Why Do Religions Consider Women Impure?

This week, The Swaddle team explores why women aren't allowed inside most places of worship.

Edit & Motion Graphics: Bavana Gone
Art Director: Neha Shekhawat
Scripted by: Adreeta Chakraborty
Presented by: Anahita Sachdev
Creative Director: Shrishti Malhotra
Executive Producer: Karla Bookman

[swathysreer]

I really want to contribute in this battle of achieving gender equality. My parents are looking for a groom for me and there I said to the groom that I need to pursue my higher education and work. No one is approving of this yet. A common answer I get is that " a woman's career is not yet important than a man's". This is a terrible mindset amongst the men of this modern society.

[sanskritinautiyal]

Menstural cycle is damn normal ...why do we consider this normal bodily process as *impure* . !!!😑

[saltyuser_]

*Me being atheist breaking all the stereotypes 😌*

[sohinidatta]

Thankfully my family is pretty liberal. I am never told not to enter the kitchen while I am menstruating. I do everything from dancing to swimming while I am on my periods. I feel women should never be stopped from doing something just because they are menstruating. After all menstrual blood is the only blood which does not come out as a result of any violence yet it disgusts people the most. Sad.

[gursimarsingh]

I'm a Sikh and I'm grateful to be one as Sikh Gurus always told that both genders are equal. And to one's who say women are inferior Gurus replied that those are women who give birth to great kings. If women were inferior then why would God choose women to give birth?
And also in Sikhi if you have periods then you are not considered impure or etc. It's just a natural process. That's just how humans are. It's a revolutionary step considering that Sikhi born in 15th century when women was considered inferior to men.

[bengomabengomi]

My father believes in RamaKrishna, thus I didn’t have these discrimination while growing up, nor my mother. But after marriage it’s a complete 360 degree turn. I am not allowed in the Kitchen, I can’t touch anything and I have to sleep on the floor.
Obviously I protested and I didn’t agree to sleep on the floor, but my mother-in-law doesn’t allow me in the kitchen, let alone puja room.
This discrimination is prevalent and it’s frustrating as hell.

[abhinavsharma]

If periods make a woman impure
Then we men are also impure because we r born because of periods.

[medico]

That line women have no right to know Vedas literally killed me ☹️☹️

[mohammedsufiya]

Thank you swaddle for this video... Have been waiting for this since long... Women are forced to be religious cos it is a stereotype that if the woman is religious then she is pure🤦‍♀️ . Many girls face problems because of this notion... Even during match making the grooms ask for religious girl cos they are homely and obedient enough to fulfill all their desires...

[shrishtimalhotra]

The way in which people justify this exclusion is truly mind-boggling.

[selfproclaimedsinger]

Religion evolved through societies. The base of religion was to uphold belief and to perhaps ensure the continuation of civilization through a social structure. But over time, I believe religion has been used as a means to control individuals by dissuading dissent and creating inequality between various sections of society. Women have for too long been oppressed in most societies and religion acted as a means of justification at times leading to religion evolving as less about a belief and more about blind faith and controlling individuals. It is time to filter religion to create more inclusion and equality while upholding faith of the people.

[sakibshahriarrahman]

Why leave The Quran whlile describing how different religious scriptures view women? Why does it happen, almost always?

[maryackermann]

Even as a child I never understood why in my religion, even though my holy book, the quran, claims that women are equal to men and are the beautiful sensitive and petite source of life are considered too impure to pray or touch the book on their periods. my mom told me that allah says women are made more sensitive and i hate that stereotype. its as if that in my religion, women do not and cannot sin. men women and every other gender can sin it is only human to make mistakes. i hate it. women are not sensitive and weak. we give birth we face discrimination and violence and we are strong humans.

[yellowsky]

Love the part where they excluded how islam religion treats women! 😁

[simranrathore]

One of my Brahmin frnd can't walk in front of her brothers when she's on the periods.. Bcoz her family believes that it'll affect her brother's brain "dimg kharab ho jayega "... May sound ridiculous bt it is 100% true.. In most of the families women can't cook for their family when they r on their periods Bt don't u dare to think it for their rest or anything.. They do laundry or cleaning work much more then other days... It's just they can't inter in kitchen for cooking
Edit :- everyone who is saying that they r Brahmin and never heard of it.. Then guys ur parents must have high moral values.. Bt u can ask them if they ever faced this thing or not.. I'm sure they will answer in affirmation.. It's not a thing that just one or two family follows and Nobody aware of it..

[galladegamer]

Lmao as usual swaddle skips the criticism of misogyny and patriarchy in Islam. All religions are misogynistic and should be pointed out but swaddle chose to skip that part

[monieji]

I am sikh and really blessed to be sikh because in sikhism this impurity concept is rejected and women can go to gurudwaras & do a paath at any time of the month. Women can be granthis, jathedars as women are equal to men spiritually in sikhism.

[niyatishetty]

In assam there's a temple of Durga called kamakhya temple.. vagina of the goddess is worshipped there n the concept of menstruation is actually celebrated there..so no hinduism in which we worship goddess in the warrior form actually is quite n most feminine in its approach towards women. There's some wrong rumours around menstruation.. women r kept away from working in kitchen to rest which is required during those times n from temple is bcoz of some other spiritual reasons similar to the concept of yoga n not bcoz it's impure..so atleast do proper research before propaganda

[gauriponguvila]

When I was in 5th standard there were Geetha classes conducted in our neighborhood and I went there
I used to read a lot of stories since childhood so I knew about all these religious stuffs not only about mine but about most of the religions so it wasn't much new to me
But one day that sir told the story when Pandavas were in the forest they had a pot which gave infinite food till draupadi ate her meals One day when Durvasa visited them Draupadi had already finished her meals so they were out of food.Later Krishna came and helped them to solve the issue.
My point here is after finishing the story the sir told us that the moral of the story is that in a house women should not eat at first and should wait till the end even if she is hungry inorder to not to humiliate her husband
Even though I was only 10 years old I found it unacceptable so I stopped going there for classes
This class was conducted in the name of providing moral values to children and there were children from the age of 3 to 15 attending these classes and hearing all these nonsense which was backed up by the name of culture and religion
I wish people could point out the wrongs in religious stories and be courageous enough to say it is wrong instead of fearing the retribution from God
If God takes revenge on you, for correcting the mistakes or pointing out the wrong, just because it offends him/her then we can only say that the god is petty and overrated

[nv]

The disabled are also barred from certain rituals in Hinduism. As a disabled myself, I find it rather painful and I was almost close to rejecting the religion altogether. That's when I realized that these rules aren't made by Gods but society to ensure the so-called well being of majority.