Religious Definitions of the Role of Women

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the very issue of women's, wherein the traditional roles that were being played by women are now being discarded in favor of more equality and independence, has caused confusion and irritation in the minds of the Christians of today; Christianity in the pagan times were never treated as being more than mere chattel. The author points out that, in Islam, the subservient determination position of women is defined not by the numerous Islamic ideologies that but by the Pre-Islamic patriarchic ideologies; whereas, in India, the ancient Hindu Scriptures and the Vedas are the base for the systematic discrimination against women, which often culminates in the forced abortion of female fetuses. This paper relates that, in ancient African traditional religions, the woman is treated equally with mend; woman play an active role in all aspects of life, which is not seen in any other religion anywhere in the world.

From the Paper:

"The truth is that both Buddhism and Jainism were protest movements against the various unfair practices of Hinduism, especially in relation to women. However, the advent of these two religions had little or no impact on the status of women in India, and the reason for this may be that more emphasis was laid on the factor of asceticism, wherein women were expected to be severely ascetic in all their beliefs and practices. This was similar to the beliefs of the early Christian ascetics, and the teachings found in the old Essenes, and the Franciscans. Therefore, though Buddhism and Jainism opposed most of the horrible practices found in Hinduism, like for example, Sati, where a wife was actually burnt to death at the funeral pyre of her dead husband, women were still considered to be a real burden, and also a hindrance to real progress. The path to liberation was curtailed and prevented, by women, according to the belief of the Buddhist and Jain leaders. Thus, they too did not treat women as more then a burden and a hindrance, and though unfair practices were frowned upon, there were no fair practices either, within the religions, as far as women were concerned."

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