Gender and religion

The concept of gender has been present for hundreds of years and there is a clear distinction

between gender and sex; sex refers to man or woman whereas gender is the term which refers to

‘being’ female or ‘being’ male, the characteristics and attributes associated with each one are

generally consistent throughout the globe however changing in roles dependent on culture. Being

female is associated with terms such as; soft, caring, loving, mothering and bearing and the concept

of male references with being; strong, provider, breadwinner, protector and even emotionally

‘stable’. The actual act of being of a particular gender is described as being due to socialization and

upbringing, we are brought up and nurtured to act a certain way and thus follow certain beliefs and

morals. There are clear distinctions throughout the subsections of society also, workplace roles,

family roles and religious roles all differ greatly by gender. Religion and gender has been studied in

two distinct phases, the first phase includes 1 st and 2nd wave feminism and the second wave includes

3rd wave feminism. Each theorist has differed in opinion and angle but have however came to a

general conclusion; religion serves to incorporate gender roles disadvantaging a particular gender

over another. This link has been studied by various theorists and is still being debated to date.

The strictly feminist view of religion describes religion as being oppressive and demeaning to

females. Gender roles are put in place solely to assert authority over women in religious institutions

and give power to their male counterparts. Western religions tend to give power to males over

females however this does vary dependant on religion in question. Women are found to be

subordinate in religious institutions, most; if not all; power positions are held by males. Males thus

dominate the sphere and teach the community morals and values contingent to their own, this is

said to further allow for segregation in generations to come, unchanging or with slight change at the

best and never truly becoming equal. Feminist perspectives also look at female symbolic roles within

religion, for instance the notion of the male God in orthodox Christianity is said to be a power play

giving power and domination to males. Added to this however critics argue that there are many

religious alternates aiming at women power; paganism for example. Feminist researchers tend to
interoperate and analyse symbols and verses of holy texts and argue against various factors which

they feel need addressed. In the religion of Islam females are viewed negatively for instance when a

woman is menstruating she is not allowed to touch the Holy text (Quran) until her menstruation

stops and she has bathed herself ‘clean’, many verses in the text are centred towards the evil

woman who turns in to ‘Satan’ and we must also state the use of veiling as a culturally accepted

practice however there is no mention of such in the Quran. Other religions also serve to objectify

and control women according to feminists, Catholicism controls women’s sexual liberty; birth control

is frowned upon and disregarded, the notion of having a child out with marriage is a cardinal sin and

one which is described by the verse of Mary Magdalene. There are however religious alternates

which encompass the power of women and use a female as a goddess or hope symbol. Witchcraft is

female oriented and involves many female individuals gaining power through ritualistic prayer and

spells, however this is sadly dampened by the historical evidence of the Salem witch trials where

power was quickly taken from these women as they were burned or even drowned alive; another

example of the degradation of females according to feminist theorists.

Societal views of gender difference and religious practice also lie stringent to these theories.

Women and men both hold very different views centred around religion or towards the notion of

God. For females the God figure has indications of a strong, provider who is caring, loving and

forgiving, however, males have a different view of this altogether. Males see God as almighty,

controlling, powerful and vengeful. These views seem to go hand in hand with views towards males

in general, typically a female will look for the same characteristics in a prospective partner and males

themselves will look to exhibit their views of God as a personality trait thus being recorded as being

masculine and worthy. With regards to attendance, females attend church more often than males

exhibiting a 66% attendance rate. It is seen to be a role of women to attend church, particularly with

children and family members and this act is also seen as being motherly and caring. Many years ago

it was the mothers role to look after her children and make sure that their souls were pure, it was

her responsibility in order for her children to be able to enter heaven had any disease or illness
taken them too soon. This has transpired now in to female attendance high due to expectance of

roles and the view placed upon them. In contrast males who were the sole breadwinners were seen

to be able to take a ‘day off’ from church in order to relax, spending all week at work and providing

for their family had earned them such privilege.

Theorist’ can see that different types of religion favour different genders in certain ways. The

orthodox religions including Christian, Judaism and Buddhism have clear distinct separate views on

what differentiates males and females and this transpires in to these religious institutions

themselves where roles are different and symbols are relevant to specific character traits perceived

to be male or female. Orthodox religions tend to be largely male dominated and contain little if no

females in highly respected roles. The religion itself contains various conservative preaching’s and

women and men occupy very different social roles outside of the church as well as inside, in the

home for example women are expected to work with household tasks while men are served and

cared for, the attraction to this religion by males is easily seen, they are viewed as positively and

strong, hold powerful roles and highly respected however theorists have analysed the attraction

which women feel towards such religions. Orthodox religions contain a large majority of middle to

upper class females, attraction seems to be surrounding social and emotional support and also the

benefits which they ultimately reap from the teachings of the church and its morals it prescribes.

Males are taught generally to help in the home and with the nurturing of their family, they are also

taught to give a high level of respect towards women as women are at the centre of most religious

celebrations. Women also have a level of confidence attached as they are aware of their boundaries

and limits and find male help and support of great benefit.

Liberal religions are found to be a wing in almost every orthodox religion, they differ in the sense

that instead of focusing on the difference in genders they look at the similarities and celebrate the

humanistic aspect of life and religion. Liberal religions have played a significant part in campaigning

for equality for gender and homosexuals and the religious institution itself is a outward projection of

this; religious roles are more spread out in relation to gender dispersion and see many more women
being accepted in to highly respected roles such as ministers and clergy. Female attraction is due to

equality and acceptance giving them a higher sense of belonging, females feel like they are on par

with their male counterparts and that they are in equal standing for competition and acceptance. In

contrast analysts have discussed the attraction as it stands for males and theorize that males can

become more in touch with their feminine side in a way which is not possible in normal societal

rules.

Finally, Spiritual religions have become a way in which gender roles severely differentiate from the

norm of orthodox religion. Many spiritual religions celebrate a single gender and many celebrate

both, for example Wicca is female oriented whereas the American promise league is male oriented.

There are obviously spiritual cults, sects and movements where both genders are included on a

more equal level however this category enjoys a more experimental scope in which to try out

different gender and social roles. New religious movements come in to this category and thus it is

said that spiritual roles are less restrictive on normal everyday societal life.

In conclusion many religions have different stances on the gender debate, it would not be accurate

to state that females are disadvantage and such reasons as to why. Many religions see a total

reversal of roles and male individuals tend to be those who are submissive. To state that there is one

explanation as to why this occurs would be wrong – society is ever changing and as with post-

modern views on the increase religious institutions seem to be modernizing in many ways.

Homosexuality is accepted and it is only very recently that same sex couples could marry in a church,

Catholicism is far more accepting towards contraception where as women who became pregnant

before marriage were doomed to a life inside nunneries, they are now able to live a normal

communal lifestyle in society. If such aspects are slowly changing we must ask ourselves the

question of whether religion will become truly equal in terms of gender acceptance, if this could

happen then it is possible for it to occur in the wider society and possible that we may see a gender

acceptance across the globe. Whether that will occur however is very difficult to answer, the

probability is that we may never have total acceptance of gender however with recent and coming
laws which are passing we may see a closer move to acceptance than we ever predicted possible

some thirty or forty years ago. The question remains; does inequality in religion exist, or is this

simply another feminist panic over analysed and biasedly so?