Goddess Movement Research Paper

Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This

The classic Greek myths found in Mythology and ancient stories told in the Bible, often show striking resemblance to each other in narrative, symbolism, and thematic content. In both texts’ respective “Creation Stories”, women are portrayed similarly, cast in a rather unflattering light. The representation of women in both Mythology and the Bible and their portrayal has lasting impact on the way woman are perceived in the present day.

Holly Brubach’s article, “Immaculate Perception,” is, in fact, an exploration of the Virgin Mary cult. Only, not a cult in the inflammatory sense of which people are accustomed. Rather, a cult in terms of an abstracted, deep-seated idolatry. Being the “cornerstone of ideal womanhood,” men and women of Catholic faith sanctify the Virgin Mary (Brubach, 130). However, doing so, does not come without consequence. Women of Catholic faith expected to meet the impossible standards of the Virgin Mary. How can anyone top giving birth to Jesus Christ? Nonetheless, women are expected to be the perfect wife and mother, along with submissive and asexual. Essentially, maintain “gender roles, behaviors, attitudes, and experiences [that] are defined as normal

The Greek and Roman societies were a very patriarchal society. This is reflected throughout the myths in classical mythology. By looking at the many pieces of literature involving Greeks and Romans we will see that the roles women portrayed are very different from women’s roles in today’s society. Although there are a few similarities to women’s roles in today’s society, their roles are more like those women in the past. We can see this by looking at the qualities of Greek and Roman female gods and looking at the roles women play in the myths.

The following paper will include evidence from Godey’s Lady’s Book and other academic sources to argue how the Cult of True Womanhood was strongly influenced by Christianity attitudes. Editor Sarah Josepha Hale goes against Christianity beliefs of domesticity and fights to end the gender binary by making contributions towards women entering and competing in the public sphere.

Kate Bagley and Kathleen McIntosh wrote a thought-provoking book that compiles the experiences and struggles of dozens of women within differing religious traditions. Each women’s account is unique in how they choose to deal with their personal realities and how their religions are able or failed to help them cope with those realities. Each woman had to make the choice to either accept their religion exactly the way it is, to reform their religious tradition, or to reject institutionalized religions completely and find their own path to experience the divine. The women I am highlighting demonstrate each response and show that there are multiple ways to encounter the sacred. The women’s story that I am looking at first is Inéz Hernández-Ávila and her struggle to reclaim her Native American and Aztec heritage.

We have always learned about the history and it always has to do with men. The role they had and what they contribute to the society. However, this is not only a man’s world but also a woman’s. Women’s contributions are equally important for the development of the society. Similarly, in the book assigned Oglala Women Myth, Ritual and Reality by Marla N. Powers, demonstrates the life of women from a Lakota tribe and what their gender role contributes to the tribe and to their families and religions. Furthermore, Power tries to educate her reader about the gender and diversity of world 's religion through her book.

“Although some practitioners see Wicca as the revival of an ancient tradition, it can also be described as a new religion focused on empowering women to create positive change. And although not all ecofeminists would characterize their movement as religious, it does have a spiritual dimension insofar as it holds the natural world to be sacred. All the movements and practices discussed here envision women as central; in addition, unlike many more traditional religions, none of them consider women to be evil or stupid. Yet no two of them see women in exactly the same way.”(Anderson, 295).

Greco-Roman mythology displays a tendency toward depicting women as either radically weak and submissive or radically monstrous. In this way, Greco-Roman mythology reflects the ambiguous position of women in Greek and Roman societies. Female weakness reflects the overwhelming power of men, while monstrousness and rage seem the only ways women can rebel against the existing social order.

In her book Feminism and Religion, Rita M. Gross provides readers with an introduction to the need for, and benefits of, androgynous scholarship in the field of religious studies. Gross strives to make readers aware of the dangers of androcentric, Eurocentric scholarship. Moreover, she advances the claim that, “properly pursued, the field of religious studies involves study of all major religions found in human history” and an equal representation of both men’s and women’s religious experiences (Gross 1-4). Because androcentrism has permeated both religion and scholarship for the greater part of history, Gross strives to correct and augment this perspective with illuminating examples of what she deems “proper” religious scholarship –

The woman as a divine being and a consolidator of every belief that adheres to divinity is defined and explained in both Karen Christina Lang’s Images of Women in Early Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism and in Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Gospels. As analysis of religious beliefs, the works define the religious and cultural relevance of the woman in the origins of both Buddhism and Gnosticism, as well as the effects that the patriarchal society has changed in this original belief system. Both literatures assert that the role of the woman in religion serve the purpose of being the divine – or the evidence that Gnosticism is a symbol of the feminine, of celebrating the woman as the most significant element that created the world view as well as beliefs. The traditions set forth by both Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism all adhere to the celebration of the woman, her power, her purity, and her importance in shaping the world, and the men who have to purposely oblige to this belief and to create the tradition which the community should follow. Hence, both Lang and Pagels identified that woman, in her own vestal powers, is the main exhibitor of religious participation as well as the symbol of wisdom in humanity.

This phenomenon is most visible in the popular conferences organized by women spiritual and religious leaders. Just as important are those meeting privately to meditate and pray, to study the world, and to support each other in social action. These gatherings share a commitment to a universal spirituality that affirms women's bonds across ethnic and religious boundaries. They're also exploring a new feminine paradigm of power that's based on tolerance, mutuality, and reverence for nature -- values they now see as crucial to curing the global pathologies of poverty and

When a boy named Courage shatters his confinement within a holy jewel, he is tasked with searching for gems called Sacred Emeralds that has been lost for years beyond count. A nameless evil lurks within the shadows of planet Venusia and its inhabitants needs the hero's help if all is to end well. Goddess Flowerensia depends upon Courage to venture into territory unknown to him to save the people and creatures of her kingdom, Velmelkia, if they are in danger by becoming a knight. Will the hero succeed in his endeavor? Or will he succumb to the evil that threatens the dwellers of the goddess's blessed

For the past centuries, many researchers dedicated their time and scholarly work to reveal more about myth universes and how they developed throughout the history. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, archeologists and other prehistorians proposed the idea that once there was a Great Goddess who defined the meaning of the Mother Earth. The Great Goddess was powerful and fertile: As the time went by and the societies evolved, she gave birth to many secondary goddesses, and blessed them with her powers. However, instead of possessing all of the Great Goddess’ extraordinary abilities, these secondary goddesses played specialized roles within mythology universes they belonged in. For example, Greek Goddess Hera owned the role of marriage protector,

Int the article “The Medium and Her Message: A study of Spiritualism at Lily Dale, New York”, the author presupposed that a large number of well known intellectuals as well as the illiterates became involved in the movement as a way to “bolster their own flagging faith in an afterlife or because of a desire to explore psychic phenomena.”(P. Richard and Adato, pg. 38) Likewise, the Spiritualism became a new source of female empowerment Previously, women status was essentially as slaves and property with their father or husband as their owners. The American society ran on a patriarchal system that suppressed women. They were “Powerless and marginalized, their interaction with much of the world was as mute observers.” (Parizo, 01) Yet, their role