Assess the View That the Role of Religion Is to Promote Patriarchal Ideology and Maintain the Oppression of Women (18 Marks)

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Assess the view that the role of religion is to promote patriarchal ideology and maintain the oppression of women (18 marks) In this essay I will be assessing the view that the role of religion is to promote patriarchal ideology and maintain the oppression of women. This will include ritual, sacred texts, the set up and history of religion, religious participation and the use of the relationship of religion to wider society. In terms of ritual it can be argued that the custom of female genital mutilation maintains the oppression of women, however, an argument against this is that not all customs are designed to be patriarchal. For example, males in Judaism have their foreskin removed. Another argument that religion maintains the oppression of women in terms of rituals is that in some instances women are not allowed in a sacred place when going through the menstrual period. Also, even in marriage the women have to promise to obey the man in their vow whereas the man doesn’t need to make this promise in their vow. Arguments against the idea that religion maintains the oppression of women is that society is becoming more secular so rituals aren’t so important as they use to be, which means women are no longer oppressed. It can also be argued that it is not the rituals that are patriarchal and that it may just be the use of ritual by men. This means it is not religious rituals that are patriarchal, but instead it is the way in which men use rituals to match their own ideology. Therefore, religious rituals are not intentionally patriarchal. In terms of the use of sacred texts fundamentalists have taken them literally in their attempt to get to the fundamentals of religion and by doing so they maintain a patriarchal ideology and oppress women who break away from this ideology. In juxtaposition, fundamentalism’s use of sacred texts is not representative

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