Representation of Male and Female Corporality in Different Religions

Abstract

The article, based on the material of world religions and new religious movements, examines the forms of representation of male and female corporeality. Gender, in turn, fixes the body and sex in a social framework and determines the initial parity of male and female, the hierarchical position of which is established not by the body itself in which a person was born, but by the actions of this body, or rather its owner. From the illustration of the Fall of Adam and Eve, which predetermined corporeality by reducing the body to desiring/sinful flesh, we observe a strict normalization of bodily practices in religious contexts. However, contemporarily offers us various cases that seem to violate established norms. In the article we turn to cases of the Hare Krishnas and Raelites, who in the realities of the 21st century practice parity of bodily principles. The masculine and feminine of given roles and statuses turn into one of many factors that can fix the Self. Or, conversely, they still remain a predetermined role in some contexts.

Keywords

• body
• masculine
• feminine
• religion
• new religious movements
• sex
• gender
• flesh
• sin