Gender Equality
Gender equality is the belief that men and women should have equal rights, opportunities and status in society. This topic covers UK equality law, religious teachings that support equal worth between men and women, and areas where religious traditions still disagree about the roles men and women should have, including in religious leadership.
Before you start
No specific prerequisites - this is a good place to start.
Method
- Learn the key vocabulary: gender equality, prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping.
- Learn how UK equality law protects people from unfair treatment because of their sex.
- Learn a religious teaching, with its source, that supports equal worth between men and women.
- Learn that religious traditions differ on gender roles within worship, marriage and leadership, and identify one specific example of this difference.
- Learn at least one non-religious argument for gender equality.
- Practise explaining a contrasting pair of religious beliefs, naming a specific tradition or source for each side rather than making a vague generalisation.
Worked example
Explain one Christian teaching that shows mutual respect and interdependence between men and women. Refer to a source of religious teaching in your answer.
- Identify the belief being tested: some Christian teaching emphasises that men and women depend on one another rather than one being superior.
- State the point clearly: 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 teaches that 'in the Lord' woman and man are not independent of each other.
- Add the supporting detail from the source: the passage notes that just as woman came from man in the creation account, man is also born of woman, showing dependence runs in both directions.
- Explain what this teaches: some Christians use this passage to argue that men and women have equal, complementary worth rather than one being more important than the other.
- Write the final answer: 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 teaches that men and women are mutually dependent 'in the Lord', which some Christians use to support the equal worth of men and women within a relationship of mutual respect.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Religious Studies exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two ways UK law protects women and men equally from discrimination based on sex.
Compare the approach of Liberal Judaism with the approach of Orthodox Judaism to women serving as religious leaders.
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