Traditional role of women in modern society free essay sample

A man is incomplete without a woman, and a woman is incomplete without a man. These two species work together to keep the cycle of life going. One cannot function without the other but one is also different from the other. Religion has divided and has helped men and women understand their duties and responsibilities. There is a great deal of balance between these roles. According to all three religious traditions, women are responsible for maintaining the home while the men work to provide financial stability to the family. This ideology has been regarded as â€Å"sexist† in modern society. In today’s age, society demands equality for both men and women, politically and economically. This â€Å"feminist† theory has led to the rejection of traditional roles of women laid out in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. If not rejection all together, it has definitely posed challenges for women of these faiths to keep up with their traditions. We will write a custom essay sample on Traditional role of women in modern society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In most of these religions, women are discouraged from taking on roles of religious leadership but even the religions have been giving thought on altering their ideologies to accommodate feminism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a commonality by describing the role of a woman to be of a homemaker, which is greatly challenged by modern society. The primary role of a Jewish woman is to focus on becoming a good mother, wife, and keeper of the household. Before the rise of modernism, women depended on men economically unless they inherited money from their fathers. Men were to earn and provide financial support while women looked after the wellness of the home. In Talmud, it says, â€Å"all the blessings of the household come through the wife, therefore should her husband honor her. †1 A woman is not merely her husband’s slave. The work that she has been given to do, has a lot of value in Judaism and the religion demands that her husband honor his wife in return. In Judaism, women are not obliged to perform certain commandments because their domestic roles are top priority. However, if they are capable and choose to, then they may. Preserving the righteous atmosphere of the home is just as important, if not more, than going to the synagogue for offering religious service. In the Talmud, women are discouraged to follow higher education or religious pursuits because as a result, they might neglect their duties as wives, mothers, and housekeepers. This stopped Jewish woman from acquiring leadership roles in the secular society and religious life. However, today’s Reform and Conservative Judaism reforms allow women to participate actively in the synagogue. On another note, Judaism has great respect for this traditional role of women. If a woman successfully fulfills this role, she is considered virtuous. Since Judaism and Christianity evolved from the same ancient tradition, it is given that the roles assigned to women in each religion would be similar. The primary role of a woman in Christianity, likewise, is to dedicate her life to the service of her home. Ephesians says, â€Å"Wives, submit to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. †2 In this verse, duty to ones husband has been placed right beside submission to the Lord. This creates an understanding the two fundamental roles of a Jewish woman: worship and homemaker. Men are to submit themselves to their wives in return, with love, support, and stability. Furthermore, when someone knows their role in a play, they focus on trying their best to fulfill that role and when each individual in a drama does that, the overall product impeccable. One player helps the other in creating a scene, thus creating a harmonious play. Likewise, if both the husband and wife know their roles and practice it with understanding, it keeps the family together and makes for a harmonious marriage. In Proverbs, it says, â€Å"She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. †3 A wife maintains the stability of her and should not slack in doing so. On another note, because so much emphasis has been laid on being a housewife, women have been excluded from the leadership roles of the church in earlier traditions. They were not allowed to hold any sort of religious authority or be considered spiritually equal to me. This ideology came much after Christ. People may argue that Christianity is demeaning and sexist to women because of the ideas some religious leaders in its history may have developed. For example, Martin Luther said, â€Å"The word and works of God is quite clear, that women were made either to be wives or prostitutes. 4 However, Jesus Christ recognized women as equals of men. According to John Paul II, Jesus always showed the greatest esteem and respect for woman. 5 He even incorporated them into his close cycle of followers. Therefore, allowing woman to be equals of men in terms of piety, just like the religion Islam. Islam claims to be a â€Å"universal† religion as it accepts all the prophets that have ever come under God’s divine guidance. The teachings of Moses and Jesus are also viewed and incorporated in Islam. From the past two religions discussed, it has become evident that the traditional role of a woman is that of a wife and a mother. Likewise, Islam has laid out the same roles for women. The man is the leader of the home, he deals with all of the external businesses while the woman does the other. The Holy Quran says, â€Å"Men are appointed guardians over women. †6 A woman is emotionally strong, bears children and looks after them, has influence over her husband’s mentality, and plays a significant role in family life. Islam recognizes this significance and raises the status of a woman as Prophet Mohammed states â€Å"Paradise lies under the feet of your mother. †7 Islam respects a woman’s role so much that it has established a means of achieving paradise by being dutiful to ones mother. Another role of a Muslim woman is to obtain an education. This role is not found in either Christianity or Judaism because, according to religious leaders, education would lead to a woman neglecting her duties as a wife and mother. The leader of Islam thought otherwise; prophet Mohammed states, â€Å"Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman. †8 Islam says a woman does not have to obtain an education just to go out and work; rather a woman should be obtaining an education to improve her overall character and benefit her family. In order to raise educated and mannered children, the mother needs to be educated herself. If the next generation is raised in the right manner, it will grow to become a better society. Therefore, educated women play a significant role in the positive progression of society as a whole. At this point, it is evident that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a commonality in addressing the roles of women. The primary role of a woman in all three religions is that of preserving the unity of her home. She is to look after her children, making sure they grow up under good circumstances. She is also to devote her self to her husband and provide for his needs. In all three religions, women have not been given the privilege of taking on roles of religious leadership. Particularly in Judaism and Islam, women are exempt from fulfilling certain commandments and are not obliged to go to the Synagogue or Mosque to offer prayers. However, they do not stop a woman from carrying on with these commandments if she wishes to do so. A more important issue that needs to be discussed in this essay is how to incorporate these traditional roles with modern life. The modern society is still patriarchal and will always be. Men are dominant, not only according to religion, but nature and society as well. Christianity and Judaism discourage women from obtaining an education because that might affect their performance as wives and mothers. However, feminism in the modern society demands that women obtain an education, and apply it to the work force. Women out in the work force had disturbed the balance of the home greatly. Nowadays, the value of a mother is not properly understood because she has listened to the calls of the world, leaving her primary duties as a wife and mother behind. Religion made it easy for a woman to live, as her husband would financially support her while she stabilized the home. It seems that men also require that their wives help in raising the income of the family, which in most cases, leaves the children with less attention than needed. In order to have harmony in an institution, there needs to be a leader. Marriage is an institution in which a man has been appointed the leader. If this leadership is preserved, there will be harmony in the marriage. Islam has allowed a little more liberalism to women than Judaism and Christianity when it says that if a husband is in need, his wife can work to help him out. This teaching can be easily observed in today’s modern age. Many Muslim women live by their traditional roles. Their utmost duty is unto their children, once they have that under control, they may wish to work and help their husband in increasing the income of their homes. Doing this is completely abiding by Islamic tradition whereas, it would not be with the other two traditions as they have strictly given women the role of homemaker. It is challenging for Christian and Jewish women to abide by their traditions because of the demanding needs of society. However, there are still women of these faiths today that practice their traditional roles. The Jewish Synagogue has come to accept women into leadership roles of the church. Likewise, Christianity also recognizes that women can be pious and demonstrate leadership abilities in the church. For example, nuns devote their entire lives to the serve of Christianity and maintaining purity. On the other hand, women in Islam are known to be equals of men in terms of spirituality, but cannot lead prayer in the mosque. The modern society demands leadership of women in the institutions of society but religious tradition requires them to stay at home and let their men do the work. Furthermore, modernism has take over this age, leaving religion behind. These traditional roles, despite being for the betterment of society, have been reduced in importance. Conclusively, men and women have been assigned certain roles to help them go through life. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam command women to submit themselves to their husbands and the service of their homes. These religions show that in order for there to be harmony in the home, the roles and responsibilities must be divided between husband and wife. In terms of leadership, Christianity and Judaism went from discouraging women to participate in religious offering to allowing them to accept seats in the hierarchy of the church or synagogue. This change is cause by the growing need of feminism, the thought that there should be more women in power. Islam remains the same today, as women are still not allowed to lead prayer in the mosque. However, Muslim women are permitted to take on leadership roles in society, just like Christian and Jewish women. It is important to understand that the principal teachings of these religions have not changed but women have merely stepped away from them and have called for a feminist reform. These teachings still remain the true teachings of the three religions and there are many women in the world who still abide by them. Particularly, the traditional role of a woman has been, and will always remain that of the homemaker, whether they chose to live by it or not.