Monday, April 16, 2012

How would you write an argumentative essay analyzing how religion and religious beliefs perpetuate biased gender roles?

Religious beliefs can perpetuate biased gender roles. The status of women today is primarily attributed to religion because many of them advocate for male dominance. Furthermore, patriarchal values are encouraged in many religions. For instance, in most religions, God is associated with man. On the other hand, women are portrayed as mothers and homemakers.
Based on history, women have hardly had any say in religious communities. Nonetheless, a majority of religions call for women to be respected. Despite this, women have never been viewed by the most followed religions around the world as being equal to men. For instance, in Islam, a woman going through her monthly periods is not allowed to hold the Quran or go to the mosque. Therefore, the roles of men and women are imbalanced in many religions. A study by Klingorova and Havlicek revealed that religious countries have high rates of gender inequality. The researchers note,

The relation between religion and gender equality can be explained by the assertion that societies with higher religiosity accept the authority of religious teachers, who advocate a patriarchal organization of society.

The research also revealed that secular states had higher rates of gender equality compared to religious ones.

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