Gender is a term that can be interpreted in various ways. Initially, gender was known to be a synonym for women. The main reason behind this reasoning was the fact that the term gender and all gender studies carried out were mainly done to study women. They all had a feminine touch. Gender studies mainly began as a result of traditional invisibility associated with women. Their role in the society was limited. They were not involved in politics or any kind of leadership. As a result, women wanted to overcome this traditional invisibility, and this led to the beginning of gender studies.
Currently, and in most aspects, gender is related to sex in the society. It helps explain the biological differences between men and women. Female gender represents all women while the male gender represents all men. Gender, as used in social science, explains what it means to be a woman or a man in a different cultures and societies. Sociologists like Joan Wallach Scott explains gender as a useful category used in the analysis of history. Judith Belters, on the other hand, describes gender as a category that is full of problems and pitfalls. Daniel Boyarin wrote an essay in which he defined gender as the process through which human beings are classified in a two-sex system. It can thus be concluded that gender is a process of differentiating males from females in the society.
Both religion and gender are fields that are not so well explored, and thus, their relationship is established from this point. Religion tends to have distinguished roles for both men and women. During religious ceremonies, rites, beliefs, doctrines, teachings and practices both males and females have their specific and differentiated roles to play. Gender thus comes up despite the fact that it is unacknowledged and is said to be invisible. The distinction of gender as biological differences between male and females, thus began in religion way before gender studies commenced. Gender and religion are thus intertwined and cannot be studied as separate terminologies. Rather, it calls for the study of gender in the religion other than religion and gender, and this is how gender and religion are related.
There is a need for one to be conscious of gender in religion. Most religious studies embrace the concept of androcentrism. They talk more about the role of men, their thoughts, and contributions to the religion other than considering both male and females. The biblical scriptures themselves quote more about men and what they did in the history of their people and women are rarely mentioned. For example, the creation story talks more about the male creation and mentions so little about women. Females are regarded as invisible and seen as just part of unrecognized society despite their great contributions and superior experience. All this emphasizes the need to be conscious of the role of gender in religion.
Being conscious of gender in religion, thus allows people to embrace the role of both men and women in religion. It also enables female religious groups to be considered whenever discussing religion and its influence on society. Previously, religion has been dominated by men and female groups have not been taken seriously. Moreover, it helps people to understand religion from a broader perspective where both men and women are part of the society and contributes equally to religion and society issues.
The introduction of feminism in religion has brought a lot of changes in religion. To begin with, it has led to the introduction of gender studies in religion. It allows religion to be examined and understood from the perspective of women. Unlike in earlier days, religion used to be centered on the male figure in the society. The teaching and scriptures only mentioned and emphasized on the men. It led to a religion that was once sided as male studies dominated. However, this has changed over time. Studies show that female experiences are superior as compared to male experiences. The method of gender studies in religion, thus, entails embracing both female and male views, thought as well as experiences.
Works Cited
Jones, Lindsay. "Gender and Religion: An Overview." Jones, Lindasay. Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd edition. USA: Macmillan, 2004. 3296-3310. print.
