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.
For example, cultural feminists look to the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason why men and women experience the social world differently. Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender difference, including the sexual division of labor in the household. Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as the “other” in patriarchal societies. Women are thus seen as objects and are denied the opportunity for self-realization. Gender Inequality: Gender-inequality theories recognize that women's location in, and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.
She believed that women should be equal to men in relationships. Although Wollstonecraft had an idealistic view of marriage, Tweedy reinforces how marriage is far different from the ideas that we have. She describes elements of love which prevent true reality of what is being seen. Wollstonecraft gives the advice to women readers that they should consider their choices; is having a husband the right choice? Or is a lover better?
In addition, her novel Herland depicts women at their true, full potential in roles equal to men. There are many hidden meanings in Gilman’s Herland that can be found in the characters and setting. I will explore the two themes, independence and evolution, which are central to Gilman’s works, Women and Economics and Herland. In Women and Economics, Gilman stresses the theory that women need to become independent and stop depending on men in order to achieve their true human potential. She points out that women depend on men for survival and that is only seen in the human species.
Analytical response Reading the Handmaid’s Tale as a Feminist text The dystopic novel The Handmaid’s Tale written Margaret Atwood can be read from a feminist perspective. This is evident as the female characters of the novel are controlled by the patriarchal society as the leaders of this society manipulate the truth through the use of the Bible. In the Gileadean society the male is seen as the dominating subject whilst women are used as the other. The female characters believe that is normal for male’s to be the dominating subject. The feminist perspective is relevant and important as it is present in contemporary aspects of society.
Wollstonecraft was an advocate for women’s rights and through this we can see that “modern feminism in the English-speaking world begins with Mary Wollstonecraft’s bold appeals for women’s inclusion in public life overwhelmingly dominated by men”. She challenged views on the roles of males and females at a particular radical time in late eighteenth century England, and argued that the reason for women's inferiority in society was due to their lack of access to proper education. It was fundamental to her beliefs that women would hold a greater place in society through educational opportunities which was in direct contradiction to that of the historical and contemporary opinions held by men about women and women about themselves. This radical perception of Wollstonecraft’s had radical implications across society in relation to the woman’s status in the home, at work and in political circumstances. The perception that Mary Wollstonecraft presented to the late eighteenth century England was a radical notion which debated past ideas about women and their place in society.
Such myths, Beauvoir explains, are derived trough literature and Social beliefs. The construct of the “essence of women” have been grossly misconstrued by a male dominated world. In her essay, she strongly argues about the two-sided opposition of the “self” and “other” through an existentialist perspective, which is through the experience of the human condition. She boldly announces that the male has appointed himself as “self” and the female as “other” in order to gain dominion and authority to call the female inferior, passive, or weak. I will take an in depth look at the contradictions and myths that men have created of women as outlined by Beauvoir.
True Womanhood exemplified in “Light in the Darkness: A Sketch from Life” Women tend to put pressure on themselves to fit the mould of an idealistic woman- whether it's being the perfect mother, wife, sister, and daughter. Even in the mid-nineteenth century, women were expected to exemplify the attributes of True Womanhood in order to maintain a perfect image. According to Barbara Welter, “True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbours and society could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (152). Women from this time period are expected to behave according to these virtues, and also to embrace the “angel of the house” ideal. A woman lacking these virtues is severely looked down upon by society, and is considered a “fallen angel”.
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.
The use of the pronoun ‘He’ could effectively represent men in general as being the main instigators of female oppression this then raises male dominance. In the novel walker uses the step father to further portray how family supported the oppression of their daughters and helped to limit aspirations. The verbal abuse “she ugly,” mentally affected the