Religion and gender are two very important factors in people's lives. It is well known that religion can have big influences on our identities. It has been found that religion influences many people's beliefs about gender roles (Bartkowski & Read, 2003). Gender roles can be defined as the parts that men and women are typically expected to play in society in different cultures. These roles can dictate how men and women are expected to act in society, as well as what type of attitudes and personality traits that they are typically expected to display in their culture (Nugent, 2015). Examples of stereotypical gender roles would be that men are typically expected to be the dominant ones in relationships and are expected to make the major decisions. …show more content…
It has been found for those who participate in Christianity that they believe that God set a hierarchy of people, with men at the top and women at the bottom. This is why gender traditionalism for women in the Protestant religion is seen as wifely submission. This is the belief that women for matters with regards to outside and inside the home, must look to their husbands for guidance (Burke, 2012). This is similar for women of the Islamic faith, they also believe in submission to their husbands and other male figures in the family. They, however, also display their gender traditional beliefs with the wearing of the hijab. For many Islamic women, the wearing of the hijab is a way of protecting men from their own sexual desires and to stop improper relationships between men and women. For others, it is to do with the fact that, the wearing of the headscarf is mentioned in the Quran in some passages (Burke, 2012). In this way, it is seen by some traditional Muslims that the hijab is a symbol of women's obedience to Islamic principles (Bartowksi & Read, …show more content…
It is important to emphasize here, that just because the women follow gender traditional rules that are mentioned in their scripture, as it was seen with the Muslim women who wore the hijab because it was mentioned in the Quran (Burke, 2012), does not mean that they believe in its' scriptural inerrancy. This is as they also can believe that their scripture is inspired by the word of God. This is also known as Epistemology (Hempel & Bartkowski, 2008). This means that it is not truly the word of God but inspired by the word of God. This is why it is important to measure the strength of the women’s belief in scriptural
On the other hand, patriarchal norms and ideals that aimed to regulate women's behavior and bodies affected the Islam of men. Leila Ahmed's book offers a distinctive viewpoint on Islam and the ways in which gender and identity converge with religious practice overall. Ahmed illustrates the diversity of Islamic ideas and behaviors and refutes the idea that Islam is a single, homogeneous religion by contrasting Islam among women and men. The truthfulness of any interpretation of Islam is ultimately arbitrary and reliant on personal experiences and perceptions. We may,
In 1939, Reza Shah’s unveiling declaration sparked a worldwide debate as to what the veil actually symbolizes. Ever since the beginning of Islam, women throughout the Islamic world have had to adopt the hijab as part of their cultural and religious attire due to various interpretations of the Islamic dress code. In addition, the Koran emphasizes purity in the name of Islam by asking both men and women to be modest when it comes to the way they dress. Furthermore, in his efforts to modernize Iran, Reza Shah failed to satisfy the needs of his people, as he gave women no say in what they could and could not wear in public. This eventually resulted in the division of Iranian women, as there were those who favored the Islamic tradition, and those who supported the regime and its adoption of Western values.
“Gender roles are learned through the process of socialization (Anderson, 19). ” Construction of gender roles can be done through myths and popular culture. These gender roles influence one’s belief system, as well as creating norms. The norms generated influence and control the way people within the society behave, speak, and dress.
Additionally, the author practices Islam and states that because of her experiences, she can not accept that she is seen as a second-class human because she is a female. The introduction to and interpretations of Islam which she had was one of justice, truth, beauty, and grace, and religion which is one of justice and equality, and therefore, the injustice which women have been subjected to cannot be rationalized as the will of a God of justice. The author points to men’s incorrect interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith as the reason for anti-women interpretations, which have, according to the author, created later misogynist
However, those women believe that such kind of veils are a demonstration of women’s modesty and protection of modern societies’ assault. Nonetheless, it is the illustration of the respect to the Islam religion by the believers, as it is obviously indicated in the sacred Qur’an: “And say to the believing women: that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them cast their veils over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment save to their husbands” . Therefore, most of the Muslim women prefer to cover to accomplish their religious rules.
As a result, the United States (which, to a degree, values individuality and feminism), though seemingly resistant to Islam at times, actually allows for the idea of a female empowering veil, and, perhaps, even the Islamic ideas of modesty can influence American culture as
This can further extend to covering their whole body and is used to conform to a standard of modesty. It was also used to protect women from being harassed by men. Even though the hijab is a big part of the Islamic culture and image, it is, in fact, not explicitly mentioned
Throughout the entirety of history, religion has been an important and arguably essential part of life. Specifically, the evolving role of women in religion, which have never become less crucial across many societies over millennia. Unfortunately, in many religions, such as the most followed religions in the world, Islam and Christianity, women are treated as less important than men. However, in Judaism women are treated of equal importance to men, just with separate duties and expectations from G-d (The Role of Women in Orthodox Judaism). The role of women in Judaism is heavily influenced by Jewish law, the Torah, and cultural norms established throughout thousands of years (Dubrov).
Religion Magnifies Males ' Mindsets Religions influence followers to put religion as their first priority—encouraging them to devote their lives to it. Unfortunately, this complete control of their lives creates ideal followers, without individuality/uniqueness, which renders one follower as useless. Since the followers receive power when working together, one follower has no power. For example, monotheocracies have control through religion and the government (two major leaders in society). Moreover, monotheocracies domination over their people eases oppression as Iran influences their people through religious holy wars (jihads) and veils (hijabs) for women.
In this paper, we will take a look at how North American Christianity contains gender inequality and the mistreatment of women. Nye brings up many different reasons why gender is important in the study of religion. His main reasoning why gender is important in religion is that he believes gender is the main way power gets distributed. For example, Nye says, “So much writing on religion has shown so much male bias and androcentricism.” (Nye 81).
Gender role refers to those behaviors and attitudes that are considered to belong to one sex. Gender role is based on femininity and masculinity that differentiate women and men by giving men some roles and women which results to gender inequality. There some work in society that is regarded to belong to women such as cooking, taking care of children and other less important roles while men are given roles that makes them superior than women. Most of the gender roles associated with women makes them inferior and creates a room to be oppressed. Gender roles are constructed by society and attributed to women or men.
Yes, women’s identities can be shaped by religion, however they are not shaped by religion alone. Moreover, life experiences
From head scarves to cloaks, for example, abayas and burqas. Many people’s perception of the hijab is an indication of Islamic fundamentalism, the refusal of outsiders to incorporate into standard society, or the mistreatment of ladies. A majority of people see the idea of hijab much like Kolbenschlangs in "A Feminist View of Cinderella" the author expresses, “This willing acceptance of a condition of worthlessness and her expectation of rescue (as a reward for her virtuous suffering) is a recognizable paradigm of traditional feminine socialization.” (Kolbenschlang 2). Kolbenschlang also mentions, “As a dynamic metaphor of the feminine condition, it illuminates the double life that many women experience: the attraction of work and achievement, perhaps “celebrity,” outside the home, and the emotional pull of the relationships and security within the home” (Kolbenschlang 3).
A portion of these women truly believe that it is a decree from God and the act of wearing the hijab would mean they are fulfilling the commandments from God. On the other hand, some Muslim women include hijab in their lives as a way to distinguish
Gender roles are beliefs about the ways in which communal and societal roles are defined by gender (Slavkin&Stright, 2000). In traditional families, traditional gender roles are common. The male is the breadwinner; while the female is responsible for childcare and housekeeping. This pattern defines masculinity as assertive, aggressive, and independent (Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Steffen, 199284) and femininity is defined as emotional, sensitive and nurturing (Bem, 1981; Slavkin&Stright 2000). Gender differences have been discussed thoroughly by many researchers in the fields of language, education and others(see for instance, Locke, 2011, Okamoto, Slattery Rashotte, & Smith-Lovin, 2002, and &Kiesling, 2007).