For many individuals, Religion appears at odds with feminist ideals and providing equal rights for men and women; I am one of those people. As a young girl, I never really took religion seriously: to me it was something I had to do every Sunday and alternate Thursday evenings for an hour. Born and raised Roman Catholic, Sunday school was filled with the sways of my feet brushing the floor while picking at my nails and absentmindedly reciting hymns that had been assigned for memorization. In my early teen years as a youth group leader, I began to seriously question this religion I had become associated with, but was urged make the sacrament of Confirmation so that I could marry in the Catholic Church if I wanted. Present-day, I have only furthered my distance from religion in general. Lately, reasons for my anti-religious attitude have included non-belief, qualms with institutionalizing personal matters such as faith, and calling into question the ability of religious texts to provide and promote a level playing field for the sexes. I do not consider myself a crazed feminist who feels that all humans should be considered asexual beings: I do feel that there are traditional characteristics that the majority of women should (and will) play into (I will allow my boyfriend to treat me to a meal if he so desires). However, I consider the problem to arise when a woman’s “proper place” is dictated as such by an outside voice – whether that voice is male, female, societal, or textual. I have come to see religion in this light: both in structure and in language, many religions place the emphasis and preference on the male gender (e.g. Eve as a sinner, male-only priests, Mary Magdalene labeled as a prostitute).
Similarly, my first en...
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...brace Muslim Faith.” The Independent. Accessed 18 Feb from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-islamification-of-britain-record-numbers-embrace-muslim-faith-2175178.html
“Tony Blair’s Sister-in-Law Lauren Booth Converts to Islam After a ‘Holy Experience’ in Iran” (2010). Mail Online. Accessed 18 Feb from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323278/Tony-Blairs-sister-law-Lauren-Booth-converts-Islam-holy-experience-Iran.html
van Nieuwkerk, Karen (2006). Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Accessed 14 Apr from http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/Z5254C.pdf
“Why ARE so many modern British Career women converting to Islam?” (2010). Mail Online. Accessed 18 Feb from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1324039/Like-Lauren-Booth-ARE-modern-British-career-women-converting-Islam.html
Yahyaoui Krivenko, Ekaterina. Women, Islam And International Law : Within The Context Of The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
Muslim women living in the US: A pilot study. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 10(3), 257–262. doi:10.1080/13694670600630556
Muslim Women and Western Ideas of Feminism Western feminists aim for completely equal rights for men and women. They want to liberate women from perceived oppressions from men. Their aims are to give women completely free choice in their decisions. Such examples are child-bearing. This is a good view to the extent that men and women were created equally and so they should be treated equally.
Marnia Lazreg wrote about an 1852 skit of two Afghan girls and a free Christian France. In the nineteenth century, missionaries made it their mission to save Muslim women. One record talks about the plight of Muslim women and how Christian women must help them. A century later, the sentiment is still being echoed and is used to explain the “War on Terrorism.” It is also doing more harm than good.
...all, W. The Sources of Islam. Edinburgh, Scotland: T & T Clark Sivan, Emmanuel. Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics. Enlarged Edition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001 Spencer, H. Islam and the Gospel of God: A Comparison of the Central Doctrines of Christianity and Islam, Prepared for the Use of Christian Workers Among Muslims. Delhi, India: S.P.C.K., 1998 Stott, John R. & Coote, Robert, editors. Down to Earth: Studies in Christianity and Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000 Sweetman, J. Windrow. Islam and Christian Theology. Part II Volume II. London: Lutterworth Press, 1999 Vander Werff, Lyle L. Christian Missions to Muslims. S. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2002 Zwemer, Samuel M. Heirs of the Prophets: An Account of the Clergy and Priests of Islam, the Personnel of the Mosque and 'Holy Men'. Chicago: Moody Press, 2002
Our world has progressed an enormous amount in the past few centuries. And even today, in our modern era, we are bigger and smarter, but our thinking has not changed. Women have been restricted from many opportunitIes in the past. We as women are still being criticised and objectified, which is disgraceful and sickening because we are constantly told “close your legs when you sit” or “don’t do that it’s not lady-like”. This is portrayed in advertising that basically makes a mockery of our freedom. And we ask ourselves, where did the idea of sexism and gender inequality emerge from? Religion. It is the root of sexism and gender inequality which has been practiced for over two thousand years. It is presented through the use of advertising,
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
I have always found the role of women in religion to be a fascinating and diverse subject, varying from community to community. Sometimes, the role of a woman in society is so closely linked to her religious role, that the two are indistinguishable. For example, why is it that some women are expected to upkeep the home and children without question? How are such gender roles assigned? Are these gender roles created by religion and upheld by culture or created by culture and upheld by religion? Where do such social expectations stem from? What does the daily life of a woman in religious groups that hold such expectations look like? And given these questions, is it possible for such roles to evolve? Has social change within gender roles occurred in the context of religion? In order to find the answers to these questions and questions like them, one must seek further insight of religion itself and the social context within which it exists.
Judith Lorder writes in Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender, "talking about gender for most people is equivalent of fish talking about water" because gender is so routine that its "assumptions and presuppositions" are taken for granted and left unquestioned and unchallenged. Institutions such as religion has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years and has teachings that are outright sexist, which limits lives of women because it creates the idea that there are just two extremes and no in-between : the virgin or the whore. Men do not have to face persecution or tyranny in instutions and social systems have a patriarchal foundation. Gender inequity operates within instutions because the institutions are in the control of men who are privileged from the gender inequity. Institutions limit women 's lives by excluding women who do not conform to their expectations or follow their "rules." The rules or norms within these instutitions were determined by men which explains why women 's problems or limitations are not a concern for
The first religion and its views on women that will be discussed in this essay is Islam. Islam is a religions founded in Saudi Arabia almost two thousand years ago, by the prophet Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad dedicated much attention towards women in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. However, even though much was dedicated to women in the Koran, it was not dedicated to them in the sense of equality. Women in Islamic culture were apparently much lower on the totem pole than men, "The men are made responsible for the women, since God endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners...If you experience opposition from the women, you shall first talk to them, then [you may use such negative incentives as] deserting them in bed, then you may beat them (129)." Excerpt...
Women have been marginalized since the very beginning of Christianity. They were viewed as a “second Eve” (92) who did not deserve the same attention as men. Women were treated as second class citizens. They were willfully ignored by members of the Christianity and
Religious values of the predominately Muslim culture in Nadia al-Faqih in A Woman of Five Seasons are at a point where their practice will bring great adversity to her new found way of life. Nadia is married into a life of luxury where her husband Ihsan is in a constant state of yearning for greater wealth and lusting after other worldly gains. She is pushed into a life where what she should want, the latest fashions, perfumes, and celebrity magazines are constantly thrust in her face.
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections On Cultural Relativism And Its Others." American Anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-790. Print.
"We Muslim women can walk into the modern world with pride, knowing that the quest for dignity, democracy, and human rights, for full participation in the political and social affairs of our country , stems from no imported Western values, but is a true part of Muslim tradition.
E. Anway, Carol, L (Dec 95) Daughters Of Another Path: Experiences Of American Women Choosing Islam. Missouri: Yawna Publications.