Assess sociological explanations of the relationship between gender, religious belief and organizations.

However, Saadawi disagrees with the statement that religious teachings are the cause of the oppression and exploitation that women suffer, but blames the patriarchal system. She states that men have literally distorted religion especially in Islam, to socially control women and to serve their own interest, so religion isn't the cause but the interpretation of it by men. Leila Badawi also sees Islam as positive as women have a choice over the three types of Islam and they get to keep their own names. Therefore Islam is not as strict and controlling as members of society put it out to be. Helen Watson justifies this by stating that wearing the veil is a political choice and wearing a veil can be seen as a positive thing to some women. This is because after interviewing some muslin women, Badawi came to a conclusion that muslin women are trying to take a stand against western culture. This is revealed when the women said that wearing the veil makes her proud of her religion and that it felt "liberating to have freedom of movement" as they can communicate with members of society without being on show. Sociologist Said, says that the west the west have created an orientalist discourse, justifying domination. So therefore, not all religions oppress and exploit women because some women do have a choice on certain things. An example would be Judaism as some women are now allowed to become rabbis and seikheism is now into equality and argues that women have choices.

However, sociologists are making generalizations by saying that all women are being oppressed by their religion. This argument can be faulty because it's all about meanings and how individuals view their religion. According to Davie men and women view God differently because women see God as caring and loving, whereas men on the other hand see him as a God of power and strength. This is because men and women were socialized differently. Women were socialized to be more passive than men and as a result have made them to be more godly than men. Whereas, men were taught to be in strong and in control; because of this, men might think that God wants them to be in charge of everything. So therefore socialization might be another reason why male and females view God differently. Some sociologists have also ignored the fact that due to the process of socialization, women have accepted their role within religious organizations and may not mind there second class status as they have always been taught to be passive.

The feminist movement has raised the public's consciousness about the unfairness of gender discrimination. Modern-day secular society has responded by eliminating sexism in employment, education, accommodation. A large amount of the public has accepted that women should be given the same career opportunities that men have. Although feminism has raised awareness of the exploitation women face, inequality and discrimination still seem to exist in major religious groups, only the minorities consider changes to be made.

In conclusion, I would say that the role of woman in society is largely influenced by the role of woman prescribed in religious organizations. The interpretation of the religion is unfortunately in the hands of the so called religious representatives like men who have taken advantage of their roles. But not all religions oppress women. In Christianity, Women have a very high status, and very important roles. Men and women are not the same, but when teamed up together the weakness of each are supported by strengths of the others. They were made to work as a team, and with Christ's words, "to love your wife as Christ loved the church", can not give them any higher esteem than one can get. Each has roles and duties they were created for. When man loves his wife properly and the wife loves her husband properly, each work with full respect of the other and just because men and women have different roles, does not make one less than the other. So therefore, sociologist cannot make generalizations as not all religions are the same, it all depends on the way individuals interpret their religion. It may have been necessary for the male to dominate in the past but now we all know that females are just as capable as men in today's world.