Women and Religious Traditions analyzes women and religion in the contextof the major world religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese religions,Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Aboriginal religions, and new religions that focuson the concept of the Goddess. Each chapter is organized around the followingcommon themes: history and the staus of women in the respective religions; textsand interpretations; symbols and gender; sexuality; social change; women'sofficial and unofficial roles; fundamentalism; and unique features of eachreligion as it pertains to women. Examples have been drawn from both Canadianand United States contexts. The volume also includes two case studies whichhighlight the historical and contemporary experiences of religious women inNorth America. Students will be introduced to the contemporary issues thatsurround the study of women and religion and will also be introduced to feministtheory by the editors in their introductory chapter.The essays are organized around five main themes.History and Status of Women: How each religious tradition has viewed the role ofwomen.Text, Rituals, and Interpretations: How the central texts of each religion treatwomen and how the authorities use these texts to sanction religious rituals.Symbols and Gender: How the main symbols of each religion affect the role ofwomen.Sexuality: How each religion contributes to the configuration of women'ssexuality.Social Change: How each religion might contribute to the changing roles ofwomen.Each essay follows the same basic structure, allowing students to make usefulcomparisons across these widely divergent religious traditions.