#religion and women

[haggishlyhagging]

In self-blessing, you affirm the divine you. Self-blessing is very important for women, because too many of us have internalized our own oppression. It is important for us to change the influences working in our deep minds. Religion controls inner space; inner space controls outer space. If a woman internalizes her oppression and thinks she is inferior, or unclean when she menstruates, she internalizes a policeman. She will then act accordingly. She will not need to be policed by the actual oppressors because she will have assimilated their values, and she will police herself. The easiest and most efficient way for small numbers to oppress large numbers of people is to sell them a religion. If that religion is embraced by the majority of people, they will police themselves and act according to a value system that actually oppresses them. But they have internalized it, so they have lost. This is what so many women have done in patriarchy. Self-blessing rituals are a way of exorcising the patriarchal policeman, cleansing the deep mind, and filling it with positive images of the strength and beauty of women.

-Zsuzsanna E. Budapest, Self-Blessing Ritual, 1977

[clandestinewhore]

𐕣 𐕣 𐕣

[sevenspoonfulsofsugar]

thinking of the ending of conclave (2024) and those lingering shots on the papal vestments. the future and the foundation of the church, he who sits on the throne and is the face of it, wears white.

and the last shot of the movie. and those lingering shots on the women below. the future and the foundation of the church, they who maintain it without being lauded for it, wear white.

[radykalny-feminizm]

This is sick on so many levels

[audreyrose7]

I think about this all the time.

[gent-illmatic]

[qurbanjaan]

Throw rocks at me, but most if not all of the gender violence in Central Asia and Caucasus is due to religious reasons. Islam wasn’t “domesticated” and “tamed” like Christianity was.

Islam is still stuck on the same single day it was created and multiple issues women face in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa are due to islamization. You can see all the same issues repeating themselves in different places with different cultures and languages simply because people are screaming the name of a foreign God and abandoning their identities to try to mimic 600a.D Quraish culture.

Those habits have no place nowadays and need to be abandoned. For example:

Before the islamification of the region, when the Vainakh religion was predominant, women held big influence within their families and communities. The Vainakh customs, known as ʿadat, granted the roles and rights of women that included right for inheritance, property ownership, and under the ʿadat, women had certain legal protections. They could seek justice and were entitled to fair treatment in disputes.

Now, we have FGM.

[love-others-despite-differences]

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

[hadesoftheladies]

i view religion as a colonial force for the patriarchy. women will have the most vibrant lives until male religions come in and all of a sudden women are wearing ugly-ass uniforms, their art is thrown out, and their way of life is completely altered.

[bizarreaizen]

can we talk about the sexualization of nuns and how odd that is? like sexualizing a group of women who literally dedicated their entire life to modesty just feels so wrong, i'm not a religious person but sexualizing people who literally try their hardest to stay away from that is not okay T-T /gen

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Bernadette Allen

Published Nov 10, 2024

Around 30 women gathered in Belfast on Saturday to highlight concerns about a lack of support for male victims of domestic violence.

The march was made up of women wearing fluorescent pink and included relatives of men who have been the victims.

The twin daughters of west Belfast man Tony Browne, who was murdered by his girlfriend in 2022, were among those who attended.

Bobbi-Leigh and Shannon McIlwaine say there “isn’t enough support services for men” who are going through domestic abuse relationships.

'Extremely hard for a man to come forward'

Mr Browne, 54, was at his home when he was stabbed to death by Wiktoria Maksymowicz.

Bobbi-Leigh said her dad didn’t tell any of his family members what was happening.

“He told one of his closest friends but made his friend promise not to tell me and my sister because he didn’t want anyone to know,” she added.

The death of her father has had a "huge impact" on her, said Bobbi-Leigh.

"There is not one day I’m not thinking about my dad and what he went through and thinking if it could have been prevented," she said.

“It’s extremely hard for a man to come forward and say that he is being abused. There is a chance he won’t be believed, he will be laughed at.

“Women coming out today to speak for men, that’s sending a powerful message. It shows we believe them and support them. There needs to be more support from Stormont.”

[ West Belfast man Tony Browne was murdered by his girlfriend Wiktoria Maksymowicz in 2022 ]

The march was facilitated by the Men’s Alliance NI who are calling for a men’s refuge in Northern Ireland and more support from Stormont.

In a statement, Stormont ministers said they have made it clear that domestic and sexual abuse transcends boundaries of gender, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

They have stressed their commitment to creating a society in Northern Ireland where domestic and sexual abuse are not tolerated, and where victims receive the support they need and where those responsible are held to account.

The Department of Health also said it provides funding for a 24-hour Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline, which is a confidential, freephone service available to any person impacted by domestic and sexual abuse in NI.

[ Around 30 women gathered in Belfast calling for more support ]

Shannon feels a men’s refuge is needed.

“If my dad had have been able to go somewhere it may have given him the courage to leave,” she said.

“It’s important that people come out today and show their support because domestic abuse isn’t a gendered issue and it needs to stop being stigmatised as a gendered issue.”

'Nowhere to go'

Carey Baxter from Men’s Alliance says domestic violence is a societal issue.

“Today is a women’s only march and women are doing this on behalf of men.

“We speak to men who are living in their cars or sofa surfing because they have nowhere to go."

Mr Baxter said there is a huge gap in funding and services for men.

“It’s not about taking services away from women, it’s about finding something extra for the men because those services are needed and we hear it every single day of the week in our support groups, but there is nothing there for them.”

[munegirl]

[mikasasrippedtoenail]

Profanity and Misogyny

"Motherfucker", "cunt" , "bitch", "Whore" etc. are words that are so commonly used in colloquial language that one almost forgets the nuance attached to them. In almost every language there exist a myriad of swear words that refer to the degradation of the female vagina. A woman's sex is seen as her badge of shame and if she has control over her it then she has become astray from the path of the virtue.

"To insult a man, you insult his woman". I remember awkwardly shuffling in my seat, getting very uncomfortable when male peers would call each other "motherfucker" or "cunts" so casually. A woman much older than them was reduced to her sex, a tool to insult their friends. My sex- the organ that I was born with- was a sign of weakness. If you are meek or a coward you are a "pussy". In my language, I could never find the word equivalent of vagina, for it was too sexualised to use in society. Before I was even old enough to understand the workings of my body, a organ that I had been born with was left redundant to its function to please a man-villified by porn.

"Fuck" is seen as an insult because men consider sex a defiling act that takes away the dignity of the woman. Another misogynistic implication is the term "deflowering"; having sex takes away her innocence. After sex, the woman is not a human to them but a "cunt". The sexual paraphernalia of a woman is associated with purity. There is such a huge emphasis that is put on the concept of virginity, because it brings control to the patriarchal society over a woman's autonomy.

The sexual liberation of 70s was brought as a rebellion to these norms- young women were groomed into thinking that sex is empowering. Hookup culture also emerged as an aftereffect of the sexual liberation. The politics of a woman's sex is argued all day while the male penis remains as a neutral organ despite having been a tool to oppress women.

Sex is a completely neutral act of pleasure that is neither degrading nor empowering. However, this statement would only exist in a vacuum. Men use sex as a form of violence upon women-rape is a political tool. For women to take back control of their sexual autonomy, they must acknowledge the politics of sex-or lack thereof. Selectively choosing whom you are having sex with is the first step.

I implore everyone to stop using degrading profanities that have misogynistic connotations. When others around me --especially men-- use these swear words, I ask them why their insults always involve a woman to be degraded and humiliated. Not acting as an accompalice to patriarchy, not keeping quiet against the patriarchal violence and spreading word against misogyny is the best silent mutiny.

[radykalny-feminizm]

Another based TikTok woman being 100% right about religion, love the tendency ✊

[divinum-pacis]

April 2024: Harar, Ethiopia Women sing and dance during the Shuwalid festival, which is celebrated by the Harari people and marks the end of six days of fasting to compensate omissions during Ramadan Photograph: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images