Does God Hate Women?

by Ophelia Benson, Jeremy Stangroom

An exploration of the role that religion and culture play in the oppression of women

Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom, philosophers and authors, ask probing questions about the way that religion shields the oppression of women from criticism and why many Western liberals, leftists, and feminists have remained largely silent on the subject. Throughout the world, a great many women lead lives of misery and sometimes plain horror. They are often considered and treated as the property of men and have few, if any, rights. Such treatment is generally sustained and protected by a combination of religion and culture. Does God Hate Women? explores instances of the oppression of women in the name of religious and cultural norms and how these issues play out both in the community and in the political arena. Drawing on philosophical concerns such as truth, relativism, knowledge, and ethics, Benson and Stangroom assess the current situation and provide a rallying call for a progressive politics that is committed to universal values.
An exploration of the role that religion and culture play in the oppression of women

Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom, philosophers and authors, ask probing questions about the way that religion shields the oppression of women from criticism and why many Western liberals, leftists, and feminists have remained largely silent on the subject. Throughout the world, a great many women lead lives of misery and sometimes plain horror. They are often considered and treated as the property of men and have few, if any, rights. Such treatment is generally sustained and protected by a combination of religion and culture. Does God Hate Women? explores instances of the oppression of women in the name of religious and cultural norms and how these issues play out both in the community and in the political arena. Drawing on philosophical concerns such as truth, relativism, knowledge, and ethics, Benson and Stangroom assess the current situation and provide a rallying call for a progressive politics that is committed to universal values.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Feminism, Atheism, Philosophy, Catholic

216 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 2009

About the author

Ophelia Benson is co-author (with Jeremy Stangroom) of The Dictionary of Fashionable Nonsense: A Guide for Edgy People, Why Truth Matters, and Does God Hate Women?, and the editor of the website Butterflies and Wheels and Deputy Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine. She writes a monthly column for the online version of the magazine. She wrote formerly under the pen name "Kassandra."

Reviews

[T.Y. Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

... Yes. Yes, He does.

Growing up in a fundamentalist religion, this book explains perfectly, succinctly, how I was made to feel inferior for simply being born the lesser gender, and how the (male) religious authorities cover it up with such terms as "gender difference", "true femininity", and the worst of all, "complementarity", while exploring how and why we allow, protect, and enable religion to be used as a tool for sexism and misogyny when we would never allow it from any other institution or establishment. Why does religion get a free pass? Why do we protect this type of open discrimination simply because it is rooted in religion? And what do we do to change this?

[Mwanabibi Sikamo · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a real struggle reading this book. I expected to find a critique of religion and its role in the oppression of women. There was some of that but on the whole it felt like a Daily Mail style rant about the evils of Islam (I can only think of Fox as a possible example of the same thing in the US). There was very little discussion of other religions which do justify the oppression of women, albeit in more subtle but equally effective ways. The authors seemed to advocate the idea of shocking us into their points of view by outlining extreme cases of violence against women. While I agree that it is important we discuss issues such as sharia law and female genital mutilation I feel this method leaves a lot to be desired in terms of empowerment of women who are also oppressed but not in quite a tangible way. The writers attribute a lot of wrongs to religion when there are clearly cultural issue at play as well (islamic women in East Africa are not treated the same as those in Iran for example and although FGM may occur in countries with a high population of muslims there is no evidence in the book to show that it is a muslim construct). All in all I found this book difficult to read and devoid of any pioneering ideas or solutions.

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the topic and information included in Does God Hate Women, if found the structure of the chapters and information to be a little confusing at times. Reading the book reminded me of conversations I've had with friends, where information and stories are brought up when they are thought of, sometimes to the point of losing the proceeding topic. The chapters, though titled as specific topics, seemed to all bleed together, not creating a good division of the points supporting the authors' arguments. There were many times, especially in the later chapters, when the author would allude to a story earlier in the book. While this may help with continuity, it happened so frequently, I found myself having to stop often and try to remember the story so I could put it in proper context within the passage.

Aside from structure, Does God Hate Women is an informative book describing injustices toward women across various religions and regions. Many of the stories do come from Islam, creating a bit of an imbalance between it and the other religions. This is even addressed in it's own chapter toward the end of the book (something that I found to be distracting from the actual topic at hand.).

Overall, the book was good, but not great. If you are a religious savvy individual or follow the news intently, the information provided within will probably not be new to you. Having previously read several books on women in religion, most of the stories were comprised of information I had already encountered.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors present religion as the last socially acceptable voice for prejudices no longer countenanced from secular sources, and particularly a stronghold of domination of and discrimination against women. Many examples are given of the pernicious, sometimes horrifying impact of religious authority today on the lives of women. Arguing persuasively that religions in practice have not been about love or compassion but about authorizing and justifying those in power staying in power, the authors dispute the claim by cultural relativists and representatives of the religious and cultural status quo that all religions and traditions should be respected equally and on their own terms. For them, this is dooming most of the world's women to lives of subservience to male authority, limitation on their possibilities due to the accident of being born female, and continued violation of even their most basic human rights.

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

The moment I started this book I couldn't put it down though it made me angry. I think every woman who believes their god love them should read this book. I know it is not the gods but the men who created them who hate women but still it is a sick world we live in.

[Tarryn McKay · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read this book and are not left a feminist atheist, you're dead from the neck up. Highly recommend this to any woman who thinks raising her daughters in any religion is a good, noble thing. It's not. Really, it's not.

This book took me nearly a year to read, as I was unbelievably angry from the first page, I couldn't read it for a while. The case histories are so atrocious, but essential to illustrate the point - no easy reading, this little book. However, if you can try to be dispassionate while reading this, the arguments are well thought out, comprehensive and unafraid. The authors cast their eye on all three major Abrahamic religions, including Islam. I mention this only to assure xtians who cry 'persecution' that this isn't the case.

I've just finished it, and I'm still angry. I think this state of mind will last until the injustice of inequality between the sexes is finally put to rest. I've got a horrible feeling I'm going to be angry for the rest of my life.

[Victor Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

God as an expression of male chauvinism does hate women....so Why women accept this?

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A response to religious apologetics, illustrated with horrific examples of male violence against women.

[Elwira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niestety jestem trochę rozczarowana, ponieważ 95% książki dotyczy... islamu. Miała być to lektura, która opowiada o różnych religiach, ale głównie kręci się właśnie wokół islamu. Może dwie MAŁE wzmianki są o mormonach, kiedy mam na półce całą księgę o nich dwa razy grubszą od tej. Mam wrażenie, że autorzy mają jakąś obsesję na punkcie islamu, ale to trzeba było zmienić po prostu tytuł na "Dlaczego islam nienawidzi kobiet?", a nie pytać ogólnie o Boga. Zero wspomnień o pedofilii krytej przez Kościół katolicki, kiedy przymusowe małżeństwa z nieletnimi w islamie zajmują mnóstwo miejsca, zero o traktowaniu kobiet w Indiach (jedynie jest wspomniane o tym, jak traktuje się tam wdowy, ale nie ma nic, że gdy rodzi się dziewczynka, rodzina nie jest zadowolona, a matce zdarza się, że "wykipi mleko" i umiera od poparzeń), zero o judaizmie (choć na ostatniej stronie jest wspomniane, że istnieje coś takiego jak ortodoksyjny judaizm). W dodatku trzy ostatnie rozdziały były bardzo męczące. Jeden o okaleczaniu kobiet i dyskusja, czy jest to związane z religią, czy nie, drugi (który powinien się znaleźć na samym początku) jest wyjaśnieniem, dlaczego prawie cała książka dotyczy islamu i czemu nie jest to islamofobiczne, oraz trzeci, który na trzech stronach podsumowuje, że w każdej religii Bóg nienawidzi kobiet. Nie wiem, skąd ten wniosek, skoro - powtórzę kolejny raz - głównie książka dotyczyła islamu. Początek był świetny, ale im bliżej końca, tym gorzej.

[Kharah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting and thought-provoking read. Maybe a bit too ambitious (covering all religions in under 180 pages is a lot to ask). The work is somewhat dated, clearly having been written during the Bush administration, and might need an update. The authors also use a lot of inflammatory language, which is helpful in catching attention but could detract from their overall message. And although this is supposed to be about religion in general, it's really mostly about Islam, with a dash of Christianity thrown in. But still good food for thought, more of a conversation starter than a definitive work.

That being said, my biggest criticism is that the authors don't provide suggestions for solutions or future action. This book does a good job of framing a problem, but that's not helpful if there's no where to go from there. The odds are good that the religious masses are not just going to renounce their beliefs and go strictly secular overnight - some form of religion is probably here to stay. And it's probably a stretch to say that organized religion is automatically evil - the authors do (grudgingly) acknowledge that "religion" is a complex entity, consisting of theology, philosophy, mythology, community, and politics/power/hierarchy, all of which unfolds and shifts across history*, and that there's also good mixed in with the bad. So given all that, how do we move forward? What can the the liberal religious do to affect change from the inside? What's the best way to support change in more conservative circles? If you're both religious and a woman, what can you do to lobby for change? Strides in gender equality have been made in education, government, business, sports, culture, and sex - why should religion be the exception?

And related to above, the authors don't discuss it but it sounds like there are some religions that got it "right," or religious sects that have managed (or are managing) to move towards less sexist, more inclusive stances. How are those groups doing it? Could they be used as a guide or map for other religions and sects? These are the things that we really need to know to tackle the problem.

Because the authors are so problem focused, it's easy to get mad and want to go out there and DO something about what really boils down to utter bullshit. But without a sense of what *can* be done, it'll just amount to a lot of directionless anger and frustration - and then what's really been accomplished here?

*[Segue: yes - religions evolve and adapt as a function of place and time, and those who insist otherwise clearly need to go educate themselves. Or, for the Christians, maybe actually go and read the New Testament].

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lektura obowiązkowa. Książka nie o tym, dlaczego religia, ta, konkretna, czy jakaś uogólniona, uniwersalna, nienawidzi kobiet, bo tak jak społeczeństwo czy rodzina, religia nie ma mózgu ani statusu podmiotu, by móc nienawidzić kogokolwiek, ale o tym, w jaki sposób na całym świecie używa się religii jak alibi dla mężczyzn, którzy nienawidzą kobiet. Książka w formie opracowań naukowych, która jest zawołaniem o racjonalne myślenie i krytyczne podejście do wszystkiego, co jest "od zawsze" i co wydaje się trudne, o ile nie niemożliwe do zmiany, a od czego zależy szczęście, zdrowie i życie połowy ludzkości.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strong condemnation of religion, with a particular emphasis on oppression of women. There is a lot of ground that is covered well in other books, but I found several aspects that were different, noteworthy, and enlightening. One was the cogent argument against the absolutist approach of religious apologists, in which they claim in essence that religion should get none of the blame for various problems. Another is a strong discussion of the intertwining of religion and culture. Yet another was one of the clearest discussions I have seen on the concepts of Islamophobia and criticism of Islam.

[Aneta Jackowska-Musiol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous discourse about religion and it's role to underestimate woman. Examples at the beginning of the book are making people think if this is really happening - but it is, as I write this words! Very brave book, not easy, but wise and the one that can make difference.

[Cachet O'Dell-Crenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an emotional account of women who are discriminated against in various countries today (true stories). It is an eye opener. If you do not mind some gory details, I would recommend this book any day.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[Gender · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens up with great insight and points you squarely in the area to see the reality of oppression. The spin was on top, and hit to the core.

[JT · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this. Way too depressing. Maybe the ending had some hope in it?

[Ian Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutal, and harrowing journey into how religion affects the fairer sex. Do not read if you are easily angered. I read this and ended up punching a wall, becuase i became so sad and furious at they way women are treated by religion

[Joseflagerkvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benson tycker det.