Opinion: Religions Have a Lot of Respect to Gain for Women

The inspiration for the project was a passion of mine for years. The fact that every religion seems to demonize women, and yearn to control their bodies in any way possible is infuriating to me. In addition, most religions have some sort of predisposition against homosexuals, representing another subgroup that is discriminated against in the religious community. 

The quotes behind the woman are all from religious texts and all demonstrate the subordinate view of women in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. While examining the quotes, I realized just how powerful women are. Women have the power to “control” men, and influence ideas. Now, many religions seem to point out that women are less intelligent than their male counterparts, but that is simply not true. If anything, the fact that men were so scared of women and demanded control over the women shows that females have had more influence in the world in earlier times than one may have originally thought. Religious texts had to break women down to their bodies, and perceive them as objects just to try and ignore women’s intelligence and wit. 

The abrahamic traditions, particularly Christianity, are especially harsh on women. They see women as the origin of sin because of their influence on a man’s sexual urges. Women are supposed to be virgins until marriage yet the men are not expected to wait so long. Women are supposed to serve their husbands and fathers. Paul points out in New Testament Romans that “the natural use” of women is to provide men with sex¹. and be free from independent thought. In modern times this has translated to “Christians” trying to find any way to take back the autonomy that society has granted women today. The patriarchal aspect of Islam, is the fact that the Quran grants a degree of authority of men over women because that is the way god intended². Women are to be virgins when they are married off to someone. This however has led to women undergoing surgery to become “virgins” again. Going along with surgery, female genital mutilation is yet another way those in the Islamic religion attempt to take control over a woman’s body. There is no medical reason for the surgeries and it often is a traumatic experience for the girl, yet it still happens today. Why? To make sure that women are put in their place and reminded that their worth is tied to their genitalia. No woman is simply their vagina. They are intelligent and powerful.Whether that be through anti-abortion laws, limited access to birth control, or by demonizing women who do what they want with their body through hookup culture, religious communities are putting their hands where they don’t belong. 

Hindu texts are another source of patriarchal content. They mention that the mind of a woman cannot be disciplined; she has very little intelligence, and women by nature are crooked, fickle, devoid of religious knowledge³. Today we know that women are just as smart and powerful as men, maybe even a little more because of the centuries of oppression. I think religious leaders in ancient times knew this and thought they needed to control the minds and bodies of women just to assert that men were superior. 

Buddhism seems like an overwhelmingly non confrontational religion, yet it still places males on a pedestal. Males are really the only ones allowed to achieve true monkshood and part of their duty is to refuse the extra pleasure that is sex or a relationship. As Buddhist Monastic Disciplines remind those seeking to become a monk, it is better for you have to put your manhood in the mouth of a venomous snake or a pile of burning charcoal than a woman⁴.  example of women being seen as distractions from one’s faith, not even acknowledging that women are an important part of every faith. 

How do we reframe these ideas that have been ingrained in religion for so long? There is no definite answer but there are a few things one should point out. Part of a religion’s capacity to stay around is its ability to adapt to the times. We have gotten rid of the mentality within the Abrahamic traditions that one shouldn’t eat shrimp or get divorced (for the most part), yet for some reason there are still people who believe that the bible and the Quran are affirming men’s authority over women. We will never change everyone’s mind but preaching that religion is supposed to change some with the times and allowing for women to hold more power in the upper levels of abrahamic traditions will bring us one step closer to equality. The Hindu religion must remember that the oppression they felt from the British, cannot be passed down to another group. They need to embrace women and attempt to enhance their faith with women rather than see them as simply tools for men to truly gain passage to their inner faith. Buddhism may be harder to convince, I simply think they need to stop seeing women as potential temptations and actual human beings. 

So often women are broken down to their reproductive organs, and every religions seems to want to control that part of every woman. Until religions see women as ultimately equally as important as men, and not men’s lesser counterparts, faith may disappear. Adaptation is important for the survival of species, it is equally as important for the survival of religious beliefs. 

References 

1. “The Bible’s Anti-Woman Views.” The Bible’s Anti-Woman Views. Accessed November 27, 2020. https://cybercollege.com/antiwoman.htm. 
2. “Surah An-Nisa – 4:1.” The Noble Quran. Accessed November 27, 2020. https://quran.com/4. 
3. Anisha, “Why Some Hindu Scriptures Are against Women?” Hinduism Stack Exchange, August 1, 1966. https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/18598/why-some-hindu-scriptures-are-against-women. 
4. Pattanaik, Devdutt. “There’s a Misogynist Aspect of Buddhism That Nobody Talks About.” Quartz India. Quartz. Accessed November 27, 2020. https://qz.com/india/586192/theres-a-misogynist-aspect-of-buddhism-that-nobody-talks-about/.