The Encyclopedia of World Religions

148 S feminism

include Elizabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza (b. 1938), a Christian theologian, and Rita Gross (b. 1943), a well-known Buddhist feminist in North America. Feminists find the issue of authority in reli gious communities extremely important. They have worked hard to open up leadership roles to women that had once been reserved for men. As a result, the Episcopalian church now ordains women as bishops and priests ( see A NGLICANISM and E PISCO PALIANISM ), and so do most mainline Protestant churches. Reform Judaism became the first branch of Judaism to ordain women to the rabbinate ( see RABBI , RABBINATE ). In Buddhism monks seem always to have had the predominant role, and in many parts of the Buddhist world the order of nuns had disappeared. But as a result of the efforts of femi nists, some Buddhists have sought to reestablish the order of nuns. Some groups, however, have resisted efforts to open up leadership roles to women. At the begin ning of the 21st century, only men can be priests in R OMAN C ATHOLICISM and E ASTERN O RTHODOX C HRIS TIANITY . There was a similar preference for male leadership in most Evangelical, fundamentalist, and Pentecostal churches worldwide, as well as in Orthodox Judaism and Islam. Many feminists find the teachings of tradi tional religions unsatisfactory because they are too “androcentric,” that is, male-centered. Some have responded by trying to reformulate traditions. In one important move, feminists have inspired scholars to examine the text of the Bible more carefully. Older translations often use androcentric terminology even when it violates the sense of the original texts. As a result, some newer translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version, use inclusive lan guage. Feminists have also reformulated standard doctrines and prayers, such as the L ORD ’ S P RAYER , to eliminate their androcentric focus. In 1995 the U NITED C HURCH OF C HRIST became the first church in North America to produce a hymnal whose lan guage was neutral with regard to gender. Feminists have inspired reformulations of other traditions, too. Women have become much more important as teachers in North American Buddhism than they have ever been in Asia. This

proportion of almost every religion. Indeed, some practices, such as the observance of vrats or vows in Hinduism and the experience of God in P ENTE COSTALISM , have tended to be more characteristic of women than of men. Feminists have also called attention to the ways in which religion contributes to women’s subor dination and oppression. Some myths, including stories from the B IBLE , subtly or blatantly consign women to subordinate positions. The same is true of many stories told by early Buddhists. Women have suffered from rituals as well, such as SATI (widow burning) in traditional Hinduism and clito ridectomy (female CIRCUMCISION , also called genital mutilation) in many initiation rites ( see INITIATION , RELIGIOUS ); many believe that these rituals violate the authentic teachings of their religions. Feminists disagree, however, about the oppressive nature of some practices, such as the wearing of head cover ings by Muslim women. Scholars of religion have not accepted all ideas associated with feminism. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British scholar Jane Ellen Harri son hypothesized that before the patriarchal soci ety of classical Greece, matriarchy prevailed. Many have found this idea attractive, but no unam biguous case of matriarchy has ever been found. Feminists have also at times contrasted male with female approaches to knowledge, including knowledge about religions. Some feminists have suggested that while males speak with authority as experts, telling others what to think, females emphasize dialogue and sharing in a manner that avoids hierarchy and preserves a plurality of view points. The second approach has much to recom mend it, but identifying these two approaches as male and female is a case of gender essentialism. That is, it falsely presumes that all males or all females share certain essential characteristics in their approach to knowledge. CHANGING RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES Over the last 50 years feminists have not only changed the way people study religion. They have also changed the way people practice religion. Prominent scholars at the forefront of such changes