-other readings-
Many religions that were traditionally founded
in patriarchal societies adopted the aspects of sexism and misogyny already
found there. In my Visions of Islam course, we discuss how religions that originally
established equality between sexes in a region, such as Islam in the Arabian
Peninsula, were twisted to lack equality by the patriarchal society already in
place. For example, in Islam, a woman cannot pray or fast when menstruating. I
find it interesting that a woman cannot remain in connection with her God while
preforming a natural biological function because she is considered “unclean” at
that time. It is a man-made severance of a sacred communication between to
people, founded on facts that lack biological and scientific background.
Similarly, woman cannot enter Buddhist monasteries while menstruating, segregating
sacred places by sex and natural biological function. If humans were created
equally, as these religions denote, women should not be separated from their
spiritually simply because they are a woman. Damn the patriarchy.
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