologists are interested in how the roles of both men and women differ from one another across many different religions. As with many aspects of the world, women generally are at a disadvantage, especially in the religious realm. Sex segregation plays a role in religion and gender. Women and men often hold positions of very different amounts of power.