Feminist Thought and Gender Theology

Interdisciplinary, intersectional, and interlocking are the kind of adjectives that best describe the way we feminists think. That is why I want to study gender-related issues from a theological perspective. There are differing views on gender theory from the perspective of sociologists and theologians. Sociologists tend to refer to the Nurture Theory where the distinction of relations between men and women is not determined by biological factors and divine nature alone but by the formation and construction of society that it is not universal and interchangeable. Whereas theologians tend to refer to the belief that gender roles are regulated by God by nature and are not negotiable as the Theory of Nature says. For centuries theologies produced and formulated into dogmas/churches and practised in the church, life is discussed by the thoughts, feelings, experiences, struggles, and hopes of men who are highly androcentric of patriarchal culture. Many texts in the Bible state that women are sub-ordinate of men. This interpretation is then constructed and socialized by religious institutions and family institutions as God's provisions regarding gender roles. The position and role of women as a sub-ordinate result in injustice and marginalization of women in patriarchy culture. This study examines the interpretation of theological assumptions regarding gender, inequality, and marginalization of women, the feminist thought and men social reaction.