Everyone who is concerned about the gender inequality knows that, in fact, that this issue originates from the religion. It does not matter if we are talking about Islam or Christianity; they both teach that women are weaker and therefore should obey men. Islam teaches that women should be covered from head to toe in order to save their beauty for their men, Christianity even teaches that the woman (Eva) is the one who is responsible for all the bad things that happened to the human kind for taking a bite from the Forbidden Fruit. However, in this paper I will focus solely on the position of the women within the Catholic Church.
It is believed that the origin of the Catholic church has started with the teachings of Jesus Christ, while the
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All bishops are considered to be equal although there are various ranks of bishops and in order someone to become a bishop they have to be at least 35 years old and again, be a man.
Other significant people who hold an important title within the Catholic Church are: Patriarch, Cardinal and Archbishops. Although their race is not clearly stated, in majority of the cases they are white and it is mandatory they to be men on age of at least 35 years old. Every Catholic is expected to be noble, forgiving, to obey God and their parents and to help other people. Yet again although, Catholicism itself claims that men and women are equal in the sight of God, however each one of them has specific roles, which differ from one another. In the Catholic Church, women are expected to be caregivers for children as it is considered that that is their natural role, while men are expected to work outside the home and bring food for the family.
Even though this might sound as a perfect balance, it is quiet evident that the church is the reason why now a days there are gender inequalities and why women has been oppressed with
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They are fighting men and women to be perceived as equal so they both could enjoy the same rights and privileges. However, the church does not like that. In fact, they perceive the feminism as an evil act.
This situation is studied in the book titled as “Aggressive and Loving Men: Gender Hegemony in Christian Hardcore Punk” written by McDowell where he claims that “Feminization is a term they used to condemn a perceived predominance of women in social institutions such as the church and the paid labor force (McDowell 2017). ”
However, although the situation seem hopeless, like if the Catholic Church would never change their views on the woman’s role in this world, it still is not impossible. A great example is the Anglican Church, which in 1992 made a historic move in improving the position of the women in the religion, by allowing women to be able to serve as priests- something, which is not allowed in the Catholic Church where women are only allowed to serve as
In addition, studying the place of women in the light of spiritual teachings of the western religions, we can convince other women and people around in bringing about a positive change in the modern global village. Studying various religious beliefs and their in-depth analysis proves that there is a fundamental teaching and principle of all spiritual forms that humanity is to be treated as one concrete unit wherein all men and women share similar relationship and identical position in the eyes of the Almighty. The unjust oppression of women is based on false assumptions and preconceived notions by the male-dominating world, has been obvious and responsible for paving the way for serious gender issues to emerge. This caused religious conflicts among the masses. Confined to narrow realms of activity in society, deprived from the essential human rights, restricted to confined educations scope, open to unhealthy criticism and mental and physical abuse, this society has not permitted women to become what they potentially are.
This chapter was removed from Reimagining Church due to a lack of space. But there’s a footnote to this document in the book. See also God’s View of a Woman.
Gender inequality has been a major issue for many centuries now. Societies insist in assigning males and females to different roles in life. The traditional stereotypes and norms for how a male and female should present themselves to the world have not changed much over time. But individuals are more than just their gender and should have the right to act and be treated the way they want. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The marianismo gender role beliefs vary depending on where one is located. Marianismo beliefs influence what women see as “appropriate female behavior” (Craske, 1999, p. 12). Stereotypes of women are created which have stuck to what is ‘appropriate’ for what women can and cannot do. It is out of the normalcy for women to not follow these marianismo beliefs. It is obvious that motherhood is found as the ultimate role for women. Though it would make sense that men have fatherhood is not the ultimate role for men (even though both man and woman are needed to create a child) this is not the case at all. Another key marianismo belief Craske (2002) found was that women are “dominant in the private world of domestic organization,” while men are dominant in the public sector (p. 11). This is important to know because women lived very secluded lifestyles. This exclusive lifestyle connects to how Catholic women in Latin America had greater transgressions than men when it came...
middle of paper ... ... While official Church teaching considers women and men to be equal and different, some modern activists of ordination of women and other feminists argue that the teachings by St. Paul, the Fathers of the Church and Scholastic theologians advanced the impression of a pleasingly ordained female subordination. Nevertheless, women have played prominent roles in Western history through the Catholic Church, particularly in education and healthcare, but also as influential theologians and mystics. The important status of the Virgin Mary gave views of maternal virtue and compassion a place at the heart of Western civilization.
One of the greatest sensitivities discernible in the contemporary society concerns race and gender. Such sensitivities are defensibly results of the historical struggles for equality in suffrage, work, education, employment, and many other civil rights. It is clear that although the civil struggles are now gone, the issues have not waned with time. In the case of gender equality, it seems the pendulum swung so hard that the problem has changed from one extreme to the other, which has become unhealthy for the society. When it comes to race, however, it seems much has changed in terms of laws protecting minority races, condemnation of pejorative language, and other visible prejudices, while the economic inequality of the races is still conspicuous. The church’s understanding of the doctrine of humanity should determine how these issues are viewed, evaluated, and confronted.
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
There are many socially constructed beliefs that help feed gender inequality. One of the primitive and initial source that influences gender inequality is tradition developed by religion.
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
not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a
The Torah, in general, does not exactly alleviate the situation of women. Many Jewish feminists argue that a big chunk of the misogynistic views of men stem from the exclusivity of God as male. Judith Plaskow says, “There is the fact that we address God as he. And it is not just that we use the masculine pronoun in the absence of neuter ones – we image him in male terms. Thus he is King, Lord, Shepard, Father, etc.” She goes on to mention the incredulous arguments against the ordainment of women. Arguments that stated things like because a Rabbi or Minister is in effect a Godly figure, and since God is used in exclusively male terms, it is not fitting that a woman should take a role in the clergy.
Women are considered the goddesses of the world; but it is also true that they are not treated as it. It is human nature to try and separate and sort ourselves out into groups or is it a human characteristics. Women have been being ill-treated for many years and used just as things to fulfil the wishes of men. Considering women as goddesses is not enough to give them full women empowerment in the world. In previous time in history women held no value compared to men; their only purpose was to stay home, take care of the children and fulfill their husband wishes. In the 19th century women were expected to have certain roles to fit into and create a “normal” society.
Women were the subject of marginalization ever 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
The role of women in religious scripture dictates an inferior position in society. Beginning with the creation of Adam and then Eve, as his helpmate. Her purpose was that Adam would not be lonely. This origin provides the ground work for inequality of genders on the basis of religious scripture. The roles prescribed determined that women should be in a subordinate position to man. The female role and relationship with God is defined by the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the reported actions of Jesus Christ, and finally the Qur'an.
Women in the Catholic Church take on many roles, from parishioner to laywoman to nuns. Women parishioners help prepare for the mass. They can be lectors, choir members, CCD instructors, etc. Laywomen “…are the Catholic women traditionally permitted certain ministerial responsibilities (Wessinger, 244).” They work in churches, schools, prisons, etc. Nuns dedicate their lives to religious devotion. They take three vows; poverty, chasity, and obedience. They are to live simple lifestyles. They live their lives teaching others and helping others.