Feminism - Beliefs Flashcards
(24 cards)
Why does Bruce suggests religion is oppressive?
Women are excluded from key roles in many religions despite the fact that women participate more in these religions.
Why does Armstrong suggest religion is oppressive?
None of the major religions have been particularly good to women. Usually become male affairs and marginalise women.
Why does Daly suggest religion is oppressive? What four ways does it do this?
Christianity is an ideological force that spreads a ‘patriarchal myth’
Does this in 4 ways: Religious images, religious teachings, exclusion from church hierarchy and oppression + deception
Why does De Beauvoir suggests religion is oppressive?
It is used to control women and compensate for their second class status
How does religion oppress through religious images?
- God the father, Jesus and angels are all male
- Women portrayed as either pure + asexual (the Virgin Mary) or promiscuous/whores (Mary Magdalen)
How do religious teachings oppress?
Chapters such as Timothy and Ephesians suggest women should obey their husbands and be controlled by them. Be submissive.
How are women excluded from the Church?
- Until 1992 no female priests = still a contentious issue (such views have also come from female groups e.g. ‘women against the ordination of women’)
- Until 2015 no female Bishops, still no Archbishops
How has the Church historically oppressed women?
- The Roman Catholic Church used the dowry system whereby women gave their husbands a dowry (money or property) at the time of marriage, leaving them powerless
What does Daly say about deception?
The Church distracts women from present injustices through the promise of an afterlife.
What are 3 ways in which women are oppressed in the Islam religion?
- Legally and morally a man has full responsibility for his family
- Women can wear whatever they like with family and female friends but must cover every part of their body when they go out (In some Muslim countries)
- A man can divorce his wife extremely easily but a woman cannot
How are women oppressed in Confucian and Hindu religions?
Women have to abide by their fathers when unmarried, to their husbands when married and to their sons when widowed
Why does Aldridge suggest religion is liberating?
Suggests that gender equality can be found in come contemporary groups like the Society of Friends (The Quakers) and the Unitarians
Why does Badawi suggest religion is liberating?
Some aspects of Islam or positive, for example women keep their own name, and so their own identity when they get married
Why does Wright suggest religion is liberating?
Within Reform Judaism women have been able to become rabbis since 1972
Why does Watson suggest religion is liberating?
- Argues that Muslim women see the veil as advantageous as it allows them to cope, or even reduces male oppression.
- The veil was also a way of expressing identity
What is one criticism or Watson’s study?
Very small sample - only 3 women. Not representative.
What does Woodhead argue?
- Accepts that some traditional religions are patriarchal, but also believes that there are religious forms of feminism (ways which women use religion to gain greater freedom and respect)
- Argues the veil may symbolise resistance to oppression because it is worn to escape the confines of home
What did Woodhead and Heelas find?
That women found converting to Orthodox Judaism removed them of conflicting roles imposed by modern life and have them a clear status as housewives/mothers.
What are 4 strengths of Feminism?
1) Supporting evidence e.g. no female Archbishops
2) More balanced than other theories (looks at oppression and liberation)
3) Functionalists agree religion is a conservative force that maintains traditional gender roles
4) Marxists agree that religion is oppressive
What are 4 weaknesses of Feminism?
1) Does not consider the impact of other variables e.g. class + ethnicity
2) Postmoderists argue religion is nothing to do with patriarchy as it in an individuals choice
3) Women have been allowed to be rabbis since 1972 - outdated view
4) Functionalists suggest some feminists ignore the benefits religion has for women
What is the Liberal feminist view on religion?
Think that it has become more equal - march of progress
What is the Radical feminist view on religion?
Think religion reinforces patriarchy - only option is to get rid of it
What is the Islamic feminist view on religion?
See Islam as a source of equality for many women
What is the Marxist feminist view on religion?
Its ideological and reinforces patriarchal ideology. W/c women are the most oppressed by it
