Women in Religion

Women aren't equal. When did this start? When did religion incorporate the idea that women are not equal to men? Was it culture that effected religion or the actual religious happenings? Islam was the religion that was most extreme in its control of women. Many women in Islamic countries are beaten legally because the law is so in line with the religion. In a clip that was shown in class one of the clerics states that beating women actually gives them respect. The burkah was also another way that people said that women in Islam are oppressed. The discussion in class moved to discussing weather wearing a burkah is actually oppressive. In my opinion anything that you must do that is not a choice is oppression. If Islamic woman are given a true choice and choose the burkah that would not be oppression but it is not by their own choice that they wear it. I think that this is the case with other religions as well. If orthodox women could go past the alter but chose not to that would be different than being banned from going past the alter. Women are accepted as oppressed in their own religion because they are not used to having it be any other way. However some women are exposed to life outside the confines their religion puts on them yet they decide to stay with their religion because of the history. Because the rules of the religion are what they are used to.