Sex, Religion, And Gender

Feminists see religion as an instrument of patriarchy which means that society is based around male domination; they believe that this is a set of beliefs and practices responsible for women’s subordination. However functionalists believe otherwise and argue that its function is not to oppress women but to keep society stable whilst Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class not females.

In “Sexuality and American Religion,” Kathryn Lofton expands upon the usually restrictive definitions of religion and sexuality. A particularly poignant, yet brief, point that she makes is one for the relationship between economics and religion. This relationship is commonly overlooked in discussions of religion. In fact, in our second lecture, while mapping out the definitions and aspects of religion and sexuality, one student said “Prophet,” which was misunderstood as “profit,” the classes laughed, seemingly at the silliness of profit being a part of religion, but when the class actually began to discuss it, it was no longer a laughing matter.

Gender roles, like all other facets of society, have changed greatly since the Pilgrims landed in 1620. While Christians were the first to practice an Abrahamic religion in what is now the United States, Jews and Muslims quickly followed, and they had to situate themselves within a predominantly Christian societal framework.

Sociologists reject the idea that behavioural differences between men and women are biologically determined. Outline the key grounds for this rejection and discuss what this means for a sociological understanding of gender.

In all parts of the world people have been speaking their minds since the beginning of time in every single race/ethnicity. People have been rioting for the right for equality for as long as time. If it was not one race it was another. In the 1960’s riots had sprung in Los Angeles, Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, and Detroit. All for the same reason that people are beginning to riot about in today’s world for Equality no matter what race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

Religion was involved with many things in a person’s life. It affects things like social status, relationships, the economy, culture, and politics. The complex ideas of religion and politics have shaped societies. The Puritans have set their goal to make their society and way of living connected to God in every way, shape, and form. In the seventeenth century this standard to keep God by your side has deeply affected politics and lawmaking, and has even caused some people to be continuously persecuted. From the strength of their religious beliefs stemmed these radical ideas, which deeply affected lives in the 17th century. Though these ideas were a way of life at one point in time, if these ideas were applied to our government today the

Women of colour were the first to advance frameworks for recognizing the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, and class (11). Frankenberg and hooks share a racist discourse of hyper visibility towards African Americans; however, Frankenberg notes the invisibility towards Asian Americans and Native American minorities (12). Here, race is constructed as a biological category while whiteness embodies superiority. Hooks argues that stereotypes; however inaccurate, are one form of representation for a desired category and project a myth of sameness (341). Stereotypes perpetuate a single story thus excluding any opportunity for unique difference. Categorizations are a fantasy of whiteness that validates the dominant status quo. White supremacists demonstrate an inability to comprehend reason by projecting their inadequacies onto the Other. hooks does not claim white people are evil nor does she intend to evaluate them, rather she is acknowledging the terror she feels in response. Whites feared interracial relationships would erode the colour line and thus segregation was an effective strategy that limited people of colours opportunities to compete in the marketplace or hold political power. Lastly, both scholars criticize the educational systems lack of popular discourse towards multiculturalism in the curricula or media (15).

Have you ever been guilty of listening to a voice of a random caller on the radio who is eager to win tickets to the next Bruno Mars concert or a hopeful caller requesting for a song to play next, and automatically assumed that you knew what race he or she was? Maybe you have had the television on low in the background as you complete a last minute paper. Your eyes are not on the television, but you hear a voice and you are certain that the speaker is a White female or a gay male. This phenomenon is called Linguistic Profiling. Linguistic Profiling is the act of identifying one’s social characteristic based on his or her dialect or accent (Alim, 2005). It may be too easy for one to drawl a conclusion about the sexuality and race of someone based solely on the way he or she sounds.

Throughout the second season of ABC’s American Crime, there were an extreme amount of ways in which race, sexuality, gender, and ethnicity were depicted, troubled, and interrogated. While watching the second season of American Crime in class, it almost seemed as if the entire series was made just to explore each and every component of this course, Ethnics 1010. The series successfully explored through numerous situations with all of these important components that we have discussed throughout the semester. However, there happens to be three specific components that I would like to elaborate on throughout this essay.

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.

We all have some experience with religion. Whether our parents are religious, our own religious views, or others who try and convert you to a religion, we have all come in contact with a religion. But what do sociology and religion have to do with each other? The answer to this question is that religion meets sociology in the affects that it has on an individual or society (Schaefer, Richard T, 2009, pg 323).

In chapter five, I shared a little consecrated religious life. This chapter, I want to share about how those in religious life love because many people are curious that have I ever fall in love with someone? Why I wanted to live in the convent, why I wanted to become a nun, will I not marry in the future? or did I have problem love before? and how can I balance my life without fall in love with someone?

Religion, as defined by the High Court of Australia, is ‘a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005) and can be studied either substantively or functionally (Berger 1974:126). Substantive studies of religion fall predominantly in the realm of theology and are more concerned with defining religious beliefs; their historical accuracy; and the existence of supernatural entities (Holmes, Hughes & Julian 2007:425). Sociology however, concerns itself primarily with the relationship between religion and society, examining religion as a social construction (Van Krieken et al. 2010:350-1) and concerned only with the substance of

I believe gender and religion is a very interesting topic because there are many ways these two topics intermingle and affect each other. There are many ways that one could go about analyzing the complex and ever-changing relationship between religion and gender. It is important to look at the higher spiritual being or beings that are worshiped, the religious leader such as a priest or rabbi, and also the members of a certain religion and asses how gender affects it.

A few relationships tend to be based solely on their partner’s level of attractiveness. We determine how attractive someone is, “ the prejudice of deciding what to do based solely on outward appearance could cost the pursuer the chance of a meaningful relationship” (Modern Day Adages). Although someone is “better” looking doesn’t mean anything when it comes to their character and personality. An “average” person can be more beautiful on the inside than a “better” looking person. As a society, we need to give others the opportunity to show themselves even if they’re “average.”