Gender Differences in Religious Belief Essay Example for Free

Gender Differences in Religious Belief EssayCritically examine the race amidst gender, religious participation and religious organisation Studies of religious belief verify consistently that the distaff gender shows greater participation to pietism than that of males. This greater commitment to religion described by sociologists such(prenominal)(prenominal) as Bensen applies throughout the course of the womans life, and as noted by Glock and Stark, their greater take to religion is consistent regard slight of the religious organization, whether it be New Religious movements, New Age spirituality, or traditional faiths. Beit-hallahmy and Argyle state that whether it is a motion of undercover churchgoing or private prayer and regardless of religious belief women appear more religious than men.Religions universally have been found to be deeply oppressive to women, born from ancient teachings indicating their inferiority to men. Writers wish de Beauvoir and Sadwai see relig ion and religious ideology as playing a part in maintaining male subordination that is found in many aspects of contemporary social life. In religious scriptures women take the lesser position De Beauvoir highlights how scriptures in most religions raise that man is master by divine right and Aldridge explains how in the Quran women ar legally inferior to men.Why, then, do women pursue a faith which encourages their oppression, more so than the gender with the power to dominate it? Biological factors begin with Miller and Hoffmans explanation that women take fewer risks than men and as a result strain to conform to a groups religious identity rather than undertake the challenge of authority and autonomy. Men more often reject the religious beliefs of the mainstream and engage in risk-taking behaviors. According to Stark this risk taking inclination in a man to not think ahead means that men are less religious because they are willing to take a gamble on there not being an afte rlife. However sociologists like Freese and Montgomery debate this competition works on an assumption that everyone makes the same risk assessment when in fact men are just more prepared to take that risk.Roth produced a study which showed there to be a smaller gap between genders in the percentage who believe in an afterlife but a elephantine gap in those who give attendance and prayer to religion, suggesting women just infix actively more than men. Armstrong states that biological differences between men and women gave way to male domination patriarchal montheism has replaced polysthetic beliefs which promoted the role of the female person in society, for which evidence was found by archeologists in the form of old statues of goddesses. He argues that natural male aggression was the calamus use to manipulate religion into a patriarchal institution.The socializations built upon this biology, are of men to be strong and domineering, and of women to be passive, obedient, and nurt uring, which according to Mol, are the qualities associated with religiosity. Miller and Hoffman progress that gender socialisation makes women more cooperative and caring, and this posterior leads to many explanations for their greater participation in religion. One is their role of guardians in family life. Bruce states that womens child tutelage and rearing experiences for instance develop their traits as nurturers as opposed to confrontational and goal seeking.Luckmann further explains that women have a greater responsibility for rearing children and participate to a lesser degree in the labor force, leaving them with more time for church-related activities and a greater need for a source of personal identity and commitment. Women are more likely to take on the task of the moral development of their child along with the rest of their duties in socializing a child. there is an expectation for women to be defenders of tradition and Halman and Draulans note that these roles giv e women a greater focus on the family. Luckmann also highlights how womens role as a woman of the house gives them lesser participation in the labor force, leaving them with more time for church-related activities and a greater need for a source of personal identity and commitment.They are more likely to experience status frustration, born from the constraints of housework and child wish or the unsatisfying lower middle class jobs which are mainly make by women. Religious participation can reinstate identity and give women focus, because where men gain individuality through work, women revive their low sense of deserving through religion. Religious faith and practice can enhance psychological public assistance by being a source of comfort to women in propagation of distress and by enhancing their social interaction with others in places of worship. More responsive and sensitive personality traits in a woman mean they are more likely to contemplate emotional wellbeing and not on ly seek solace in religion bit find meaning and purpose in life. Personality was be attested as a key factor by Thompson, who found that men who possess those qualities more commonly found in women, such as sensitivity , were similarly more likely to be religious.Reasons other than oppression that lead a higher percentage of women to respond to their surroundings and pursue happiness through religion are the increased levels of poverty they experience. Official figures show women are 14% more likely than men to lie in households with incomes that are 60% below the national average. More frequently diagnosed mental illness and depression in women can explain their higher constituent to religion, as cults, sects as a social network and comfort for women outside the isolation of the home or of their minds. Womens tend to be more point-blank about sharing personal problems and are more relational than men which is encouraged in the close knit community of a sect.The intimacy of the private sphere can also replicate womens sphere of the home whilst theodicies explaining their feelings and offering solutions justify their role as a woman. New Religious Movements such as cults are also generally more popular with women because of cult focus on self-discovery and extent, which correlates with the female inclination towards self-criticism and self-improvement, due to their suffering higher levels of marginalization and lack of self-confidence. Some evidence contradicts the male role as non-spiritual however, as Davie found there is an equal spiritual confidence in the existence of ghosts between genders. A key to understanding modern womens higher participation in religion is the shifts in demographic trends.Brierlys study found that in 1979 the proportion of male church goers were 45% but in 1989 it had dropped to 42%. The ratio of live females to live males rises steadily and correspondingly a disproportionate piece of elderly women seek refuge in the church i n response to loneliness or consoling philosophy nearing the end of their lives. Davie explains how women are more actively responsive to religion because males and females have differing visions of God males associate him with power and status whereas women associate with his traits of love, comfort and forgiveness which explains their greater involvement in community religions.They are more concerned with people orientation than control. Female differences in nature also explains the particular appeal of New Age ideas revolved around well-being and stress relief. Concepts such as herbalism, yoga and meditation, homeopathy, aromatherapy and massage, horoscopes, astrology, fortune-telling are strongly associated with females, according to Glendinning and Bruce. This recent marketization of religion often promotes earthly concepts which are more linked to femininity and female empowerment than the tradition of male domination.Mother Gaia, the theory of Mother Earth as a living entity , is more appealable to women for instance. Womens heightened spirituality can be attributed to their greater role in biological life processes. Walter and Davie see women as more emotionally exposed to the ups and downs of life because of childbirth, and their nurturing role as teachers, care assistants, social workers, and so on, and also the expectation that they be unpaid carers for vulnerable family members.This heightens their sensitivity and attunes the spiritual dimension of human existence, because as Davie argues, these factors give women a impending association with birth and death which are generally central concepts of religion. As females live longer than men some studies have shown that many widowed women whitethorn turn to religion for the comfort of reassuring philosophies and social networks. It is possible that some women take refuge from some of the theoretical oppressions bore by religion. Swatos talks of the fulfilment that can be had from being a second class citizenship. Feminist writers like Walby and be Beauvoir suggest that the doctrine of many of the worlds religions have an ideology of the family which emphasises womens traditional roles as wives and mothers in the family. Some women, however, are happy to take on this role.Barrett and Pryce, for instance, highlight how Rastafarianism assumes the womans position as a housewife and mother as a protection from sexual and racial abuse in the outside world. On one hand this gives eventual(prenominal) power to men by denying female participation to society in the name of protection, but some more introverted Rastafarian women may please this safety within the sphere of the home. A similar contradiction of female subjugation is the veil whilst Aldridge notes the hijab in Islamic cultures as a symbol of patriarchy, degrading women to a state of invisibility and keeping them devoid of identity, some women find anonymity to be protective from the judgement and sexual degradation of men. A developing number of Western Muslims have taken to wearing the veil to in fact reinstate a female identity separate from their face writers like Ahmed and Watson argue that the veiling of ones face can be a way to resist the patriarchy and sexual objectification of Western culture which views women as visual objects. Faiths as a majority oppose the admission of women to leadership in religious organisations.A pun of the stained glass ceiling is used as a pun by sociologists to explain how women are maintained at the bottom of the career ladder to authority within the church, and barred exclusively from the priesthood in Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Judaism, which is seemingly discriminatory, but perhaps female role models within religious doctrines presented as meek and nurturing figures have had such an influence on the identity of a religious women that they feel more comfortable in a non-domineering role. Examples can be taken from any religion proving the sub-ordinance of women taught by most faith systems.The socialisation of women to be obedient and take on the follower role means they are further likely to be a willing follower of religion. Overall social, psychological, and biological factors interlink to form explanations for greater female participation in religion and religious organisation. The gravity of female relation to religion as an explanation, compensator, duty, and social outlet mean that their commitment is likely to persist regardless of the injustices and subjugations it bears upon the gender.