Women

Women. The status of women in religions has, in the past, been tied closely to the reproductive cycle, both that of humans, and that of crops and herds. The controls of evolution and of natural selection (of course not known or understood) established boundaries within which, either the replication of genes and the nurture of children succeeded, or the family/group/community/village went to extinction. Religions, as the earliest cultural systems of which we know, have created strong protections for replication and nurture, often by way of controls over behaviour—hence the preoccupation of religions with sexual behaviours and food. Characteristically, societies developed a necessary division of labour, based on biology but extended symbolically, with women responsible for the upbringing of the family and for related activities in preparation of food (both in cooking and in the fields), and with men relating to a wider environment, e.g. in hunting, warfare, political relations. The feminine is thus often celebrated in religions as the source of life and gift of fertility. There is some (disputed) evidence that the feminine, as Mother Goddess, was the primordial focus of worship: at a time when the male contribution to reproduction was not realized, this is unsurprising. Equally unsurprising (from a genetic point of view) is the way in which men consequently took control of the reproductive cycle. That control is mirrored in the increasing dominance of patriarchal religion. Even in India, where the feminine has remained central in worship, and where the Goddess may still be the single focus of devotion for many Hindus, the Goddess on her own is usually destructive and fierce, and only fruitful in relation to a consort, such as Śiva. The subordination of women to men became widespread in all religions: exceptions are very much exceptions to the rule. Combined with profound fears about the dangers surrounding sexuality (elaborated in complex ritual customs to deal with ‘purity and danger’, the title of a relevant study by Mary Douglas), this led to literal separations of women from men, especially in worship (for example, in synagogue or mosque or in the Roman Catholic refusal of the ordination of women, or, until 1992, of girl servers near the altar).

While it is true that the increasing emancipation of women in many parts of the world has led to major adjustments in the place accorded to women in most religions, the phrase ‘place accorded to’ reveals the continuing truth: men remain predominantly in control and allow some women some greater access to authority and decision-making. A classic example was the ‘Letter to All Women’ issued by Pope John Paul II in 1995. While it was remarkable in apologizing for the oppressive record of the Church in relation to women, the document as a whole adopted the usual male strategy of congratulating women on the gifts of their characteristic natures, while at the same time making it clear that those natures prohibited women from undertaking certain roles reserved for men.

Judaism

The Hebrew scriptures teach that woman was created as a ‘helper’ to men (Genesis 2. 23–4). Her chief duty was to be child-bearing (Genesis 3. 16), and a good wife and mother was cause for praise (Proverbs 31. 28). The rabbis exempted women from all timebound positive commandments (see SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN COMMANDMENTS) (Kid. 1. 7), and female education was not encouraged. In 1994, a Commission, convened by the Chief Rabbi of the UK, issued a far-ranging report on the status of women in Orthodox Judaism, recommending that the exclusion of women from kaddish, the separation of women from men in synagogue by mechitzah (‘partition’) should be ended or modified, and that a prenuptial covenant, guaranteeing the supply of the get (bill of divorce: see MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE, JUDAISM) in the case of divorce, should be supplied. Progressive Jews stress the absolute equality of men and women and have female as well as male rabbis, cantors, and synagogue leaders. See also NIDDAH.

Christianity

Early Christianity was an egalitarian movement in which women played a prominent part. Not only did Jesus give and receive much in ministry to and from women (with an openness which went against the norms of his day), but women clearly played an important part in the life and running of the early Church. The early churches reaffirmed traditional and cultural attitudes, leading to the continuing subordination of women to the authority of their husbands, and to men in the Church (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14. 34; Ephesians 5. 22 f.; Colossians 3. 18; 1 Timothy 2. 11 f.; Titus 2. 4f.). The Church subsequently has endeavoured (generally speaking) to confirm that subordinate status of women. The Church has thus, historically, admired women from a distance, insisting on their special and higher vocations, while at the same time regarding them as inherently the source of sin, because of their descent from Eve, and certainly not to be admitted to the male preserves of decision-making and priesthood. The Virgin Mary became the role model, calling sexuality into question and exhibiting the way to salvation through perfect obedience. Yet clearly there are many RC and Orthodox Christians who are, despite discouragement, committed to the realization within time of that final vision, in which the Christian attitude to all oppressed groups is summarized, when there shall be ‘neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female’ (Galatians 3. 28).

Islam

In Islam, it is believed that women and men are different but equal. The advent of Islam brought great advantages to the status and protection of women, and women, especially Āisha, played an important part in the early years of Islam, as they have continued to do. Women are not the source of sin (Eve, Ḥawwā, is not named in the Qurān, which makes it clear that both Adam and Eve were equally at fault: see e.g. 2. 36 f.), though they may be the source of particular impurity after childbirth and menstruation. Women, and mothers in particular, are deeply honoured. Women have access to education and retain control of their own property. At the same time, certain inequalities between women and men, together with the fact that some customs have become virtual obligations in some parts of the Muslim world, have raised questions about the implementation of Qurʾān and ḥadīth in this area. Thus the veil (ḥijāb), or more total covering of chaddor, is not required by Qurān, which only commands modesty in dress (24. 31); the widespread practice of female circumcision is not required at all; polygamy is envisaged in the Qurʾān, but not polyandry; men may marry women of the ahl al-Kitāb, but women may not marry such men. In any case, the authority of men over women remains, derived from two verses in particular: having affirmed mutual rights for women, 2. 228 states, ‘But men have darajah over women.’ Darajah means ‘rank’ or ‘degree’ or ‘precedence’, and may simply be restricted to the different ways in which men and women can initiate divorce, but it is often taken in a more general sense. In another verse (4. 34/8), it is said that men are qawwumūn over women (because they have to support them) and that women suspected of ill-conduct must be admonished, banished to their beds, and beaten. Qawwamūn is usually taken to mean ‘standing over’, i.e. having authority; but the meanings of the Qurān are not fixed, and the word may legitimately mean ‘standing in attendance’; and in any case, the beating cannot be painful and is largely symbolic. Even so, for many Muslim women these particular aspects of the assymetry between men and women raise searching questions about the (theoretically possible) rethinking of the meaning of sharīʿa in the spirit of Muḥammad's own support for the worth and dignity of women. As matters stand, the experience of many Muslim women, as they report it, is one of which Muḥammad could scarcely have approved, and which the Qurʾān did not intend.

Hinduism

The status and role of women in Hinduism are complex. At the level of home and society, they are revered, yet at the same time they are dependent on men and are to be guarded by them. In the Dharmaśāstras, they are ritually impure and a source of impurity (and therefore, e.g., not to study or recite mantras): their husbands are their gurus, and their domestic duties are their rituals. Their devotion to their husbands is their highest good (especially if consummated in satī), and yet, according to Manusmṛti 2. 213 f., they are incapable of achieving absolute devotion. Nevertheless, at the same time, feminine images of the divine are more obvious in Hinduism than in other religions (with the possible, but limited, exception of devotion to Mary in Christianity, where she is only associated with the divine). Even then, goddesses usually appear as consorts with male gods, and are beneficial in co-operation with them, otherwise being, in general, destructive. Women are prominent in myths, and in life they have been even more prominent in bhakti (devotion to God). Women are recognized by Hindus as a source of immense power, but they remain, nevertheless, firmly under patriarchal control.

Buddhism

The Buddha's attitude towards women was not radically different from that of his contemporaries: for those pursuing the religious life, women are a temptation and a snare; but in the context of lay society, the role of women as wives and mothers was crucial to the stability of the social order. The Buddha frequently cautioned monks to be on their guard when dealing with women lest they be overcome by lust and craving.

However, from the outset women were allowed to become nuns, although with more severe rules imposed on them. Regarding the role of women in lay life the Buddha upheld the traditional values of his time.

Jainism

The status of women in relation to enlightenment is a specific issue between Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras, with the latter regarding gender as usually irrelevant: see DIGAMBARA.

Sikhism

The recurring image in the Ādi Granth of the soul offering itself to God as a chaste woman surrenders to her husband reveals the traditional relationship. In accordance with the ideal of grahastī, Sikhs are expected to marry, and motherhood is an honoured role. Sikh teaching condemned the once prevalent practices of female infanticide and satī. Women participate in gurdwārā worship and are prominent in preparing Gurū-kālaṅgar. They may read the scriptures publicly or sing, and serve as management committee members.