December 8, 2004
Gender and Spirituality
Religiosity describes an individual’s or group’s intensity of commitment to a religious belief system. There are differences between women and men on several other measures of religiosity. More women than men actually go to church or synagogue; more women than men consider religion to be very important in their lives; and considerably more women than men believe that religion can answer all or most of today’s problems.
Other studies show that women are more likely to pray and to read the Bible regularly. Moreover, additional research indicates that when race and ethnicity are also taken into account, women of color have especially high levels of religiosity. In some Black churches women make up from 70 to 90% of the congregation. However, women’s level of religiosity has been declining in recent years.
Several theories have been offered to explain gender differences in religiosity: women are more submissive, passive, obedient, and nurturing than men, and these traits are related to high levels of religiosity.
A second theory of gender differences in religiosity has focused on the division of labor, specifically women’s primary responsibility for the family well-being and childcare. One version argues that religious activities such as church attendance are considered an extension of household responsibilities; a second version maintains that women simply have more time for religious activities.
Renzetti and Curran explore the gendered teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam regarding three main topics:
1.appropriate behavior and rituals for the male and female faithful;
2.the regulation of sexuality, and
3.the relative positions of men and women as church leaders or authorities.
Judaism –
Renzetti and Curran/ Dawn Robinson Rose;
Early traditions excluded women from the most important synagogue rituals and traces of this second-class status for women remain today, especially among the more orthodox. Rose describes how the ultra and modern Orthodox, the Reform movement and the Conservative movement with its Reconstructionist "off-shoot" have responded to modernity in different ways and in so doing have modified and continue to modify gender roles within parts of the Jewish community. Rose's historical discussion reminds us that gender has been and is continually socially constructed.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox men and women have separate and very clearly defined rights and obligations under Jewish law. Traditionally, the scholarly and spiritual realms have been reserved for men. Women are exempt from these religious duties on the ground that fulfilling them would
interfere with their primary roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers. Women control the domestic realm where they tend to the needs of their husbands and children.
Orthodoxy maintains that this is not unequal separation of roles but allows for the moral purity of their households. Orthodox women may not read the Torah during worship or in prayer groups. They cannot be ordained as Orthodox rabbis. They sit separated in the synagogue.
Male-female relations: Wives may not bequeath their property while they are married without their husbands’ consent. Women may not formally initiate marriage nor can they divorce (husband is allowed to divorce wife) without permission. She may institute divorce proceedings before the religious court but she is not released from her marriage unless her husband grants it.
Jewish law recognizes the rights of both women and men to sexual fulfillment in marriage. However, women must be modest in appearance (example, arms covered – covering their hair). The laws of family purity include the rules of bodily cleanliness, which revolve around a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Deborah Kaufman – did a study on newly Orthodox Jewish women who felt that the halakic (religious) prescriptions were in fact liberating – they felt they had regained control over their sexuality and felt that they had an enhanced status as women and as mothers, and they considered the men in their lives were more respectful, supportive and committed to their relationships.
Modern Orthodox – small minority of the Orthodox community. Women in Modern Orthodoxy do not live and work in the same sort of insular environment as Hasidic or Ultra-Orthodox women. Many of these women have felt disenfranchised in the synagogue. Others have begun to experiment with women’s prayer groups, which are highly controversial.
The Reform Movement founded in early 1800s. Theologically , the focus turned from ritual performance and book study to ethical monotheism, good works and the creation of justice in the world. In 1972 Reform Judaism opened rabbinical ordination to women. In 1990 gay men and women were accepted into the rabbinate. In 1996 voted to endorse legalization of gay and lesbian marriages.
Conservative Judaism – established in the 1880s as a more middle-of-the road alternative to Orthodox and Reform. Tries to look at Jewish law as both divinely inspired but also place it in a historical context. In 1973 – prohibitions that excluded women from some parts of worship were abolished. Mid-1980s women were permitted to therabbinate. In 1990 women were permitted to be cantors (who chant liturgy of behalf of the congregation and therefore play a more central role in worship than rabbis, whose teach and preach). However, the decision to hire a woman and what women can do is up to the specific congregation; the overall policy is to honor the minhagha-makon or the “custom of the place.” Conservative Judaism continues to prohibit the ordination of lesbians and gay men as rabbis. Conservative Jewish authorities welcome lesbians and gay men as individual members of Conservative congregations but leave the decision of whether to hire homosexuals as teachers or youth leaders up to individual rabbis.
The Reconstructionist Movement – small offshoot of Conservatism. The central tenet is that Judaism is an “evolving civilization.” Since 1968, the Reconstructionists have accepted female rabbinical students and prohibited discrimination against female rabbis in Reonstructionist synagogues. In 1972 the movement ordained the first woman rabbi associated with a major Jewish movement. Like Reform Judaism, the reconstructionist movement has no restrictions on gays as cantors, rabbis or members of the synagogue.
Although currently, there are hundreds of women rabbis, they frequently face sexism in ways that assume an essentialist view (e.g. they are asked to teach children). They have lower pay scales and markedly fewer opportunities for career advancement. Moreover, they are often greeted with hostility from their male peers who fear a sort of universal “feminization of the rabbinate.” The concern is whether women perform like male rabbis or will they change the role of the rabbi overall and therefore; make it a woman’s profession which will be less prestigious and profitable.
Christianity –
Early Christian movement had both men and women leaders. The rationale for the decision of male church authorities to exclude women from leadership roles remains open to speculation. Whatever the reasoning, women were relegated to a second-class citizenship within Christianity, a status that persists in many Christian denominations to this day.
Within the Christian tradition, both men and women have been characterized in contradictory ways. Men are supposed to be rational, authoritative, and in control, yet they are depicted as weak-willed when confronted with women’s feminine charms. Indeed women are portrayed as temptresses "the devil’s gateway" At the same time though, the virgin, pure of heart and body, has been extolled by Christianity, as has the good mother.
Historically sex was discussed as an activity to be avoided if possible, except for the purpose of procreation (for example, see St. Paul). According to St. Augustine,sex was the means by which original sin was transmitted across generation.
Today Christian teachings on sexuality remain mixed. Virtually all sects and denominations continue to frown on nonmarital sex although groups within various churches have recommended more open-minded discussion of sexuality. Homosexuality is another area that engenders great debate. In some Protestant churches homosexuals can ordained (for example, the United Church of Christ), but there is a strong division (Episcopalian – yes; Methodist, no). Some churches have no explicit church wide policy permitting or prohibiting ordination of gays and lesbians. The decision is left to regional or local bodies, some of which are willing to ordain homosexual candidates.
Roman Catholic Church – reiterated its strong disapproval of homosexuality – has also argued that discrimination against homosexuals in the area of adoption, foster care placement, military service and employment as teacher and coaches. Bishops actively oppose any legislation that promotes public acceptance of homosexuality and homosexual relationships.
The Roman Catholic Church continues to require celibacy on the part of clergy and nuns and it prohibits the use of artificial contraception and abortion as well as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.
Opposition to the ordination of women to the priesthood.
Unlike the Catholic Church virtually all the Protestant churches now ordain women to their ministries. Nevertheless, women ministers still confront sexism in their churches and denominations. There is a "stained glass ceiling" within their churches.
Nesbit, Baust and Bailey’s article “Women’s Status in the Christian Church.” The church has provided ways for women to participate in society beyond the home and within service roles, sometimes even to lead. Nevertheless, when women have moved beyond the limited ways that men have been willing to grant them, they have met resistance and hostility.
Women as Religious Leaders –
Max Weber pointed out that women historically have had greater equality in leadership roles among religious groups of lower socioeconomic classes, but their leadership diminishes as these groups grow in size, organizational complexity, and social status. For example, women were priests in the early Gnostic sects, but by the fourth century, women’s primary means of church leadership was in gender-segregated religious orders.
Women historically have been able to maintain independent religious perspectives and become religious leaders through founding or leading new religious organizations – examples: Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science. These religious organizations were typically founded on “charismatic authority,” that is, the ability to lead rested in the extraordinary qualities of the individual rather than in the formal position of the religious organization. After these charismatic female leaders died in both white and black churches, the leadership typically was taken over by men.
Women as Ordained Clergy –
The most severe resistance to women’s ordination has come from male clergy rather than laymen or laywomen. Wider societal conditions involving supply and demand affect the status of women clergy. For example, the socioeconomic and population booms following WWII resulted in growth in church membership and the need for more clergy to staff new congregations. These lead some denominations (Methodists for example) to open ordination to women.
Women in ministry consistently have met with a stained-glass ceiling not unlike that in secular occupations, where they tend to remain in lower-level to mid-level jobs despite qualifications and interests similar to those of men. Studies continue to show that women across denominations disproportionately are found in the ranks of assistant or associate ministers, pastors or rabbis despite education and aspirations similar to men ordained at the same time who subsequently move into senior positions. Women clergy earn about 9 percent less than men for the same position in similar churches, even when holding constant, age, experience and education. Women tend to be found in gender-segregated jobs and in ordination tracks that offer considerably less opportunity for upward career mobility into positions of high status and authority in their denominations.
Lay women – Lay women continue to face a variety of tensions, not only from men but also among themselves. Gillespie studied the Episcopal Church and found that elderly women who typically had devoted much of their adult lives to traditional women’s work in their congregations such as teaching, leading women’s groups, caring for the altar, serving food, fund raising through social activities and outreach to the poor or ill, were ready to “pass on the torch” but found that younger women were not interested. These younger women disapproved of such work as perpetuating gender stereotypes.
Tensions have also risen between laywomen and female clergy. For traditionalist women with powerful lay roles in the church, the presence of women clergy has represented a status threat. However, the researchers also found that these very laywomen experienced the greatest attitude shift toward support of women clergy, suggesting that overt resistance among women can be part of the process of attitudinal change.
Responses to modernity in Christian Churches
Though 70 percent of the membership in black churches today is female, racism rather than sexism is the focus for societal change. Many women and men perceive women who compete with men for church-leadership positions as putting their personal interests ahead of their race. Consequently, women have run into substantial resistance seeking preaching ministries, which traditionally have been male, rather than teaching ministries, which have been more open to women.
Women in the Roman Catholic Church experienced remarkable change in status over the last half of the 20th century, but not through ordination and therefore they can not dispense the sacraments. Due to the shortage of priests, women have been acting as lay pastors and carrying out nonsacramental duties traditionally associated with priests.
The liberation theology movement of the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelicalism have aimed at restructuring society either through collective action (Liberation theology) or through individual-oriented acts (Evangelicalism). These movements have been particularly active in Latin America and each seek wider roles for women.
This is not to say that all change has been in a liberal direction. Conservative churchwomen in Evangelical and Pentecostal churches support and legitimate traditional notions of the nuclear family, masculine authority, sexuality, idealized differences between femininity and masculinity and clearly defined gender roles. These conservative churchwomen also have taken on roles as political activities. Groups such as The Christian Coalition have depended upon women’s grassroots involvement and support to elect conservative Christian candidates at local, state, and national levels.
Islam – second largest religion in the world in terms of membership
It is clear that Islam radically altered male-female relations. Mohammed permitted men to have more than one wife, imposing a limit of four as long as they could be supported. He opposed female infanticide, but gave men unconditional custody rights to their children. Men are women’s guardians and a degree above them.
Today many Islamic leaders maintain that men and women hold equal status, although they are quick to emphasize that this equality does not derive from sharing the same privileges and responsibilities, but rather from the complementary of their roles.
In Islamic societies today, men are the undisputed heads of both the sacred and secular realms, including the household. Theirs is the public sphere, where they conduct religious and worldly affairs and assume a variety of roles with few restrictions. In orthodox Islamic societies women are largely confined to the private sphere. Prior to marriage, the Muslim woman is under the control of her father, brothers, and other male relatives. Islamic law forbids any public contact between unmarried women and men.
Islamic law imposes a number of restrictions on men’s behavior – for example, they may not drink alcohol or gamble, and they must dress modestly–but men are given considerably more freedom than women.
The level of orthodoxy practiced by Muslims does vary by country as well as by sect.
Islamic women are divided on the meanings of the restrictions. Many Muslim women explain their openness to orthodoxy in terms of institutional protection. A veiled woman is recognized by all as religiously devout and off limits to men. It is also the case that for some women, donning the veil and chador is a political statement, an expression not just of religious devotion, but of militancy, rebellion, and protest against oppressive political regimes, secularism, and Western imperialism in their countries.
In some ways then, the conservative politicalization of Islamic women gives them more in common with Orthodox Jewish women and conservative American Christian women. Each of these groups embraces religious fundamentalism, a religious orientation that denounces secular modernity and attempts to restore traditional spirituality through selective retrieval of doctrines, beliefs and practices from a sacred past.
Challenges to Religious Patriarchy:
Feminist spirituality. There are many variations but the most important theme that runs through feminist spirituality is the rejection of the dualism of patriarchal religions. That is, the major patriarchal religious traditions separate God and the world, the sacred and the profane, spirit and body, viewing them as distinct and placing human beings in tension between them.
There are those who feel that the Judeo-Christian traditions and other patriarchal religions are so hopelessly mired in sexism that they have abandoned these religions altogether, Example – rise of Wiccan religion.
While some feminist spiritualists advocate a complete break with men and all that is male-identified, many welcome both women and men into their traditions on the ground that patriarchal religions may oppress members of both sexes through heterosexism, racism and class bias. From this perspective, women’s experiences may provide the foundation for a feminist spirituality that offers liberation for members of either sex.
Reformers (as opposed to rebelers) – have chosen to challenge patriarchal religious forms and to reclaim Judeo-Christian and Islamic history, language, symbols, and rituals as their own. For example, challenging the image of God as male and celebrating women in rituals.
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