Gender Roles And Religion Essay

Each gender contains the same brahman or made in the image of God; therefore gender roles are learned through culture at birth. A daughter often receives a doll and cooks with her mother. Subconsciously, she is learning the domestic duties of a woman. In contrast, a son usually is given intellectually stimulating toys such as Legos, which develops his ability to work independently and the mental prowess necessary for a future job. However, wouldn’t a society that accentuates interests rather than gender obligations and introduces all aspects of male and female work spheres produce more enlightened individuals? A solution to this problem may be raising children without gender role restrictions where self-worth is not dependent on the opposite

Education is instrumental in eliminating gender role stereotypes and religion can initiate this change. However, merely educating followers with respective to religious texts advocating equality in the Sruti and the Bible has proven insufficient. Therefore, I believe disseminating knowledge about the detrimental effects of gender role limitations must begin with education of all religious leaders. Next, theologians and leaders must work to change gender stereotypes. For Christianity, gender role equality could be achieved by emphasizing scriptural passages, which highlight alternative roles for women. This change could materialize by teaching about the intelligence and bravery of Abigail, who saved her household from destruction, 1 Samuel [25:14-42] or Lydia, a cloth merchant, Acts [16:14]. In Hinduism, three options to facilitate this change exist. First, stressing the independent qualities of feminine deities such as Durga or Kali validates these traits in all women. Next, the Smriti text the Laws of Manu or epics previously mentioned can be re-interpreted to reflect our current understanding of society. The re-interpretation of Smriti texts has already begun. Indian American women