Women in Patriarchal Religions…Where do WE fit? An Essay about the oppressions perpetuated by patriarchy and religion. In discussing women’s issues and history with oppression and religion, it is important to analyze and discuss the influence and impact of patriarchy. In many nations, patriarchal religion is the primary type of religion, with males leading and often benefiting from practices. Cultural and social beliefs saturate faiths and work to oppress female followers, and certain religious practices keep many women from fulfilling their potential or from living with privileges that other women may have.
The role that women play in Church has always been a misunderstood and heavily scrutinized issue within the church. These negative thoughts may be attributed to the bible’s own scriptures in regards to women. It is widely believed that men are natural born leaders, as that is the way God made them, but modern society has shown us that women can be just as successful in leading, if not more so. Today women serve as positive leaders in politics, business, law and even in some churches as of lately. So why then, do many churches refuse women the right to serve as leaders?
Ultimately this movement would allow for a more meaningful participation of women in the church. A major aspect of feminist theology is ‘feminist hermeneutics’. Hermeneutics is described to be “the science and art of interpretation”, therefore, feminist hermeneutics is the interpretation of the bible, studied by biblical scholars, and argues against the predominately patriarchal nature of the bible. Although there are a variety of approaches within this movement, the most predominant are Liberationist theology and Rejectionist theology. Many aspects of Feminist theology also believe the greatly patriarchal dominated nature of the bible is caused by a ‘Kyriarchy’, which means that a powerful group dominates over and excludes a less powerful group, showing where the male dominance comes from.
The Protestant Church had a large range of roles that differ from the Catholic Church. There are numerous branches of the Protestant church that allow women to enjoy full equality with men, including the right to become ordained ministers. Churches opened positions of authority for women in increasing numbers, giving hope to the idea that full equality between all individuals is in the not-too-distant future. However, women in the Catholic Church aren’t allowed to be priests. Protestant priests can get married.
Using a female character makes it more powerful to challenge the authorities and the norms. The wife likens to the priests who use the literature badly and wrongly to vindicate their acts. The wife’s misusing of literature shows that she is unschooled. The wife shows us herself to be in opposition with the patriarchal society she lives in. When she talks against society’s norms, she talks in a dialogical
Assess the veiw that woman are no longer opressed by religion When it comes to woman and religion there are many arguments that suggest woman are opressed and then many that say woman arent being opressed. Feminist are the main people who suggest woman are being opressed when it comes to religion. Feminist see relgion as patriachal ideology, which is where the men are in power and use religion as a way to get there ideas across. so for example they say man is made in gods image. So this patriachal ideology legitamates gender inequality where woman are concerned as women can not become higher leader in the church the highest women can go is to become a vicar.
Although polygamy is an accepted part of all three religions’ past practice, their modern views on the controversial issue differ, and thus generating much debate among people. Through the examination of all three religions’ historical, medical and feminine perspective on polygamy, a conclusion may finally be reached regarding the contentious issue. Historically, all three religions have accepted polygamy as a part of their religious practice, albeit for different purposes. Within the early Christian society, a casual attitude is
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.
Gender Roles in Religion Gender roles in Christianity can vary considerably today, as they have during the last two millennia. This is especially true with regards to marriage and ministry. Certain Christian traditions ascribe different roles to men and women in certain aspects of church life—as for example in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, where men may serve as priests and women may serve as nuns or sisters, and where women may hold senior positions such as abbess, but not bishop, patriarch or pope. While various conservative Protestant denominations also hold that only men can be ordained as clergy, ordination of women is becoming increasingly common in some Protestant churches. Women have led denominations such as the Salvation Army.
Trible also survey three main approaches to the study of women in Scripture. Though her perspectives may also apply to “intertestamental” and New Testament literature, her main focus is the Hebrew Scriptures (Trible 116). Trible starts off by explaining when Feminists first examined the Bible, special stress laid upon documenting the case against women. She claims that a girl in a family is less desirable in the eyes of her parents than a male child; a girl stays close to her mother, but the father controls her life until he renounce her to another man for marriage. Then the male would have the authority to permit her to be mistreated, even abused, and she has to submit without recourse.