Despite the religious women who have carved a story of empowerment for the future generations, females roles in most religions are slim to none. The majority of religious leaders are male. A famous quote states that “[i]f God is male then male is God” (Daly 19). This notion that God is a strictly male figure, which is pointed out in many different religious texts, allows for men to give themselves more power than they give women. There’ll never be a female Preist or a Pope and this masculine idea of God is in part to blame. In fact, there are many rules set into place that forbid women to hold powerful positions. This is seen most prominently in the Buddhist religion. “Full ordination of Buddhist women is still banned in Thailand so women have
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No more so Mary Magdalene and Hagar are two great examples of this. Mary Magdalene is most notable known as being a provocative woman, some even claiming she was a prostitute, but she was also the one who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Despite the fact that she saw something so remarkable many people overlook her contributions to early religion because of her, supposed, profession. “Mary Magdalene as whore or as Jesus’ wife: Both are historically untenable, each characterization drawing us away from the ancient texts and from women’s history. They both distract from Mary Magdalene as a protagonist” (Schaberg and Johnson-DeBaufre). This is just another example of religion looking down upon women for things men would never be shamed for. Hagar is another woman from the bible who was mistreated. Hagar was a slave who was raped and impregnated by her owner’s husband. Sarai was unable to get pregnant and, wanting a child, told her husband, Abraham, “your slave-girl is at your disposal. Treat her as you think fit” (Genesis 16:6). This idea that Hagar is no more than a warm body to house an unborn child is so objectifying. Sarai had no empathy for Hagar and the indirect way that she tells Abraham to try impregnate Hagar just doesn’t sit right. These two women exemplify the mistreatment of women that is expressed in the
No more so Mary Magdalene and Hagar are two great examples of this. Mary Magdalene is most notable known as being a provocative woman, some even claiming she was a prostitute, but she was also the one who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Despite the fact that she saw something so remarkable many people overlook her contributions to early religion because of her, supposed, profession. “Mary Magdalene as whore or as Jesus’ wife: Both are historically untenable, each characterization drawing us away from the ancient texts and from women’s history. They both distract from Mary Magdalene as a protagonist” (Schaberg and Johnson-DeBaufre). This is just another example of religion looking down upon women for things men would never be shamed for. Hagar is another woman from the bible who was mistreated. Hagar was a slave who was raped and impregnated by her owner’s husband. Sarai was unable to get pregnant and, wanting a child, told her husband, Abraham, “your slave-girl is at your disposal. Treat her as you think fit” (Genesis 16:6). This idea that Hagar is no more than a warm body to house an unborn child is so objectifying. Sarai had no empathy for Hagar and the indirect way that she tells Abraham to try impregnate Hagar just doesn’t sit right. These two women exemplify the mistreatment of women that is expressed in the