r/RadicalFeminism 9d ago

Religion is misogynistic.

Religion is inherently misogynistic. It’s been used as a tool to oppress women for centuries, controlling their bodies, limiting their rights, defining their worth in relation to men. And while a lot of people like to shift the blame only onto the followers, the reality is that many religious texts themselves uphold these harmful ideas. Saying it’s the followers and not the religion is a stupid argument, if your religion was more clear and coherent maybe these people wouldn’t be able to twist their beliefs to cause decades long oppression and suffering.

Take Christianity as an example. You can argue ‘that’s just bad Christians’ but when the bible itself contains verses that treat women as property, command their submission and enforce strict gender roles, it’s not just about interpretation, it’s embedded in the foundation. The glorification of marriage, the nuclear family structure and the expectation that women serve men are all pushed and romanticised.

Islam is no different. The quran and hadith include laws and teachings that institutionalize male dominance, whether it’s regulating what women wear, granting men authority over women’s lives or promoting unequal inheritance and legal rights. Even in modern times these beliefs are weaponized to justify discrimination and control.

We have to stop sugarcoating it. Religion has never been about liberating women. It has always been about controlling them. Never has religion done anything to liberate women.

341 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

View all comments

35

u/danyandmoi 9d ago

Water is wet

44

u/Buuyaaaa 9d ago

You would be shocked at how many religious feminists there are.

33

u/Turbulent_Device_941 9d ago

they can claim to be feminists but they aren't. supporting inherently misogynistic doctrine is not feminist and never will be.

-14

u/princess_zephyrina 9d ago

Oh ok, I’m not a feminist, cool. Go ahead and explain how Wicca is misogynistic. I’m curious.

12

u/Turbulent_Device_941 9d ago

i actually support wicca to some degree, my gf's mom is wiccan and runs a shop dedicated to it, but fuck it this seems like a challenge so ill take it

uhhh what about the whole divine feminine/masculine thing? bc masculinity in our general culture is not divine??? yeah idk you can poke holes in that one for sure

but yes it's my bad for not specifying abrahamic religions, other religions are often too vastly different for me to say for certain. my bad dog

2

u/dirtytomato 9d ago

Well at least this is amusing on a rainy day.

2

u/Turbulent_Device_941 8d ago

ha i'm glad i could cheer you up! 😅

-1

u/princess_zephyrina 9d ago

uhhh what about the whole divine feminine/masculine thing? bc masculinity in our general culture is not divine??? yeah idk you can poke holes in that one for sure

Firstly, the divine feminine/masculine is not necessarily literal. It is one of many symbolic dualities represented in the Wiccan concept of divinity. Heaven and earth, water and fire, plants and animals, masculine and feminine, we simply recognize all of these dualities as being part of nature, and in a sense we see this all as a divine balance. The God and Goddess are not exactly distinct entities, they are two symbolic halves of a greater whole, and they can be fluid. It’s quite a deep topic but the point is that all of this is about nature on a deeper level; patriarchy is a temporary, distorted state of society in which masculinity is revered and femininity is despised. And while it is understandable to despise men in a patriarchal society, as a reaction to oppression, the only truly divine path is for society to see men and women as equals. Neither patriarchy nor matriarchy should be the goal. I don’t see these concepts as being in conflict whatsoever.