I'm taking an Eastern Religions class this year because I've recently developed an interest in religion and philosophy. I like to learn about the world and cultures because it helps me keep an open mind and try to relate to others better.
Personally, I'm not a religious person at all but I respect those who are and find religious faith to be a fascinating subject though I don't like to practice it myself. I was raised by parents who taught me that everyone is different and to never judge people based on their differences, whether good or bad.
That being said, last week's Religions class was particularly interesting and eye opening for me.
We were talking about the ancient goddesses and feminism and how it has slowly become a masculine and patriarchal society. Men became the icons of worship because of their physical strength and banished women to inferior roles, ultimately converting the goddess religions to god worship. And as time has progressed, it's been translated into our society and cultures.
For many years, women have been undermined and subjugated to the will of man. But in recent times, women's equality has improved greatly and women have found themselves to be more and more independent. We debated about the roles of men and women today versus their roles in ancient times. As a feminist myself, I firmly believe in gender equality - and I thought at least women would agree with that sentiment. However, I was surprised to find a girl in my class who didn't believe that.
She felt men should always be in charge and head of the family, that women should only stay at home and do all the domestic work like cleaning and raising the children. It shocked me that in today's age - where women are leaders and becoming more and more self-sufficient - my own female peers have this view of themselves. And it irked me that she felt women weren't capable of leadership roles and had to be dependent on a man to succeed in life.
I've been thinking about it for the past few days and trying to get an idea of where she's coming from but I'm always stumped. Maybe she was raised with those beliefs and never thought to question them or maybe she truly does believe women aren't fit to lead or have equal opportunities as men. I just felt naive to assume that all women would want gender equality. Apparently not.
However, she is entitled to her opinions even though I highly disagree with them. But I also thought she was a little biased and naive herself. I think it's easy to say "women shouldn't be given the same roles as men" when she already has the luxury of gender equality in her life. Yes, I know I don't know her at all and don't know her background, but the fact that she goes to a co-ed liberal arts college in America is a pretty great luxury in itself. Many girls and women in the world don't have the freedom to go to school or be educated and I'm 99.9% sure they would all disagree with her.
Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind after taking this class... but that's just me being optimistic.
Personally, I'm not a religious person at all but I respect those who are and find religious faith to be a fascinating subject though I don't like to practice it myself. I was raised by parents who taught me that everyone is different and to never judge people based on their differences, whether good or bad.
That being said, last week's Religions class was particularly interesting and eye opening for me.
We were talking about the ancient goddesses and feminism and how it has slowly become a masculine and patriarchal society. Men became the icons of worship because of their physical strength and banished women to inferior roles, ultimately converting the goddess religions to god worship. And as time has progressed, it's been translated into our society and cultures.
For many years, women have been undermined and subjugated to the will of man. But in recent times, women's equality has improved greatly and women have found themselves to be more and more independent. We debated about the roles of men and women today versus their roles in ancient times. As a feminist myself, I firmly believe in gender equality - and I thought at least women would agree with that sentiment. However, I was surprised to find a girl in my class who didn't believe that.
She felt men should always be in charge and head of the family, that women should only stay at home and do all the domestic work like cleaning and raising the children. It shocked me that in today's age - where women are leaders and becoming more and more self-sufficient - my own female peers have this view of themselves. And it irked me that she felt women weren't capable of leadership roles and had to be dependent on a man to succeed in life.
I've been thinking about it for the past few days and trying to get an idea of where she's coming from but I'm always stumped. Maybe she was raised with those beliefs and never thought to question them or maybe she truly does believe women aren't fit to lead or have equal opportunities as men. I just felt naive to assume that all women would want gender equality. Apparently not.
However, she is entitled to her opinions even though I highly disagree with them. But I also thought she was a little biased and naive herself. I think it's easy to say "women shouldn't be given the same roles as men" when she already has the luxury of gender equality in her life. Yes, I know I don't know her at all and don't know her background, but the fact that she goes to a co-ed liberal arts college in America is a pretty great luxury in itself. Many girls and women in the world don't have the freedom to go to school or be educated and I'm 99.9% sure they would all disagree with her.
Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind after taking this class... but that's just me being optimistic.
Interesting Tulsi... but that role reversal giving male gods more power may have happened more in the West than in the East and again mostly among monotheistic religions.
ReplyDeleteif you take Hinduism...one of the core principles is the female goddess (shakti) is just as powerful or in some cases a lot more powerful than the male god. The same is probably true of many animist practices in the East. And Hindu rituals -- to the extent anyone understands them -- also emphasize that the woman has to empower a man to perform rituals. But whether mythology and religious practices that empower women translate into daily practices in modern India is a completely different question!
Good piece Tulsi. The shift toward men and male gods may be largely a western phenomenon and again only in monotheistic religions where you've to choose one god!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Hinduism, goddesses and female characters still have a strong role to play. The female is often portrayed as being an equal to the male god or in some cases more powerful than the male god. I'm sure that's true of many animistic practices all over India and Southeast Asia.
And even in Hindu rituals a married man is not considered fully capable of performing a ritual unless he's endorsed and sanctioned by his wife. As to how those mythologies and ritual practices get translated into real life ... (mostly they don't translate) that's a different question altogether.