Religious Feminism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious Feminism - Essay Example The plight of women is generally evident in all spheres of life, both religious and secular. Even in religion, areas of authority are always of a reserve of men who dominate the creation of norms that determine religious traditions. When baby boys are born, it is considered a blessing than when baby girls are born. Most religious images are male which are considered a symbol of holiness while those of females considered idolatry. In this regard, patriarchy and sexism are aspects that present themselves in all spheres of life especially on high grounds religion where it should be least expected. Under religious representations, there are numerous proposals put forward by the feminist groups about language and image representations of God. Among them is the traditional representation of God as of male gender. When people refer to God, the metaphors used in describing the deity in this respect should be changed to show that God transcends human sexes and that the deity should be taken to represent all sexes on equal grounds. In this case the use of the term â€Å"God the Father† is not acceptable according to the feminists. In this regard, other propositions have been put forward to show God as a mother, sister, and friend. This can be seen as the second part in which images of God are supposed to be changed to be female so as to end the general notion that the use of female images symbolize idolatry. The proposition holds that since the deity makes of all of us including male and female, therefore its representation should include images from both sides. Besides, imag es of God as mother would not in any way stereotype God’s feminine traits. Another proposition is that God should be seen as relational. In this context, God should be seen as a central part of human life who is also shares in the experiences of human beings. By this, the deity is also part of women’s