ABSTRACT:
The delineation of gender roles in every society reflects its understanding of social justice. Male or female gender role identification in many traditional societies is not a fixed category, but evolved as a response to questions of necessity and survival. The significance associated with these evolving roles have not been instrumental in the justification of subordination or domination as it is in modern societies.
It is in attaching a higher social recognition and reward on particular roles that brought about the great gender divide in modern societies. That divide was deeply entrenched by institutionalised religions which made absolute the separation of roles, and anything contrary to this, is defilement of nature and God's law.
Not only did religions ordain a hierarchy of gender roles but also declared these as immutably unchanging and never interchangeable. When it is evil enough to allow gender roles to transform political and economic institutions, it is even a graver evil when gender roles cross-over in redefining the sexual roles of women and men, men and men, and women and women.
The question of sexual orientation which is central to gender role definition has been demonized by institutionalized religions. Men and women will be spouse to each other. Any other spousal union apart from this is abomination. Men will not serve other men's needs nor women serve other women's needs. But women are called upon to serve men's needs.
The role of women in organized religion has and will remain subsidiary in relation to men. This because institutionalized religion will be the last and strongest bastion of patriarchy.
In this workshop, we attempt to sharpen questions that Gender Justice raises in the context of institutionalized religions. Specifically, we examine the stand-point of institutionalized Christian denominations and other religions on the question of tolerance or condemnation of same-sex unions and other culturally diverse forms of loving relationships. This because sexual expression in the context of institutionalized religions is an ethical question of justice.
Dr . Melinda Madew has done research on issues of gender and sexuality in Asia and the South Pacific while serving as a social development specialist for various international organizations. She currently works for the Institute für Angewandte Forschung, Evangelische Fachhochschule Reutlingen-Ludwigsburg, Germany. Email: m.madew@efh-ludwigsburg.de
