Jainism - Is Jainism a sexist religion?

Jainism - Is Jainism a sexist religion?

Opinions of different persons

1. No. Jainism as a religion is hardly sexist, i.e. strict injunctions against females which allow their exploitation are hardly mentioned specifically in Jain teachings. You may find some very minor ones like girls being restricted from washing their hair on an amavasya (New moon day).

However, that being said, other social influences have definitely turned the Jaincommunity as oppressive towards girls. As the OP's provided link shows, sex ratio in Jains is towards the lower side, despite their literacy being extremely high. Tragically the reason for this is that in the preceding couple of generations, female foeticide was quite rampant.

Furthermore, the same link also points out, quite ironically, that while female Jain literacy is very high, their participation is workforce is extremely low. Here, the mentality of a business community (which Jains are dominantly) comes in. Rich husbands often do not like their wives to be working to earn just a fraction of their income, for fear of society. This is one of the reason holding the community back. From my personal experience, I have seen that Jain males in business tend to have homemaker spouses while for professional ones, mostly both the husband and wife work. This trend is also a sad indicator that Jain girls are often asked to attain higher education just to increase their value in the marriage market.

2. The link you provided defeats the purpose of your argument almost completely.

If you see it carefully, you notice that Jains have a better sex ratio than Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. If we go by your thinking, then surely Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are also sexist which they surely aren't.

Also Jains have better sex ratio than the national average.

Although a weaker child sex ratio could also be due to other reasons such as high literacy rate. Since most of the Jains live in cities and are educated, the number of children are also less. 

What's worth noting is the fact that Jains don't engage in acts such as female foeticide. Most of the Jains follow the basic tenet of Ahimsa. Also, women aren't degraded or given a lower treatment in Jainism. That's why most of the Jain girls are educated and are also encouraged by their parents to pursue their dreams. Then how can you call it sexist?

Drawing inferences just from a little bit of data isn't rational or logical thinking, if you really feel that Jainism is a sexist religion, then give some credible proofs.

No religious scripture in Jainism or the Jain saints tell that women should be treated badly or women should be degraded etc.

I believe that you also must know that most of the Jains register themselves under Hindu category when a child is born. Which kind of decreases the quality of the Data.

Decision making through little bit of data is basically irrationality.

I believe that you should also look at other factors before asking such questions.

Peace :)

3. Yes, Jainism is a sexist religion like every single religion out there. I don't say that because of any demographic stats though. According to Jainism, women cannot achieveMoksha. They have to be reborn as a man to achieve that. Additionally there are a bunch of poojas and rituals that only men can do. And of course there is the fear of mensturating women who aren't allowed in temples.

So yeah, there is a lot else to like about Jainism but it is certainly sexist. Although given that gender role segregation has been acceptable for all times except last few decades, it is understandable. Hope that present day Jains grow out of this sort of sexism.

4. No religion is sexist.
Jainsim is definately not.
The sex ratio is higher than the national average and so is the literacy rate.
Low work participation doesnt imply that jain women are not allowed to work. It is highly possible that they choose not to work.
There are a lot of factors that determine these ratios including financial and social and one should not create unnecessary ideas about the religion as a whole.