# Which religions treat women and men as equals? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552 "2026-01-11T02:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/41 "2026-01-11T06:52:50Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > So no, I cannot and will not agree that any Abrahamic religion can possibly qualify as treating women as equals. About the closest is probably [Baha’i](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_Faith) which argues strongly for the equality of the genders, with no social or spiritual subordination. [Up to a point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_Faith_and_gender_equality), that point being the glaring exception of the elected [nine member ruling body](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_House_of_Justice), for which women are not eligible. They can hold every other senior administrative position except that one, the reasons for which were left entirely vague (“you’ll see guys, it will all make sense one day!”). So I wouldn’t call it truly equal and it still has some conservative social holdovers you’re supposed to adhere to if you’re a member in terms of stuff like no pre-marital sex, booze, adultery (damnit!) and practicing [homosexuality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_views_on_homosexuality) (though if you promise to stay celibate like all those unmarried folks should, they’ll give you a pass). Though they only have that opinion if you’re trying to be a practicing Baha’i - folks outside the faith can do whatever. As they are also explicitly supposed to stay out of politics, you’ll at least never see them trying to legislate their “family values”-style moral stances. Other than that with their emphasis on universal equality and respect for all other religious faiths they’re probably as doctrinally “liberal” as Abrahamic religions are gonna get. Still not 100% equal though. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/42 "2026-01-11T07:01:47Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Other than that with their emphasis on universal equality and respect for all other religious faiths they’re probably as doctrinally “liberal” as Abrahamic religions are gonna get. Still not 100% equal though. That’s sort of an odd statement, since multiple Abrahamic religious groups which fully endorse gender equality have already been cited in this thread. I’ll note that, in addition to the Reform movement, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism also fully endorse gender equality. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/43 "2026-01-11T07:09:25Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > When my parents belonged to a reform synagogue many decades ago, there were no woman rabbis and, even more, women were not permitted to do a Torah reading. That is a pretty hilariously self-serving quote from the Reform website; “our movement, founded in 1877, has _always_ been committed to equality between men and women…so much so that we started ordaining women rabbis two whole decades ago!” (The website is actually even wrong about that, it was five decades.) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/44 "2026-01-11T07:18:15Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > That’s sort of an odd statement, since multiple Abrahamic religious groups which fully endorse gender equality have already been cited in this thread. Sects rather than whole religions - I took the thread title literally 🙂. Probably hair-splitting, I know. But then what would a religious debate be if you had no hair-splitting? As an outsider (atheist son of fiercely atheist parents) I generally am of the opinion that Baha’i, while pretty imperfect by my lights (I would never join a faith that denied me margaritas and sweet, sweet adultery), is ideologically more egalitarian than any of its Abrahamic competitors in its expressed core values. Which is why I brought them up. If you want to argue the Episcopalians are just as egalitarian if not far more so, that’s fine. I’m pretty indifferent from my cheap seats - I root for no side. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/45 "2026-01-11T08:06:00Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Please fight our ignorance. I’ve been hoping a better source would come along. Thanks for asking respectfully. There are few things more tedious than people who criticize mainstream (probably not the best word here) religion from a place of ignorance and a misplaced sense of superiority. It’s late so I’ll be brief for now especially because @puzzlegal has already done most of the heavy lifting. As they say though, two Jews; three opinions. I’m a lifelong atheist and grew up in Reform Judaism and it’s ok to be an atheist as a Reform Jew. It’s a heritage with an attached religion. The newish rabbi at the shul where I grew up is a gay man with a husband and children. He is very much loved. I went beyond getting a bar mitzvah and to a thing called Confirmation. We spend almost no time on scripture. We mostly learned about history and tradition and also of course the prayers and how to run a service. To the extent that the Bible was taught at all it was as a mostly ahistorical set of texts written over centuries that was used by our people in ancient times. On top of that we discussed morals and philosophy. Confirmation happens at 16. The rabbi talked to us about life and the challenges we would face as adults and Jews. The rabbi brought us speakers including LBGT+ Jews, evangelical Christians who grew up Jewish and Hari Krisnas. We talked about sex and birth control and the big political questions of the day. Mostly we were taught to debate and think for ourselves, never how we were supposed to believe. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/46 "2026-01-11T09:43:14Z")
[On Paul and women in the church.](https://youtu.be/yOcjkEsf33s) Junia the apostle. . . ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/47 "2026-01-11T10:21:36Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I think I’d have to argue that NO Abrahamic religion can possibly qualify, due to the basic foundation scriptures being profoundly misogynistic. By your definition, most modern democracies can’t possibly qualify as democracies because they didn’t have universal suffrage from their founding. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/48 "2026-01-11T10:53:23Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Several moderators of the United Church of Canada have been women: I have no comment on that, but I have been invited to augment United Church of Canada choirs here in western Canada. I’ve been able to display my vocal skills in various ways, and so if they came calling, well, I get to sing. I like singing. I don’t regularly attend any church, but the United Churches in Canada seem pretty inoffensive from what I’ve seen. Women and men are equal in those churches. When I was a regular in a church choir (Presbyterian Church in Canada, or PCC), I don’t recall that women were anything else but equal. The PCC recognized that women could be ministers (when I started as a choir member, the assistant minister was a woman), and women could be elders in the church. Perhaps that’s the answer: both the United Church of Canada, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada regard women as equals. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/49 "2026-01-11T12:37:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I wonder if the Episcopal Church might qualify? They had a woman, Katharine Jefferts Schori, serving as presiding bishop from 2006 to 2015. I thought of that too. And, FWIW, the Episcopal church is a huge supporter of Deaf churches with Deaf priests conducting their own services, as opposed to interpreted services. There are at least 100 ordained men and women who are Deaf, and another dozen ordained priests who are hearing, but fluent in ASL, and lead Deaf congregations. No other denomination has more than a handful of ordained Deaf, and many have none. Anyway, equality in the Jewish Reform movement has been heavily influenced by the Reconstructionist movement. You have to know that its inception, the goal of the Reform movement was to look like Protestant Christians from a distance. They adopted language from Protestant Christianity (rabbis became ministers, and synagogues became temples), and used hymnals. To the extent that Christians were more egalitarian than Orthodox Jews, Reform Jews were egalitarian: they dropped mechitzahs, allowed women lay participation in services, and women’s voices could be heard, without worrying about their effect on men’s zippers. There were still no women rabbis, no bat mitzvahs, and few synagogues called women to Torah. It was the Reconstructionist movement that initiated that-- though the Reform movement was quick to follow, with the Conservative movement kicking and screaming years later-- but they’re cool now, guys, really. The first bat mitzvah in the US was in 1924 (the 100th anniversary was noted a couple years ago), and the bat mitzvah herself was Judith Kaplan, the daughter of the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. My current synagogue is affiliated with both the Conservative and the Reconstructionist movements, but not the Reform, and the one I grew up in was unaffiliated, albeit, the first rabbi there was ordained Reform, and jokingly referred to he level of observance as “Reformadox.” That’s a term you hear a lot. There’s also a very small, spiritual movement that isn’t really a denomination, but does favor egalitarianism. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/50 "2026-01-11T13:14:50Z")
Officially Sikhism considers men and women as equal, though it’s not always perfect in practice. There was a Gurudwara near my old house; while I lived there there was a protest about women not being treated equally which blocked the road; as it’s prohibited to fight in the temple, the argument spilled into the street (IIRC the specific issue was that there was a vote about something in the temple and someone had decided that married couples should only get one vote between them, and invited husbands to vote and not wives). ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/51 "2026-01-11T13:26:12Z")
I wonder what the flying spaghetti monster’s position is on the matter? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/52 "2026-01-11T13:39:50Z")
Wicca. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/53 "2026-01-11T15:22:13Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > There are some Christian Protestant branches which allow women to lead churches, but none that I know of have ever had a women in the “top job” of their organization. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is currently led by [Teresa Hord Owens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Hord_Owens), who (if Wikipedia is to be believed) is the " first black woman to lead a [mainline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_Protestant) denomination as their chief executive." She was preceded by [Sharon E. Watkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_E._Watkins), “the first woman to lead a mainline denomination in North America.” > [@TruCelt](#): > > Do they preach equality in business, relationships, and family life? You might have to specify whether “equal but different” counts. I suspect some would say that women and men are _equal_ but that they are not identical and should play different roles. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/54 "2026-01-11T15:27:03Z")
ISTM the various flavors of christianity that currently espouse sorta-egalitarian principles all picked up that habit in the last 50-100 years. IOW, they were dragged there by changes in the surrounding secular / civil culture. This is centuries or millennia after their flavor’s founding. And the ones that have not yet embraced egalitarian principles are those who’re particularly immune to cultural pressure. It’s also obvious that if the surrounding secular / civil culture significantly retreats from gender (or racial) equality over the coming decades, the churches who have previously bent to popular opinion will bend again. Right back to teach and acting as if patriarchy is a core tenet of biblical christianity. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/55 "2026-01-11T15:28:09Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Yes, that’s literally how all religion works. Not all religions even involve books. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/56 "2026-01-11T17:02:08Z")
A good answer given the question. This question gets messy in that virtually every major religios tradition that is broadly recognized as such in our general culture and that has explicit rules and doctrines dates its foundation to prefeminist culture, and any denomination thereof now advocating full equality could have the “but that’s just because they adapted to survive” or “but that’s just a liberal branch” reservation raised. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/57 "2026-01-11T17:06:18Z")
And I’m going to say the opposite. Every religion is embedded in a broader society, and accommodates the assumptions of the society. Even a religion that at its heart is egalitarian (the word Jews use for branches of Judaism that treat men and women the same), when broader society has very distinct roles for men and women, they will be reflected in the actual practice of that religion. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/58 "2026-01-11T17:30:06Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > There are some Christian Protestant branches which allow women to lead churches, but none that I know of have ever had a women in the “top job” of their organization. Most Protestant churches don’t even have a “top job”. One of the ones that does, though, is the Church of England, where the “top job” is either the monarch, or the Archbishop of Canterbury. The current Archbishop is female, and of course the monarch was until recently, also. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/59 "2026-01-11T18:38:01Z")
[Christian Science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ,_Scientist) was founded and led by a woman, and mandates a male and female reader to lead services (they don’t have clergy) > [@SmartAleq](#): > > I think I’d have to argue that NO Abrahamic religion can possibly qualify, due to the basic foundation scriptures being profoundly misogynistic. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Christianity understands God to be male. Christian Science, a Christian denomination, believes God is both male and female, which reduces some of this. They pray to Father-Mother God. Of course, _Science And Health_ is co-equal with the Bible in their dogma. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552/60 "2026-01-11T18:51:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The current Archbishop is female Technically she hasn’t actually started in the post yet, she’s just been annouced as the next archbishop -where she will be the first woman in the role- but hasn’t yet formally taken up the position. I think the post is technically vacant right now, so the most senior bishop in the C of E is presumably currently the archbishop of York, who is male. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-religions-treat-women-and-men-as-equals/1026552.md?page=4)