Female Stereotypes in Religious Traditions.

• Superior document: Studies in the history of religions ; Volume 66
• Author: Ria Kloppenborg; Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Editors)
• TeilnehmendeR: Kloppenborg, Ria.; Hanegraaff, Wouter J.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, , Boston: : Brill, , 1995.
• Year of Publication: 1995
• Language: English
• Series: Numen Book Series 66.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xii, 261 pages).
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; Torn Between Vice and Virtue: Stereotypes of the Widow in Israel and Mesopotamia /; Jeh the Primal Whore? Observations on Zoroastrian Misogyny /; Images of Women in Ancient Judaism /; “Women on the Loose”: Stereotypes of Women in the Story of the Medieval Beguines /; The “Mothers of the Believers”: Stereotypes of the Prophet Muhammad’s Wives /; Female Sufi Saints on the Indian Subcontinent /; The Unconventional Woman Saint: Images of Akka Mahādēvi /; Female Stereotypes in Early Buddhism: The Women of the Therīgāthā /; Female Stereotypes in Tibetan Religion and Art: Introduction the Genitrix/Progenitress as the Exponent of the Underworld /; From the Devil’s Gateway to the Goddess Within: The Image of the witch in Neopaganism /; Index /; Contributors /; Studies in the History of Religions Numen Book Series /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 900437888X
• Hierarchical level: Monograph

This volume contains a collection of studies describing and analyzing stereotypes of women in the religions of Ancient Israel and Mesopotamia, and in Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Medieval Christianity, Islam, Indian Sufism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Tibetan religions, and modern Neopaganism. In all these traditions the stereotypes are based on generalizations, which are socially, culturally or religiously legitimized, and which seem to have a lasting influence on society's conceptions of women. They represent oversimplified opinions, which are, however, regularly challenged by the women who are affected by them. In all traditions the stereotypes are ambiguous, either because women have challenged their validity, or because historical developments in society have reshaped them. They influence public opinion by emphasizing dominant views, as a strategy to restrain women and to keep them controlled by the rules and morals of a male-dominated society.