Religious feminism. Religion & Theology Research Paper.

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Impact of feminism
Over the years, women have fought for their rights and equality in many areas of life –from family settings, workplace, leadership to religion. Despite being the most considerable population globally, women still suffer from uneven access to education, unemployment, poor medical care, religious freedom, pitiable political representation, lack of employment and legal protections, and bodily autonomy. For example, women still hold less than 15% of executive officers and 20% of political positions worldwide (Calais-Haase et al., np). Besides, women still earn lower incomes as compared to men with the same jobs. These challenges are higher for women of color, especially those living in developing countries. In reality, the major religions still hold negative perceptions about women holding positions in the house of worship. In their defense, women have consistently challenged gender inequalities by defying stereotypes in workplaces, leadership, families, and, most importantly, in the house of worship. This study explores the impact of feminism on the American Jews communities and the country at large.
Customary lists of the past most influential religious leaders – among the Muhammad, Jesus, Siddhartha Gautama, Abraham, Moses – tend to be primarily, if not entirely, male. With this in mind, religious groups such as orthodox Jews and Roman Catholics only allow men to the clergy. Other evangelical Protestants have only lifted their restriction in recent decades (Heschel, 218). Yet, it is apparent that women dominate most houses of worship. For example, in the United States, 64% of religious people are women. In actual fact, women have outnumbered men in many United States benches that some clergy have adjusted the songs, décor, and worship styles to lure more men into the congregations (Calais-Haase et al., np). Similar gender inequalities have been recorded in other countries, mainly in Europe.
A hundred years ago, the struggle for women inequalities did not exist, as it was considered inconsequential. Little attention was paid to gender inequalities and their influence on religious teaching and practices (Fishman, 10). In other words, some religions and their scriptures have been considered sound, thus cannot be questioned. In Christianity, more specifically, the Roman Catholic, women are still not allowed to become priests despite the many teachings of Jesus that affirm that all people are equal before their creator (Levenson, 340). That is to say, and most Catholics believe that women cannot be priests, as it is enshrined in the doctrine of the church and cannot be questioned because it is infallible. Likewise, nobody appears to question why the Pope must be male, primarily because the Pope means Father, and perhaps the notion of a woman becoming a Pope is improbable. It seems that the idea of female consecration in catholic is something that will not happen anytime soon.
Historically, the Roman Catholic has maintained that priest ordination cannot be validly conferred on women. Although some unorthodox groups entrusted priestly roles to women, this arrangement was criticized and condemned by Fathers, who argued it was wrong and unacceptable (Levenson et al., 340). The catholic religion has argued male ordination has its origins in Jesus' choice of apostles' and forms the church's foundation. In this respect, the church from the earliest days reserved the positions of the priesthood to men. To affirm this position, the 1976 declaration by the Vatican congregation recounted that since times immemorial, the male priesthood was unquestionable tradition (Levenson, 345). Even in the oriental or eastern churches that divided the Roman church into many theological issues, male-priesthood tradition was never questioned.
Islam is not exceptional in having theological beliefs that center on men. Although the Islam religion does not limit women from a leadership position in worship, women have often felt that religious authority has been used to suppress them. As a matter of fact, religion has grappled with the overt and translate sexism within their sacred texts and traditions in various ways (Wilde, np). It is only an infrequent Muslim woman who has not been excluded in the mosque, listened to demeaning sermons, or being exposed to derisive marriage counseling from religious leaders. As the scripture of many religions has been used to demean women, Muslims face a similar problem. To make the matter worse, when few or no women assume spiritual authority, it is more likely that women from the community will experience the power negatively (Wilde, np). This is a serious problem since it defeats the purpose of religious institutions whose aim is to bring people closer to the creator.
Similarly, women from the Jewish religion endured similar challenges. Although women rabbis' ordination was generally accepted as early as 1922, it was not until 50 years later, the first woman (Sally Priesand) was ordained in North America (Prell, 20). Despite the great success of women affiliated with Judaism, they are still vastly outnumbered across the world. For instance, women make up 50% or more of rabbinical classes in Atlanta, but these numbers do not reflect hiring (Prell, 6). In reality, the Atlanta Rabbinical Association has 13 female rabbis in its more than 50 members, not to mention that most of them are not recognized as they are not attached to any synagogue.
Besides, women's problems in other professions are also evident in the rabbinate. For instance, female rabbis are poorly remunerated compared to their counterparts. This can be termed a strategy to discourage more female rabbis from working, leading to fewer women senior rabbi. For instance, some congregations conduct national searches to fill senior clergy positions while overlooking women who have served for many years (Prell, 15). In other cases, women rabbis have been considered the children's caretaker, while some people have higher expectations of their appearance, not to mention sexual harassment.
Although the Jewish women have not achieved the gender equalities they hoped for, they have dramatically transformed many Jewish areas, including the social, intellectual, and religious life. Jewish feminism was a political movement that sought to address social inequalities in women and an ideological movement analyzing many aspects of gender politics (Levenson, 342). While many efforts can be attributed to the modern Jewish feminists who were inspired by equality and self-worth, early feminists have also sought to improve women's social and religious position before the 19th century. For instance, studies show that Jewish women demanded increased participation in spiritual matters in the early years (Nelly et al., np).
However, the most famous feminist group can be dated in 1972, when ten feminists from New York petitioned rabbinical conventions, demanding that Jewish women's equality in worship places. They advocated women's full involvement in prayers, education, and labor, where they were often marginalized. Challenging these disparities, feminism has been a powerful force for popular Jewish revival, with the climax being the acceptance of women as rabbis and cantors (Nelly et al., np). Due to their unrelenting efforts, females can now participate in the Jewish community with extraordinary rituals conducted to celebrate their birth and access to education, almost at the same rate as boys.
Feminist education has improved and recovered Jewish women's previously overlooked experience and offered new outlooks and interpretations of classical Jewish. While men still predominate positions of power and house of worship, Jewish feminism in communal institutions ensures that gender equality is brought to light instead of being repressed (Calais-Haase et al., np).
The promotion of gender equality in the Jewish community has are directly connected feminism. In the 1960s, open-minded and educated women participated in feminism. To their success, the feminism groups found a receptive audience. By 1973, Jewish religious feminists formed the North American Jewish Students Network, which attracted more than 500 participants (Fishman, 20). In the subsequent year, vibrant conferences were organized, leading to the formation of the Jewish feminist organization. Although the feminist did not develop a solid group, they could reach a large number of women within the American Jewish community.
Jewish feminism has had significant impacts on education before and after the 1960s revolution movements. Beginning with religious education, many Jewish women have had the chance to study religious rabbinic scripts, making them be advisors and educators of women in spiritual matters (Fishman, 30). This education has led to the creation of sever...