Sexism In Religion

Introduction and Thesis
Throughout the world women face discrimination and sexism everyday whether it be through work wages, leadership positions, sexualization in the media, or in religion. Sexism in religion isn’t often discussed or considered but happens in the majority of the religions around the world and is often impacted by the society the religion is surrounded by. A religion’s view on women is strongly influenced by the society that surrounds it and changes as the world moves to be a more inclusive or equal society. The view of women in the past and through history has been one that shows them as inferior to men. This concept can be seen when looking at early scripture of a religion, how the Indigenous religions changed because of
This portrayal of women is depicted in many of the sacred texts of religions and shows the reader how women were viewed at the time and place they were composed. An example of this is seen in many Christian writings when women are described as temptresses, servants to men, evil, simply a body, and more likely than men to sin. A quote from the book Women and Religious Tradition shows this concept, “…women were equated with the body and men with the mind. This made women sexually dangerous to men. According to Augustin, women are more carnal than men and therefore more subject to temptation and sin” (Anderson and Young). Women were often excluded from the stories of the Bible by not having names, which states that they weren’t seen as important parts of the story or history. Although there are some strong women in the Christian Bible, there is a pattern of exclusion or negative words spoken to describe women (Anderson and Young). The pattern can also be seen in the Jewish telling of Lilith in the 6th century Midrash of Ben Sira. In this story, Lilith is shown as selfish, evil, and stubborn due to the fact that she was willing to let “one hundred of her children to die every day” (“Midrash Handout” 1). The reader is pushed to see that Lilith is at fault and has these character flaws because she is a woman, even though she was simply trying to not be seen as inferior to Adam. This is only one example of text from the Jewish faith and can’t speak for all text, however, it does show how women were viewed at the time it was written. My final example of how women were seen in early religious text due to the period they were written is seen in the Buddhist religion. There is very little mention of women in the Buddhist writings and many of it was rewritten to “indulge in rhetoric that vilifies women as seductresses and as beings of low morality”