The Deeper Meaning and Effects of Gender Roles in Religion
Both males and females according to the story of creation are were created in the same likeness and image, but the bitter truth is that they share so many differences in the same way they do things, even in religious aspects. Religious roles are divided based on gender. The kind of gender separation in religious duties as well as the control over gender roles has in great extent led to a deeper meaning and understanding of societal power and their reputation, as well as their consequences in religion.
In Jewish for example, male and females differ in so many ways, even in their celebration of puberty. While males are celebrated as they reach puberty through a ceremony known as Bar Mitzvah, nothing is done to the females after reaching their puberty. There are some kinds of complex inequalities in this aspect because it means that in Jewish culture, puberty in females seems go unnoticed while every other person is made to celebrate that of males.
Males have higher likelihood of being allowed to take part in all religious duties, while women are given little or no chances especially when they have menstruations. This is because they are considered unclean, and also, no one is supposed to go near a holy sanctuary. There is a restriction in this case because menstruation is a normal aspect of every woman. Preventing them from religious duties lead to a deeper understanding of genders treatment. It is the right of every man and woman to get married, but denying a woman her right to get married is not ethical and unfair because men who are involved in the affair go unpunished, and allowed to go on with marriage. Therefore, it could be true that women regret being born as women because they do not enjoy religious duties as compared to their male counterparts, no matter how best they want (Joseph 112).
In a similar way, Islam has a different opinion on things to do with gender and religion. Prophet Muhammad was involved in many sexual cases, including incest and sleeping with another woman. The problem was that he covered himself religiously, so as to avoid being punished as the law entailed. From the look of things, his power also played a role in his cover up. Being a king, and a male king for that matter, he had all the power to cover himself the way he wanted, and therefore, he had to do anything he wanted. He was erotic, and that is explained in the excerpt, but when females feel erotic, no one is supposed to know. Besides, because females are not as powerful as males, they may be punished by the Islamic religion once found guilty of sexual misbehaving (Joseph 32).
However, no matter how the prophet tried to cover himself from religious punishment, he was accused of being a bad figure to his religion. The case would have been different, were it for Western Christians. According to some beliefs, Western Christians would not have felt the erotic desires. This shows how different religions have a different perception of sexuality; for Islamic, religious offenders are punished, while they go unpunished in Christian side (Joseph 30).
Sufi men and women had varying aspects of religion. Sufi men believed that the erotic relationship could only be found between man and woman, but this was different from Sufi women. Sufi women believed that their love with God was reciprocal; as they supported the idea that God loved them in the same measure, they loved him. This made some of the women to preserve themselves for God, only to forget that it is impossible to have him as a life companion in the physical aspect. Sufi women, therefore, believed that they had a role to play in their religion, and they were motivated to keep themselves holy only for their God. They felt that the love of God in their lives was abundant, and that was why some could not depend on men for erotic actions, but to their God. Technically speaking, this was wrong because God could not give the eroticism people deserve, as he is not physically available (Kelly, Michael, and Lynn 22).
Unlike men who believed that women could only satisfy their desire, Sufi women believed that it is only God who can satisfy their desires. Through this belief, they did not consider men as central to their life, because they believed that whatever they need comes from God only. Sufi men, therefore, view God as feminine Divine because they lack the freedom they deserve because God has taken control over women. Religiously, Sufi women have more faith in God than their Sufi male counterparts. In fact, there is a possibility that Sufi men have no belief in religion because they believe God is a competitor to them. Women love God so much that they fear being separated from Him more than they fear fires of hell. They believe that their relationship with God here on earth will result to a better afterlife, and therefore, they give their all to their religion because they expect something better when they die, in contrast to men who partially believe in their religion. Sufi men view the worship of women as distractive while women see no distraction because they believe they are in a spiritual relationship with God, hence, stronger believers than men (Dakake and Maria 74).
Gender Roles and Effects in Religion
The Torah can be argued as a path to be a spiritual growth and self-actualization among others. They are important in human life and imperative for the growth of an individual because no person can be alone. Therefore, according to Jewish believes, the two beings were created for the purpose of maximizing growth and the need to be different (Staples 28). God created men and women as different beings and thus the differences regarding treatment in the society since immemorial. Both are perceived differently, and their roles in the society are different. On the other hand, in the Book of Genesis, God separated both man and woman, and this provides us with an insightful understanding of gender differences (Peskowitz, Miriam, and Laura 86).
Gender roles in the traditional Judaism are subject to gross misinterpretation and many people in the society have no clear vision of the subject. For instance, the position of women in the laws and tradition is not lowly, as many people would think. The fact is that, their position in Halakhah or simply Jewish Law can be traced back thousands of years to the Biblical period. As compared to her position in the modern society, they can be termed better as compared to that of women under US civil law as recently just a century ago. In summary, the majority of the influential feminist leaders such as Gloria Steinem, are of Jewish origin, and this is by no any chance coincidence. As part of their ethnic culture, women commanded some respect in the society (Peskowitz, Miriam, and Laura 86).
In traditional Judaism, roles and obligations are different from that of men, however, it can’t be taken to be less important. In some cases, they are considered essential than people think. The equality of both genders begins at the highest level that is God. In Judaism unlike in Christianity, people have never thought of God as being exclusively male or masculine. For instance, Judaism and related religious laws always take the Supreme Being as having both masculine and feminine qualities. God has no body and therefore the idea of him having any of the characteristics is patently absurd, but the purpose of using male terms is simply for convenience purposes (Peskowitz, Miriam, and Laura 86).
Thus, their voluntary attendance in the places of worship services is not a contribution toward a minyan. (These are ten people who necessary recite certain prayers in Jewish religion). Besides, woman's voluntary action from the Torah is not required towards the group obligation to read the laws. Moreover, because women they are not obligated to participate and further perform as various commandments as compared to men who can do that. Women, therefore, are treated and perceived as less privileged in the Jewish community. Although the group does not treat women as unimportant, men count themselves as fortunate to have the privileges (Peskowitz, Miriam, and Laura 86).
Another thing important aspect to be understood concerning gender roles in religion is evident in the isolation of gender during prayer meetings. As per the Jewish Law and traditions, men and females are supposed to be in different places during this time. They can be by a wall or cloth shade referred to as mechitzah or by placing them in different locations. The separation is to prevent any distraction. In the holy text, it is there were cases where they involved in sexual action and thus, the main aim of separating them both is to discourage such thinking about such things that are similar in today’s places of worship. A separation like that in today's synagogue is evident as it was done in the Temple. A combination of individual religious events results in the feeling of women being inferior place in the place of worships such as synagogue, and this made women feel as more secluded and thus skipped the services (Alpert 43).
Nevertheless, as stated earlier, the limitation on contribution in synagogue life do not mean that the female gender are isolated from Jewish religious life since the Jews believe is not common in the synagogue. For Judaism this is what permeates each aspect of life from when someone wakes up from bed in the morning, the daily activities, and even when one gets back home to rest. Players though small are very important in the Jewish religion (Alpert 43).
However, despite their role in worship, women were treated with the outmost respect for the greater degree of "Binah" because they were viewed as having great intuition, adequate understanding, and intelligence as compared to men. The is inferred from the text which describes them as being “built" rather than “formed." For example, matriarchs such as Rebecca, Sarah, Leah, and Rachel, were viewed as superior to the patriarchs like Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and regarding prophecy. Women were held in high positions in accordance to Judaism since Biblical times in Israel.
In an article penned by Rebecca Alpert in the late 1980s, the issues of lesbianism in the Jewish tradition form the fundamental challenge to the concept of Judaism. In the context of their religion, homosexuality does not pose any form of threat because men are viewed and appreciated and the fact is that they often lose sight of the need to model Jewish tradition to allow women to fully participant. On the other hand, Lesbians were viewed to be in unique situation of contending to the issues of gender and sexuality or the ombination of both. Most of the literature review material discussing on lesbianism in the religion does not devote any energy on attempting such ambitions of subjecting to halakhic discourses, but this confessional in nature (Alpert 43).
For instance, the earliest texts in the Israeli women of the English language journal Lesbiot, Nice Jewish Girls, or Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian, Gay, and Jewish and others related are vital. The highlighted material offer a lot of information to raise consciousness and awareness on the whole subject. However, authors who take the route of addressing the question as it appears within the Halakhic system or discourses seem to assume the same fundamental requirements. One of such is the need to locate lesbianism in the holy text such as the Bible and also in the classical corpus of Jewish legal texts. Whether it is the particular reading where homosexuality is prohibited such as chapters 18 and 20 of Leviticus. Howard Schwartz's approach to the question of creation treats the issues of lesbians as if hinted to in the Bible (Staples 23).
Reading at those earlier and holy text, one may even make a conclusion that there is the desire by the Jewish and Christian traditions to place lesbianism and gays in the realm of prohibitions. Again, in the piece authored by Alpert, she notes, “although the Bible in the Leviticus text mainly refers to only relationships that take place between men, the issues of lesbians experience the power of rejection as a reference to themselves as well." Besides, Alpert criticizes both the Bible its lenient approach and being lose their position about it and how to deal with lesbianism, as contrasted to the stricter view on homosexuality. As such, it does not help that Maimonides, on the other hand, claims that the punishment from the texts to be meted on lesbianism is neither rabbinic nor biblical (Alpert 52).
The lacuna that emanates from Alpert is a clear demonstration on a disinterest in bonding especially between women. What is at stake in the argument is the fact that the realm of women's sexual activity, matters a lot and also counts in the holy texts and therefore relevant in the society, the position reflected by various authors writing on the same topic. For instance, Elizabeth Sara is in the records portraying an impoverished womanhood due to some reasons one of them being that they are, indeed, included in laws of forbidden unions in Leviticus. However, women are viewed as the objects, not the subjects, of the various forms of sexual union; one of the noticeable things is that there is no mention even for a single time of females with one another.
Rodney Mariner as quoted in Rebecca is a bit sympathetic to the fact that, Jewish texts treat the concept of lesbianism as the equivalent of male homosexuality, and more, so they regard it as merely the mere obscenity. Consequently, from such understanding, one can argue that the Jewish community and texts equate lesbianism in the similar level with other biblical prohibitions. The writers are keen to dismiss Halakha and in response provide a creative exegesis meant to rescue the women in the community from enslavement to Jewish traditional law and religious beliefs. To better understand the issues as expressed in their tradition, there significant Jewish texts that appear to deal with lesbianism and other sexuality issues, from the holy text specifically the Bible to contemporary Responsa (Alpert 54).
In conclusion, both men and women play a significant responsibilities though different roles in Jewish religious traditions. In the holy text such as the Bible both gender were created equally and thus require equal treatment. However, this is not the case from the ancient world to modern time because their roles are not distinct but take various dimensions by the general performance of their tradition and the prevailing philosophy. As time has evolved, various changes have taken place regarding their duties and obligations as compared to modern approach mirrored in social, economic, and political parameters. Although men and women were viewed as equals, they were entitled to different duties and responsibility.
Bibliography
Alpert, Rebecca. Challenging Male/Female Complementarity: Jewish Lesbians and the Jewish Tradition.” In People of the Body, 361377. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 2002.
Dakake, Maria M. Guest of the Inmost Heart: Conceptions of the Divine Beloved among Early Sufi Women.” In Comparative Islamic Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1: 7297. 2008.
Joseph, Rhawn. Female Sexuality: The Naked Truth: The Evolution of the Human Female. San Jose, CA: University Press, 2000.
Joseph, Rhawn. Sexuality: Female Evolution & Erotica. San Jose, Calif:
Kelly, Michael, and Lynn Messina. Religion in Politics and Society. New York: H.W. Wilson,
2002.
Peskowitz, Miriam, and Laura Levitt. Judaism since gender. Routledge, 2014.
Sanders, Paula. Gendering the Ungendered Body: Hermaphrodites in Medieval Islamic Law. In Women in Middle Eastern History, 7495. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1991.
Staples, Ariadne. The Uses of Virginity: The Vestals and Rome.” In From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion, 129156. London: Routledge. 1998. Synnott, Anthony. The body social. Routledge, 2002.
