The Virgin and the Whore – An Interreligious Challenge for Our Times

Parker, Eve Rebecca

Abstract

The boundaries of religious belonging are often based upon essentialist patriarchal conceptions of decency and morality that have been shaped into doctrine; those who are deemed indecent are marginalized to locations of struggle and often met with violence – thus presenting an interreligious challenge for our times. This paper will explore the gendered politics of religious belonging through an intersectional lens, focusing on the virgin/whore dichotomy in Christianity. It aims to undress exclusive notions of religious belonging and expose the hegemonic systems that have created ideological boundaries intended to control the bodies of women. It will then look to the narrative of Tamar and Judah in the book of Genesis, where prostitution, Levirate marriage, widowhood, childbirth, ethnicity, honour killing, and sexual desires shape the text and force the reader to confront questions of morality, justice, and the politics of religious belonging.

Citation

Parker, E. R. (2019). The Virgin and the Whore – An Interreligious Challenge for Our Times. The Ecumenical Review, 71(5), 693-705. https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12473

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Dec 15, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 10, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 15, 2021
• Journal: Ecumenical Review
• Print ISSN: 0013-0796
• Electronic ISSN: 1758-6623
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 693-705
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12473
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1310644