Dakota+Foster

**INTRODUCTION** Women are thought of different ways in different religions, and sometimes those ways aren't always great. Some people have interpreted from various sacred texts how the women are thought of but, there aren't always correct. Islam and Judaism have been criticized on having views of women that aren't acceptable. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all can have the same view on women, but people have just interpreted the various sacred text incorrectly.

**WOMEN IN ISLAM**  There are various views of Muslim women, some that are true and some that aren't. It is said that Muslim women are treated like property and that they have no say in anything. It is said that Muslim women have to wear the hijab because other men aren't tempted by their body. it is said that the traditional clothing is from when Muslim women had to walk in the desert and it was for them to shield their faces from the sand. What does it say in the actual in the Koran? Azizah al-Hibri is a Muslim women that is a scholar and law professor. People told her various interpretations of women that were siad in the Koran. One day, she took it upon herself and read the Koran because she wanted to know the  real definition of a Muslim women.

//"I thought if that's the case why don't I just grab the Koran and read it from the heart, for myself, without having other people interpret it to me. And when I did that I found out that I have all the rights I ever wanted, there was no reason for alienation, there was no reason at all to think that the Koran gives women a subordinate place in society. To the contrary. Except that people who were of a patriarchal tendency did not see it that way." // Azizah al-Hibri (Moyers)

 This is just one exa mple of what is actually in the Koran. The rumors have no legs against the Koran, because the Koran is the truth. This quote is saying that women have all the same rights compared men. Women can or not get married or women are decide to get a divorce. Anything a women wants to do, they can do. Azizah al-Hibri is saying that there shouldn't be a thought of women having a lower role in society compared to men because they don't. Women are equal and that is what it says in the Koran. Even though, some people who grew up in a place with a man as the head of the family are going to think differently. Also, man that are considered the head of the family are going to think differently, so that he is always going to be higher than the women in his family.

**WOMEN IN ** **CHRISTIANITY ** The views of women in Christianity changed dramatically over time. In the 17th century, women could only do household things like taking care of the children and cooking. If they wanted a real job, they had to dress up as men to get what they wanted. Women were actually thought of as less than men because men ruled the society. They could only work and make decisions. Women weren't even allowed to become priest or anything in the world. Here's a quote from a story from the 17th century by Mary Gordon, an author.

//"And interestingly enough, as a person of great faith, she chose not to wear women's clothing and to give up communion to do that. It's again that notion of vocation-that she could only do what God called her to do if she was dressed as a man. Because it was the only thing that would mark her as able to take her place in the world. She couldn't do her work signed as a woman. The work that she believed God called her to do required her to be signed as a man," - //Mary Gordon (Moyers)

This quote is about one of Mary Gordon's heros in her childhood. Her hero was a women that wanted to be more than a wife and a mother. This lady talk to her. This realization went across the whole Christian women community and they wanted a change. Different organization were popping up because women wanted to be closer to God as women not men. Organizations like Women Sharing Christ and Cross Christian Women. The 20th century came and things have changed. Women are allowed to be priests and bishops. Women have a bigger role in the church because it is the 20th century. Women have took a stand against the unequal rights in society. Now, Christian women are able to work, make decisions, and everything else a man can do.decide to go out and work but she knew that she couldn't do it looking like a woman. She had to dress like a man because that was the only way that God would talk to her.

**WOMEN IN JUDAISM ** In the old days, Jewish women are known to wear clothing that covers their hair, that makes them modest, and there weren't allowed to lead prayers or go to religious school. Married women have to cover their hair because the hair only makes them more beautiful. Although, women only have to cover their hair when with other men not women. Women are considered impure during their menstruation cycle because they experiencing a loss of a human that could have been born that month. Even though, women are considered impure and keep up with certain clothing, they are able to be a free as a women. //<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Since 1982, all psychological studies have been confirming what Judaism has been saying all along – that women have a unique contribution to make to the world.Women are not better than men, although they are superior in some areas on the whole, nor are they worse than men, although men do better than women in some areas on the whole. Judaism encourages women to express their strengths, to understand their superior nurturing abilities, insight into people, holistic approach to life - and to use these to make the wo // //<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">rld a better place. Women are known to have superior social skills, to be more cooperative than competitive, to do better on verbal tasks and a host of other attributes. //<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(Women in Judaism) <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The view of women have changed over time dramatically for Jewish women because of liberation in 1972. This forced people to actually look into <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">different religions and see what they say about women. In the Torah, women are unique in the world, they aren't suppose to be equal to men because they aren't. Women are better than men in some areas, just like men are better than women in some areas. The Torah helps Jewish women become stronger and show off their different abilities. I think this is amazing, this shows that women aren't suppose to be equal to men because they have different unique qualities. Women can more powerful than women because we have different abilities that men j <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">ust can't understand. Women can understand various conversations or underlying meanings because they have that ability.

**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">CONCLUSION ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">In the end, women in these different religions - Christianity, Islam, and Judaism - are thought to all be the same. Either the women had to go through a liberation or a breakthrough in understand the sacred texts, they got there. Women are known to be a vital part of society. Without women, they are no newborn babies, there are is no passion and love. Women can understand subjects that men will never be able to understand. Women aren't equal to men because they have different roles. Genetically, men have thicker and stronger bones than women, but women have stronger minds and better understand than men.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**WORKS CITED** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Moyers, Bill. "Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason.Perspectives. Gender & Religion|PBS." <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">PBS. PBS, 2006. Web. 2 Nov 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/perspectives3.html

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Women in Judaism|Jewish FAQ's."SimpleToRemember.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov 2011. <http://www.simpletoremember.com/faqs/Womens_Issues.htm

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**REFLECTION** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Overall summary of your learning from religion unit (focus on 2-3 general understandings).** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I learned a lot of the other religions that I didn't know about before. I learned that the other religions that we don't know about and perceive to be bad, they aren't bad at all. We just don't understand their different traditions because we grew up in a different area. For example, Muslim women wear a hijab and we think that is wrong, but they could think the way we dress is wrong. It just depends on where you grew up. I learned about different religion traditions, like the various castes in Hinduism. I learned that you have to be good in the first life, to have a great next life. Aso, that you can't go up into a different caste in own life because you will drop a caste in your next life.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Why did you choose this topic? What different things did you learn while researching and creating the project?** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I chose this topic because a lot of people think that women are degraded in Islam. While on the other hand, people think that Christian women can do whatever they want because christianity is a free religion. I wanted to show that women are treated the same if they are Christians, Muslims, or Jewish. Even though, they are different things that women can't do because these different religions believe it is a man's job. Also, I wanted to show how women are cherished in the religion. I learned a lot of Judaism, I didn't know that women were considered impure during different times of their life. I didn't know that traditional Jewish women have to cover their hair. I didn't know much about Christianity either because I never thought of that religion as a wrong one. I found out though that they had their own change to go through too.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**How do you feel about the final product? What are its strengths and what are its weaknesses?** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I think my final product is good but, I could add more design. I didn't really have an idea what my design should be, because I wanted to have good information. I think I have good quotes but, my wiki can be plain in design. I think I have good analysis to go with my quotes.