Combining the critical theory of religion and gender
Considering the theme of the whole module, this week’s topic is one of the most important ones. It implements the factors of critical religion – if we want to understand the whole picture, then we need to know the historical relevance and progress of the discipline[1] – and connects it to gender. If there is a possibility to be critical of religion, then we should be able to implement the same criticism towards gender and how it can affect the study of religion. It is also extremely important to remember intersectionality and the fact that people tend to view and share information differently depending on their personal background. I believe the main lesson from this week was the importance of the challenge of gender binaries in regard to religion, but also in regards to the western influence in general. To me, the most important thought was stated by Alison Jasper in Female Genius. Jasper pointed out the connection between religious values, western thinking, and colonialism. The main idea is that gender binaries conform to Christian ideology which was spread almost all over the world because of western colonialism. This is exactly the conclusion we can come to when enforcing critical religion. Logically, because religion is seen as the contrast to the secular, secularity becomes a space where women can stand on equal ground with men. Jasper then explores the works of women in academics breaking those gender binaries by challenging the tone in which biblical women are portrayed.[2] The only thing I am personally missing here is the inclusion of more gender identities. It is extremely important to see how the Western world forced gender binary on the world but I would also like to see how exactly it affects non-binary or gender-fluid people. An important factor is to realize how the Western world always dictates its ideologies about the way the world should be perceived, it enforces the gender binary just like it enforces Christianity, or Christianity resembling religions (in terms of structure).
[1] Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2015. “Critical Religion and Critical Research on Religion: Religion and Politics as Modern Fictions.” Critical Research on Religion 3 (3): 303–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303215613123.
[2] Jasper, A. (2012). female genius. [online] The Critical Religion Association. Available at: https://criticalreligion.org/tag/female-genius/.