Nelson Jones

Belief, disbelief and beyond belief

Is God sexist?

Religion has long been associated with the oppression and denigration of women, yet its appeal to th

By Nelson Jones Published 08 March 2012 13:58

Religion ought to be a prime target on International Women's Day. Say what you like about global capitalism, or "the patriarchy", is there any force more potent than organised religion when it comes to putting women in their place and keeping them there? Whether it's the campaign by the Catholic church in America to restrict access to contraception in the name of "religious freedom", ultra-Orthodox Jews screaming obscene abuse at little girls going to school, efforts by traditionalist-minded Anglicans to maintain the glass ceiling when it comes to episcopal appointments, or the latest horror story from Afghanistan, religion seems predicated on the assumption that women are inferior to men and can only find fulfilment and security by accepting their secondary position in the divine scheme of things.

Yet because of the prevailing public etiquette that says that religious views should be accorded particular respect, and sometimes legal privilege, religion as such is rarely called out for its underlying sexism. Instead culture gets the blame, or fundamentalism, or a patriarchal conspiracy that we are assured has taken control of religion and twisted it for its own ends.

Of course there are progressive, even feminist, voices within all the major religions. But they are historically novel and even today may struggle to get their voices heard. It's unlikely to be a coincidence that the most religiously observant countries tend to be those with the worst records when it comes to the position of women. Or that the most secular and least religious countries score highest in terms of sexual equality.

Religion, almost every religion, views women primarily in terms of their biological function. It takes certain commonplace observations and draws from them conclusions that have restricted women's participation in society and undermined their sense of themselves. Because women bear children, religion has moralised about their sexual behaviour far more than about that of men, promoting in many societies a cult of chastity that has made women prisoners of their fathers and husbands. Because women tend to be smaller and less physically powerful than men, religion teaches them to defer to their husbands as they would to God ("for the husband is head of his wife as Christ is of the Church", as St Paul once charmingly put it). Because heterosexual men enjoy looking at women's bodies religion castigates sexually confident women as harlots and temptresses, inculcates shame and teaches that "modesty" requires covering up any part of themselves that some passing man might possibly find attractive.

It's true, of course, that time and social progress has eliminated some of the more grotesque examples of religiously-sponsored sexism. Hindu widows are no longer called upon to immolate themselves upon their husbands' funeral pyres (though social marginalisation often still awaits them instead). Spare daughters are no longer sent to live out their days in nunneries. Mainstream religious leaders are happy to deny that their faiths, when properly interpreted, are sexist at all. Who hasn't heard a Muslim apologist proclaim that Islam gave women property rights unknown in Europe until the 19th century, or a Christian point out the respect that Jesus showed to the women who were among his most prominent followers?

For that matter, at least in the west, women have long shown much higher levels of religiosity than have men. More women than men attend church every Sunday; women are more likely to pray and to express belief in God. Men are less likely to be interested in religion, and considerably more likely to be atheists. These factors are more pronounced in western, post-Christian societies where faith is no longer required for social conformity, suggesting that whatever it is that religion offers people (solace, community, hope for an afterlife or direct spiritual experience) appeals to women more than it does men.

Outside of the male-dominated priesthoods, it's women who traditionally passed on religious devotion within families and who often enforced communal religious norms. Men have often been bystanders in the misogynistic oppression of women, by women, in the name of religion or morality. Today, some of the loudest voices speaking out from a religious perspective against abortion -- something viewed by many feminists as a touchstone issue -- or in defence of traditional gender roles belong to women.

How to explain these apparent paradoxes? One answer might be that, historically, religion has protected women from some of the worst excesses of patriarchal societies. It instructed men to be faithful to their wives and to provide for their families. It condemned (usually) the worst excesses of domestic violence. Notwithstanding its exclusively male hierarchy, the Christian church has for most of European history been the only institution (with the possible exception of the brothel) that offered women independence, education, even power. A religious woman could be a scholar, a mystic, a poet, a businesswoman, the absolute ruler (subject only to the Pope) of her order, potentially a saint. A secular woman, unless a queen, could only be a wife.

Today, though, organised religion has been slow to take on board the notion of sexual equality. A woman might one day become President of the United States; it seems highly unlikely that a woman will ever become Pope. I wonder if the institutional sexism that religion has long displayed, and continues to display even in its least oppressive manifestations (such as the Anglican church) might somehow be a byproduct of its disproportionate appeal to women. Could it be, for example, that exclusively male priesthoods originated as a mechanism for ensuring male authority in an arena that would otherwise have been dominated by women?

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26 comments

Mon, 2012-07-23 18:08 — JeremiahVaughan

The younger the age group the less religious they are. Thus we appear to have more women than men being religious in our society. Similarly you get the rest the wrong way round. Women in the older generations had no-where to go, but church and church functions to get out of the house and meet other people. Why, because they were confined to the home, no jobs, forced to be respectable. No going to the races, pub, wandering around on their own. who said so, the churches. http://www.squidoo.com/best-double-jogging-strollers-reviews

Thu, 2012-04-26 04:29 — John Cheese (not verified)

@jankers: Free will my friend..Thankfully, you are not supreme so you don't make the rules.- God says "he knows your frame, you are just a mist, here for a little while". Worn out & cranky is a terrible way to live...

Fri, 2012-03-09 15:57 — jankaas (not verified)

"People think the Aliens are intelligent but not so much God..."

let's see how intelligent you are for starters shall we John?

when did these Aliens murder almost every human being on the planet then? we know your God had a go, only 8 survivors allegedly...

Fri, 2012-03-09 17:25 — Keir

'Christians that identify an exclusive sacramental role'

So Christ was schizoid. He didn't know what the hell he was talking about. It's amazing that people follow a guy they say is a lunatic.

But then the right can do what they like.

Thu, 2012-03-08 20:43 — McMac (not verified)

I think she is

Thu, 2012-03-08 20:58 — Dickie1

"Is God sexist?"

First can we have evidence that he exists - see just move the S from one end of the word to the other.

Mon, 2012-03-12 15:22 — Sue (not verified)

you have it all muddled.

Women in their 70/80s in the Uk are more religious, because they are a larger group than men of that age and the older groups are more religious than younger groups. If there were lots of men in their 70/80's there would be far less difference in the religious numbers.

The younger the age group the less religious they are. Thus we appear to have more women than men being religious in our society.

Similarly you get the rest the wrong way round. Women in the older generations had no-where to go, but church and church funtions to get out of the house and meet other people. Why, because they were confined to the home, no jobs, forced to be respectable. No going to the races, pub, wandering around on their own. who said so, the churches.

Now women have more options they can ignore the churches and can find activities, other friends, through work, other organisations, independent travel.

The mote in your eye is astounding.

Fri, 2012-03-09 19:10 — Broga

If the bible is God's supposedly innerant and divine word, despite its many contradictions, then being sexist is a mere peccadillo. He has many more charges against him/she/it including racism, mass slaughter and an insatiable appetite for flattery. The mystery is why anyone would want to worship such a creature - real or imagined.

Fri, 2012-03-09 19:30 — Keir

Mass slaughter? What a bloody fine idea.

Thu, 2012-03-08 22:43 — Daniele1

Good article Nelson.
But I think religion is attractive for a lot of women because women are historically more concerned with the spiritual world while men are more concerned with the physical and the here and now of survival. That is why women were often accused of being witches because the spiritual world was something men couldn't stop them from exploring.Just as everything else was closed to them, it was tolerated that women would care for the sick and the unfortunate and even intercedes with the gods or goddesses to improve their lot. So traditionally yes, women would have been the ones to pray for the family and care for the souls of their relatives. Still today in France, many men don't bother going to mass on Sunday thinking that it is enough for the wife to take care of appeasing God with praise and prayers. It is somehow part of her job.
Apart from that when it comes to organised religion, of course it is profoundly sexist because established religions, all of them, were invented and organised by men for the purpose of social control, and especially, the control of their women. As to God being sexist, it is a very silly question indeed.

Wed, 2012-03-14 02:11 — karmar

Yes Sue, women now have great lives. They can ignore the churches, chase men around, get pregnant, be abandoned, get abortions on demand, feel like crap, dress like slappers and go out, get drunk and roll around in the gutter, feel rejected, feel fat/ugly/not clever/pretty/good enough. They're perfectly free to be lone parents, poor, unemployed and often very isolated. Although, clearly, not the women that YOU know.

But then, it's often the poor and oppressed who find most comfort and the most radical personal change in a relationship with God. Because they can't buy a 'life' which, ultimately, becomes pretty unsatisfying anyway, not that most atheists would admit this, unless it becomes a talking point in The Guardian. What these women do find is something much more profound, which may not tick all your, obviously very important, boxes, but is what they want and need.

The arrogance of people who have nil experience of God (no, not the church), yet who feel completely at liberty to set themselves up as experts on him is, frankly, astonishing. Ignorant liberalism at its very worst.

Thu, 2012-03-08 23:21 — Nixon is Lord (not verified)

Religion is a game for old ladies of both sexes.
You didn't mention the other elephant in the church; why are there so many gays in the church, especially the clergy, serving an institution that's officially opposed to them?

Thu, 2012-03-08 23:23 — Nixon is Lord (not verified)

Why not mention the Orthodox-at least the Catholics are discussing the question of female ordination? Lingering anti-"Roman" prejudice? Or Eastern Europe too far off your radar?

Thu, 2012-03-08 23:24 — Nixon is Lord (not verified)

And I guess we can forget about female imams?

Fri, 2012-03-09 00:24 — John Cheese (not verified)

You can't prove these isn't a God so it's a stalemate. People think the Aliens are intelligent but not so much God...

Thu, 2012-03-08 14:55 — David (not verified)

Is God sexist? No, because it is impossible for a hypothetical construct to be sexist, since it is only a notion, rather than an entity.

Is religion sexist? Categorically, yes.

Thu, 2012-03-08 15:14 — Keir

'is there any force more potent than organised religion when it comes to putting women in their place and keeping them there?'

I don't know where you live, Nelson, but where I live, it's quite hard to find a 'place of worship' that does not have a woman in the most prominent place, frequently, if not regularly. Though even women are beginning to realise that this idea is not actually working, because women themselves don't like it. Attendance figures remain on the decline, anyway.

It's true that papalism will not countenance female leadership, but let's not imagine for one moment that the RCC takes biblical precept as its reason. Being an extreme right-wing political organisation, its motives are always political. Every 'theological' distinctive of the Vatican is geared towards dispropriation of initiative and decision-making from individuals to an elite. Its ban on women clerics is to facilitate social control. A 'priest' has to make God with his bare hands. Yes, it's a crackpot medieval idea, much played down in Britain, but in less developed countries, it works. The 'priest' must be dignified, authoritative, aloof, separate, celibate, untangled with the messiness and risky gossip of family life. That rule isn't going to change, because the raison d'être of the RCC is transubstantiation.

But it's true, Protestantism, if it is to be credible, has to take account of the clear and uncompromising bar on women teaching men, and for reasons that go back to basics, in Genesis, not to some temporary social condition, as ignorant chatterers allege; and as women themselves now seem to have confirmed. That bar cannot be unwritten. And no matter how many blogs you write, Nelson, you can't unwrite it.

Fri, 2012-03-09 23:11 — Ken (not verified)

I agree 'religion' can be used or abused to oppress women - and men for that matter, so I can understand criticising it if it does so. However, it is strange in the second half of the piece to admit that historically, the church in the West has been a place where women could find security, husbands told to be faithful and care for them etc. That has got to be better than the modern epidemic of abandonned wives and children and a benefits cheque instead of a father.

So not all religions are the same, and I would maintain the caring element would be seen mostly amongst those who take the bible seriously, as it differentiates roles but affirms equality of status, and demands commitment.

To say religion is all the same and all bad is unrealistic, just like Broga's caricature of God who is someone no-one actually believes in.

Fri, 2012-03-09 10:44 — jankaas (not verified)

"There's nothing wrong with being sexy."
(Spinal Tap)

Fri, 2012-03-09 11:49 — MartinC (not verified)

Some religions are sexist, no doubt about it.

Is God sexist? Perhaps only in the sense that God recognizes that there are sexual differences. However, if we believe in a God of justice and truth, then there should be no unfair bias, on a sexual basis,in those who follow that God.

That said, it is an error I think to consider the foundational basis of Christianity, as being sexist. The mission of Jesus was explicitly welcoming of those parts of society that had been marginalized, in particular for women -- in many respects his mission was specifically to address those sectors it can be argues theologically.

The preaching was revolutionary for its time given patriarchal bias of society. Though some critics point at St Paul, and St Peter for their misogyny, I would say again for their times they are more positive for their acceptance of the roles of women than their contemporaries and there are examples in their letters that are balanced in the identification of role mutuality.

As for those Christians that identify an exclusive sacramental role for male religious as Priests, Bishops, etc., I don't think this is because they are unfairly sexist in that tradition, in any other sense than they feel that the instructions from Christ at the last supper, seen as in setting out the liturgy of the Eucharist, that was requested by Him "to be done in memory" of Him. Furthermore, like it or not, it was Christ that selected male apostles. It is a tradition followed from that time till today that does not say females are weaker or less spiritual. After all it was a woman who first recognized Christ as risen.

Surely in God's eyes males and females are spiritually equal, and we should recognize that here on Earth in our legal and cultural frameworks. But the tradition of remembering Jesus Christ may nevertheless honor the fact that Christ was male, and this not be considered sexist IMO.

Wed, 2012-03-14 13:51 — Ken (not verified)

kamar - you are a bit blunt there, but I can't help thinking basically you are right. It's interesting to compare the often illusory 'freedom' women have today now they can ignore the churches and are no longer "confined to the home, no jobs, forced to be respectable. No going to the races, pub, wandering around on their own. Who said so, the churches".

I doubt if this is that acccurate a picture of life for the average women in the past and was this really what the churches said, but even if it were, the current arrangement could hardly be said to be much of an improvement.

Fri, 2012-03-09 13:02 — Martyn Hughes (not verified)

Why are women attracted to religion when it despises them?

Mmm, maybe you should ask your editor, Mr Hassan.

He'd know a thing or two about this.

Many women have no opt-out alternative.

Wed, 2012-03-14 23:42 — John Cheese (not verified)

@jank-poop: every day you are closer to your shelf-life..Ha! Again, you accept limited knowledge in Science & deal with that, but in religion, not so much. You can't deal with it- many can't. Humankind knows as much as we need to spiritually. Love your neighbor & love yourself. Can you grasp that? I know you are old, so I am assuming your father is dead. There is really no proof he ever existed, really, except for your speaking of him. A stranger could argue that his picture is really not him. That's the way it is with God. You have to take a chance man. I think you will die a lonely person. Cheers!

Fri, 2012-03-09 13:04 — Martyn Hughes (not verified)

Mr. hassan in all his glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APAPqT3QdFU