Gender and religion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are several notable issues relating to gender and religion. These include both religious comment on secular society and views regarding traditional forms of religious communities themselves. For example, internal religious issues include the roles and rights of men and women in religious government, education and worship. Religious persectives on social issues in the general community notably include comment on values regarding family units or norms of sexual behaviour. For example, contrasting religious perspectives have been expressed that either endorse or condemn alternative family structures, including homosexual relationships, and some have lobbied for "unborn child protection" laws.[1]
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[edit] Judæo-Christian views
Jewish and Christian views are traditionally based on the Bible. The first chapter of the Bible, in all traditions, includes the claim that God created the gender distinction (Genesis 1:27). (Hebrew)
| “ | And God created the man in his image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. |
” |
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—Genesis 1:27 |
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| Vayyivra | Elohim | et-ha'adam | b'tsalmo | ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלמו |
| And he created | God | [obj] the man | in image his. | |
| B'tselem | Elohim | bara | oto | בצלם אלהים ברא אתו |
| In [the] image [of] | God | he created | [obj] him. | |
| Zakar | un'qevah | bara | otam | זכר ונקבה ברא אתם |
| Male | and female | he created | [obj] them. |
The Hebrew marks both gender and number explicitly, and uses parallelism significantly. Everything is masculine, except the word female; and everything is singular, except them (generic masculine plural). Most commentators interpret the parallelism to be deliberately stressing that mankind is, in some sense, a "unity in diversity" from a divine perspective (compare e pluribus unum), and that women as well as men are included in God's image. Some argue that Genesis' gender-inclusive conception of humanity contrasts sharply with the views of gender found in older literature from surrounding cultures. Some go so far as to suggest a relatively higher status of women in western society due to Judæo-Christian influence, and based on this verse.
The following verses, sometimes called the creation mandate, start with two repetitions of the them (male and female) that concluded the previous verse—"God blessed them and said to them"—and a series of (generic masculine) explicitly plural imperatives—"Be fruitful! Increase! Fill the Earth!" The semantics of these commands also presumes inclusion of both genders. The emphasis on them is apparant in the Hebrew in a way hard to capture in English, due to syntactic constraints. Hebrew sentences are normally verb-subject-object (VSO) but may move important elements forwards. The generic masculine plural personal pronoun they, refering to male and female, is stressed in the introduction to the mandate, being placed ahead of the subject, God, thus contrasting with the previous verse. The commands are also short and euphonious in Hebrew (Fruit! Grow! Fill! would sound closer to the original).
| “ | And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful! Increase! Fill the Earth! |
” |
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—Genesis 1:28 |
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| Vayvarek | otam | Elohim | ויברך אתם אלהים | |
| And he blessed | [obj] them | God. | ||
| Vayomer | lahem | Elohim | ויאמר להם אלהים | |
| And he said | to them | God, | ||
| P'ru | Ur'bu | Umilu | et-ha'arets | פרו ורבו ומלאו את הארץ |
| "Be ye fruitful! | And increase! | And fill ye | [obj] the Earth!" | |
The mandate goes on to give them (male and female) responsibility for ruling the earth, and fruiting vegetation for food. The words fruit and eat recur significantly in the narrative that follows.
More detail regarding the creation of man and woman is given in Genesis 2,[2] where God says that it is not good for the man to be alone, and makes a woman to help him, creating her from his rib. Chapter 2 concludes by presenting the narrative as a theological rationale for marriage.
[edit] Gender segregation
Many religions have traditionally practiced sex segregation.
In traditional Jewish synagogues, the women's section is separated from the men's' section by a wall or curtain called a mechitza.[3] Men are not permitted to pray in the presence of women, to prevent distraction.[3] The mechitza shown in the picture on the right is one in a synagogue affiliated with the 'left wing' (more modern side) of Modern Orthodox Judaism, which requires the synagogue to be of the height shown in the picture. More traditional or 'right wing' Modern Orthodox Judaism, and all forms of Haredi Judaism, requires the mechitza to be of a type which absolutely prevents the men from seeing the women.
[edit] Feminist religious movements
Feminist theology is a movement, generally in Christianity and Judaism, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of their religion from a feminist perspective.
Several theologians have considered women as morally inferior to men, and many have considered women the source of temptations, especially sexual temptations, for men. In traditions where God is considered male, there is sometimes a view that men are more like God than women, in some cases leading to a view of male superiority and female inferiority.
Likewise, those who practice feminist spirituality may adhere to a feminist re-interpretation of Western monotheistic traditions. In these cases, the notion of God as having a male gender is rejected, and God is not referred to using male pronouns.
[edit] Women as theological figures
Female theological figures have played a significant role in the development of various religions and religious hierarchies. The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, is key figure in Catholicism while Nakayama Miki was the founder of Tenrikyo,[4] which is arguably the largest religion to have a woman founder.
[edit] Gender of God
The gender or genderlessness of God is a controversial issue in monotheistic and some henotheistic religions. In Christianity, however, one Person of the Trinity, the Son, is believed to have become incarnate as a human male. Most Christians believe that the other two Persons in the Trinity, the Father and the Holy Spirit, have never been incarnated, hence having male gender rather than male sex.
[edit] References
- ^ 'Unborn Child Protection Bill', State Parliament of New South Wales, 2006.
- ^ Genesis 2:18ff.
- ^ a b Synagogues, Shuls and Temples. jewfaq.org. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
- ^ Voula Papas (2002-02-19). Tenrikyo. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
