I need a research proposal written for Sociology class. I would like to examine the relationship between gender and religious beliefs/participation. I have several assignments that I need incorporated

Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha these are the names that date back centuries as males dominate religion throughout history. Denominations to include Catholic and Jews do not allow women to be clergy while Protestant churches have begun to allow women to hold some vital roles. Despite women being the dominate participants in weekly activities and attendance, women in leadership roles is far lower than that of men. However, when asked, women answer religion is very important in their lives, by a percentage of 60-47 (Pew Research Center 2016). Religious research seems to prove that most church related activities tend to be positive, certain things can be triggers of negativity and hostility.

This review will investigate gender roles and prove women are least likely to hold leadership roles in churches compared to men. Women have long been “put” in their place as subordinate in roles of the church that make them appear to be oppressed. They are actresses of a sort who carry out such tasks that require little to no thinking and have no place of power in churches. Yet attendance of women at church is higher than men in most churches that are of the Christian Faith. Churches that segregate by gender for bible study have proven women classes are larger than that of men classes.

An online search revealed there are several agencies available to assist in a smooth transition between leaders (Dollhoph and Scheitle. 2013, p. 675). The authors elaborated on the set of church structure and how most were structured the same making it easier to transition or exchange leaders from one church to the next. While leadership changes generally cause conflict in the church as some church members are closer to the leaders than others. If church leaders are liked by church members, the church grows and has much participation. The article discusses that female and male clergy appear to approach ministry the same.

In other countries like China, studies of Woman of Huang and the patterns of intersection between Chinese women and men. Lotus Pond Societies are women’s lay religious associations (Bryson 2015, p. 629). There appear to be three versions and Lotus Pond Societies are more likely to use the more sympathetic version of the tale. The laywomen of LPS are charged with teaching the villages throughout China. The Great Scripture Mother keeps the one collection of written text and everyone in the group memorizes it.

This study brought to light that women constitute one sixth of clergy in America. It also discussed that women tend to be more open to teachings from other women and women clergy tend to be more knowledgeable on gender issues, therefor more trusted by other women. Just as in other professions, women have faced discrimination as clergy. When women are in leadership roles, they tend to be less prestigious roles and in smaller, rural congregations. It also discussed that women in leadership roles in churches tend to call on other women to be leaders in the church opposed to men. Women have also been shown to be more responsive to leadership by other women (Djupe 2014, p 498).

Gender roles have long been debated in Christian contexts dating back to the Protestant Reformation. This study spoke of gender role ideologies such as, traditional, complementarian and egalitarian. It used scripture to back up both sides for and against women leaders in churches. The egalitarian has also been called “biblical feminism (Penya, Macaluso, Bailey. 2016 p.167). This article was the most interesting as it spoke of Sociologist agreeing that women are more religious than men, but they could not agree as to the why. I never considered that economic status might play a role. In contrast, fundamentalists, believe gender roles are made clear in scripture in verses written by Paul, “As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says,” in I Corinthians 14:34. To fundamentalist this is the ultimate authority.

In Poland women of the Roman Catholic Faith, an organization viewed as an institution, choose to exclude themselves creating predominately males in the key administrative-evangelical positions. “In the diocesan chanceries in Poland they occupy 73.8 % of all positions, while in the Church’s central organization, that is, the Polish Episcopal Conference, they occupy 91.2% of the positions (Leszczynska, 2014a, 2016).” Church norms have created his type of system where women are believed to be best suited in positions that do not lead

In some cases, in the secular world, it appears women are making strides as leaders and being allowed to hold positions they have not been allowed to hold in the past. Churches seem to be the exception to the rule as the rigid belief system still allows and is accepting of restricting the roles women are allowed to hold. Women wear many “hats” of which are so important to their home and work life however when it comes to religious organizations they continue to oppressed.

BELOW ARE THE 10 REFERRENCE I MUST USE!!!!!!!

Antonius Skipper, Loren Marks, & Cassandra Chaney. (2017). “Iron Sharpens Iron”: Views of the

Church Congregation from the Unheard Voices of Religious African American

Men. Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men, 6(1), 77–98.

https://doi.org/10.2979/spectrum.6.1.04

Bryson, M. (2015). Religious Women and Modern Men: Intersections of Gender and

Ethnicity in the Tale of Woman Huang. Signs, 40(3), 623–646.

https://doi.org/10.1086/679523

Djupe, P. A. (2014). The Effects of Descriptive Associational Leadership on Civic

Engagement: The Case of Clergy and Gender in Protestant Denominations. Journal for

theScientific Study of Religion, 53(3), 497–514. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24644224

Dollhopf, E. J., & amp; Scheitle, C. P. (2013). Decline and Conflict: Causes and Consequences of

Leadership Transitions in Religious Congregations. Journal for the Scientific Study of

Religion, 52(4), 675–697. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24643990

Leamaster, R. J., & Subramaniam, M. (2016). Career and/or Motherhood? Gender and the LDS

Church. Sociological Perspectives, 59(4), 776–797. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26340181

Leamaster, R. J., & Einwohner, R. L. (2018). “I’m Not Your Stereotypical Mormon Girl”: Mormon

Women’s Gendered Resistance. Review of Religious Research, 60(2), 161–181.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/26652709

Leszczynska, K. (2016). The (Self-) Exclusion of Women from the Roman Catholic Church in

Poland: Discursive Practices as Mechanisms Reproducing Models of Femininity in Church

Organizations. Polish Sociological Review, 196, 459–476.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/26383042

Penya, L. S., Macaluso, S. F., & Bailey, G. (2016). The Attitudes Toward Gender Roles in

Conservative Christian Contexts Scale: A Psychometric Assessment. Review of Religious

Research, 58(1), 165–182. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43920140

SCHNABEL, L. (2016). THE GENDER PRAY GAP: Wage Labor and the Religiosity of High-

Earning Women and Men. Gender and Society, 30(4), 643–669.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/24756220

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/22/the-gender-gap-in-religion-around-the-

world/