Gender Inequality within Religion!

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him"

                “Pyramids of Inequality” by Hays talks about many different inequalities people suffer, but I decided to focus more on gender inequality in women within religion.  In the most fascinating article that I found, called “Does a Masculine Image of God Matter?”, Whitehead speaks about how women are still viewed as inferior in many religions; the more conservative your religion is, the more traditionalist your gender ideology is.  An example of this is Evangelical Protestants.   They believe that “if God is male and men are a direct representation of God, women who defy men’s authority are also defying God and the gendered order of reality.”  Since religion is the most influential group in society with the United States and some people try to secularize themselves, it is still a prominent part of society.  It influences us in everyday situations that we never really realize.  Therefore, when we attribute words such as “Almighty” and “greatness” to God in addition to “he”, we transfer those adjectives to men and start viewing them as such. 

In the second article by Whitehead titled, “Gender, Homosexuality, and Inequality within Religious Congregations”, he argues that we don’t see many women in clergy and when we do see them, they are limited in the roles they can partake, advance slower than men, and are paid less.  They aren’t able to advance as much as their male counterparts.  Even though homosexuality, a big topic within the article, is a big negative controversial idea in many religions, those who willing to accept the addition of women into the clergy are more likely to accept homosexuals.  Also, those who tend to take the respective scripture more seriously and literally, such as the quote stated at the beginning, tend to have more traditional gender ideas.

In lieu with the previous article, this next article expressed more gender differences between male and female within the Jewish faith.  This article states a fun fact within Judaism that on a man’s birthday, he says a prayer thanking Go d for making him man not woman. 

Another article talked about the Mormon faith and their relation to having a traditional gender ideology.  If you considered yourself Mormon and were active participants within the church, then they were more likely to think that women should be in the homes.  On the other hand, they believed that man should go out and work to provide financially for their families.  Even though both genders are in agreement that a women’s place should be cooking and cleaning while taking care of the children, women are more liberal in their beliefs that it is possible to have a job and help out financially as well. 

                Another interesting article that I found talked about an interesting perspective that many wouldn’t really consider to be legitimate.  In the article “Men in Church Institutions and Religious Organisations the Role of Christian Men in Transforming Gender Relations and Ensuring Gender Equality”, the author states that it is more of a man’s responsibility in trying to reverse the gender roles that are found in religion.  A man who is familiar with the existing gender ideologies within religion just steps aside and lets it occur, then he is an accomplice by not doing anything to change it.  Since men are seen as the gender with “more power”, if they are the ones that are fighting for equality instead of women, who are at this point expected to, then the fight for it will be more balanced and heard.  This would be a good idea, if people actually complied with it.