The Elementary Forms of Religious Life by Durkheim and Purity and Danger by Douglas focus on key components about religions, such as their foundations, the meaning of rituals, and the construction of social order. These books develop different arguments with effective supporting evidence. Although there are several perspectives of the authors that are similar, such as religion constructing social order, there are many perspectives that aren’t similar. A significant disagreement between Purity and Danger and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life is the intersection of marriage and religion, specifically the importance of marriage to religion. This disagreement can be analyzed by looking at both authors’ explanation about gender roles in marriage.
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Women are kept pure by preventing the loss of their virginity before marriage and eliminating any autonomy over their lives. Sexual intercourse before marriage is dirt, because it doesn’t belong; it is out of place. Rules are created to dictate when and who a women will marry to purify the dirt. Marriage can be enforced at a young age to ensure the girl doesn’t transgress society. As seen with Orthodox Brahmins, if there wasn’t a suitable man for a young girl to marry, she could be married to an object. “In other castes, if they do not arrange a real marriage before puberty, then a substitute rite of marriage is absolutely required. In middle India she can first be married to an arrow or wooden pounder” (Douglas 179). This idea affirms that the gender roles of women in marriage act as a structure for society. The ideas of dirt and impurities are constructed by dictating who a woman marries and when a women marries, and determining when it’s acceptable for her to lose her virginity. The structure that is created as a result of these ideas acts as a way to control society and show how to be religiously
Women are kept pure by preventing the loss of their virginity before marriage and eliminating any autonomy over their lives. Sexual intercourse before marriage is dirt, because it doesn’t belong; it is out of place. Rules are created to dictate when and who a women will marry to purify the dirt. Marriage can be enforced at a young age to ensure the girl doesn’t transgress society. As seen with Orthodox Brahmins, if there wasn’t a suitable man for a young girl to marry, she could be married to an object. “In other castes, if they do not arrange a real marriage before puberty, then a substitute rite of marriage is absolutely required. In middle India she can first be married to an arrow or wooden pounder” (Douglas 179). This idea affirms that the gender roles of women in marriage act as a structure for society. The ideas of dirt and impurities are constructed by dictating who a woman marries and when a women marries, and determining when it’s acceptable for her to lose her virginity. The structure that is created as a result of these ideas acts as a way to control society and show how to be religiously