The Influence of Traditional Religion on Gender Roles

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Haley Leitman
March 24, 2013
Gender & Religion
Professor Pagliarini
Take Home Midterm
The Influence of Traditional Religion on Gender Roles
Traditional religions are the underlying foundation of gender inequality. It
has caused such a great divide between men and women socially, economically,
politically, and spiritually. Women have historically and still are victimized because
of traditional religions that express messages of female inferiority. Traditional
religions have caused a social split and unequal division of power and status
between men and women and therefore have driven out individuals, causing them
to form their own religious groups.
Religion causes conflict between men and women because it is responsible
for establishing a patriarchal hierarchy that silences and devalues women. Women
are considered to be the weaker sex in traditional religion. Eve, in the Christian
Bible gave into temptation by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge.
As punishment for her actions, she was ordered to submit to her husband’s rule and
to live for his desires: “your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over
you”(Gen 3:16). From this, Eve’s submission gave power and authority to her
husband, Adam, and ultimately fueled the ideas of male superiority and female
inferiority. Eve’s character also influenced Puritan religion. In Puritan religion,
women were more likely to be possessed by Satan because they were considered
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more susceptible to temptation and overall more vulnerable than men. Since women
are associated with Eve and her “carnal lust” they were thought to be “sexually
insatiable and therefore more likely than men to accept Satan for his sexual
pleasures”(DeRotatis, 207). This gave men the liberty to control and dominate their
women because women were believed to be physically weak, sexually uncontrolled,
and unable to resist evil.
The opposite of Eve is Mother Mary, a pure and angelical woman, who gave
birth to Jesus as a virgin. Characteristically, women can either be Eve, the whore, or
Mary, the virgin. Categorizing women in a black and white way of thinking confines
them to rigid rules of femininity that both subordinate women. Mary is the ideal
Christian wife and the perfect woman because she is pure and obedient. To be good
Christian women, they’re expected to submit themselves to their husbands and
ultimately, to God. In the Christian organization, Aglow tradition, women willingly
submit themselves to their husband’s authority. However, to them it is “not about
grimly resigning oneself to a subordinate position”(Griffith 173), but rather it is
about “freedom” and “transformation” of self because “God rewards”(Griffith 172)
women who submit themselves. These women do not consider themselves
oppressed or inferior to their husbands. Religion has instilled a belief in these
women that they are “free,” even though they are in a lower status position than
their husbands. Frankly, they are brainwashed into submission. Griffith references a
book entitled You Can Be the Wife of a Happy Husband by Darien B. Cooper in which
states, submission is “ ‘God’s role for you as a woman and wife’ ”(172) because by
being submissive wives they will make their husbands’ happy, which will in fact
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make them happy. Cooper also argues that the submissive wife/mother role will
protect women from the dangerous world in which they live in. In submission they
will be in a safe and secure bubble and thus will be able to “enjoy the flourishing of
their God-given creativity”(Griffith 172). By telling women that God has assigned
them their submissive role makes them more willing to be and stay in that role
because God has told them to do so and it is hard to say no to God in all his divinity.
Religion justifies female submission by basically telling women, “its for your own
good,” “you’ll be safe here,” and “we promise you’ll be happy.” This reinforces the
idea that women are the weaker sex and that they need men to “take care” of them,
which is also known as controlling and dominating their lives. As a result, women
become codependent on their husbands for happiness and overall survival and
therefore lack a sense of real freedom, independence, and identity, all cause by
traditional religion.
Marriage is both valued in society and in religion because of its connection to
family and the home. Aglow Christianity emphasizes that female submission is a
way to have “happy husbands”(Griffith 173) and therefore a happy marriage.
Women are supposed to fulfill their husbands’ needs, this concept is directly
connected to Eve’s punishment, and to ensure that he is satisfied, especially
sexually. If a woman makes sure to sexually satisfy her man he will less likely
commit adultery and therefore stay of the path of God. Once again, religion pull
women back into the role of submission because if they don’t stay there their
husbands will become sinners and go to Hell. All of this propaganda causes disparity
for women and yet at the same time blinds them to it. Griffith also interviewed a
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woman in the Aglow community who said she was a “former feminist” because she
discovered that “feminism was bad for [her] marriage”(174) since she wasn’t
following God’s prescribed role for her as the submissive wife. The feminist
movement emerged because of inequality women faced from religion. Women were
tired of surrendering themselves to submissive roles and therefore rebelled against
the system, forming a stronger and not passive female image. However, feminism
and traditional religion do not go hand in hand because one advocates for equality
between men and women, while the other requires women to be in an inferior
position.
Masculinity (strength, dominance, control, power) is connected to and fueled
by female submission. Without female submission the structure of masculinity
would crumble. Religion teaches women that their job is too boost man’s sense of
masculinity, which in fact means that women are also oppressing themselves
through internalized patriarchy. Religion advocates for women to “admire” their
husbands’ “masculinity” by putting them “first and foremost (after God) in their
lives”(Griffith 172). God is also representative of the patriarch image that makes
women surrender themselves to His divine rule. Man is also divine because he is in
“the image and reflection of God” while “woman is in the reflection of
man”(DeRogatis 201). Since men have more divine right than women, they are
justified to be the dominant gender.
Men also suffer from hegemonic masculinity because it requires men to live
up to such high extremes of what it means to be a man. “Real men are those who
control women”(Collins 189) and if a man cannot control “his woman” he is not
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considered to be a man and instead he is seen as feminine. In order to be a “real
man,” men have to assert their power over women, placing them in a submissive
position, and keeping them in their place as a way to obtain and maintain their “real
man” status. Male Fundamentalist’s feel the need to hyper-masculinize themselves
because they do not fit the traditional religious male silhouette. Since they have a
“heightened appreciate for the female”(Muesse 95) they do not control women or
violate or abuse them which unfortunately makes a man more of a man. Because of
this they have to compensate in other ways, like bulking up their bodies and calling
themselves “warriors” of God to make them feel masculine. Male Fundamentalists
also hyper-masculinize themselves in reaction to the homophobic discomfort they
feel by being so close to God who is a perceived as male. This resistance against
homosexuality causes men to become more overtly masculine. Thus, religion causes
a greater divide between men and women by distinguishing certain characteristics
as masculine or feminine.
New religious groups have formed to get away from the problems traditional
religions have created. Wiccan is a religious group that reverses the gender of the
worshipped higher power. Instead of worshipping a God, they worship a Goddess.
This correlates with the feminist movement because it empowers women to
embrace their femininity, sexuality, spirituality, and independence. The Goddess
tradition provides a safe spiritual sanctuary for women to be females in all their
femaleness, rather than denying, demeaning, or controlling their womanhood,
which was done in traditional religion. Fundamentalism, although the men have to
hyper-masculinize themselves to be comfortable with their manhood, provides men
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with a community that embraces men with feminine qualities. Men in this group
openly cry and express their feelings, and pride themselves in having intimate
relationships to God.
Religious groups form out of the unhappiness and lack of fulfillment people
found in traditional religions. Traditional religion, although it can create conflict,
oppression, and insecurity, it should not be done away with all together because it
does have some purpose. Religion provides people with a moral belief system that
lights spirits and gives meaning to life. It gives people direction, guidance, and a
stable foundation for their identities, families, and careers. Also a belief is a higher
power can give people a sense of security and hope because they know they have
someone or something that is looking out for them. That being said, traditional
religions and the harsh gender roles that come out of traditional religions are still
“responsible for much of what is wrong between men and women”(Pitts 115) and
therefore drive people out to form new religious communities.
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