RELIGION AND STATUS OF WOMEN

ABSTRACT
Religion cannot be seen in isolation from the society. Religion evolves from the society either
by confirming or as reactions to the prevailing social norms. According to the French
sociologist Émile Durkheim, religion is an expression of social cohesion, and an expression of
collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our individual consciousnesses, which
then creates a reality of its own.
In the context of the role the religion plays on the status of woman in Indian society, the
religions not only act as carrier of social norms, religions many times tend to resist social
change in the matter of the status of woman, if it goes against the religious prescriptions.
Once a religion passes through the formative stage and its systems of beliefs and practices are
fully formed, the religion acts as a conservative force with respect to the social norms including
the status of woman. Moreover, it tends to resist any efforts to change these norms, whether
from inside or outside. However, the norms and practices prescribed by religion on social issues
are seldom evolved from its fundamental belief system. They are rather social creation and
permeated into the religion during the formative period of the religion due to the interplay
between society and religion.