Sex was also important in European witchcraft, where there were sexual motifs present, such as the sexual relations between witches and devils. Religions were also able to control what types of sex were regarded as "deviant" or evil, such as any type of sodomy, and also masturbation. Kripal also touches upon the importance of religion and gender roles. Daniel Boyarin writes that religion is one of the primary sources for the construction of gender roles. Though I do agree with both Kripal and Boyarin, I believe gender roles also have a biological aspect to them. One can say gender roles were decided far before the beginning of organized religions, where males were the hunters and the females were the gatherers. However, I believe the roles of women and nurturing their children is a product of nature; the fetus receives nutrients while inside the mother's womb, and an infant receives milk from the mother as he/she develops into a child (lactation is a biological trait that only females have). .
In "Sex and Bodies of Religion", Kripal talks about another issue, patriarchy. He first mentions the Hindu deity Ardhanareshvara "the Lord who is half woman". Why is Ardhanareshvara not regarded as "the Goddess who is half man"? This is the first time I actually thought about the fact that "female" and "women" have "male" and "men" in them. I recently came across an article on a feminist blog where the author of the article used "womyn" instead of "woman". I thought that the author had made a silly spelling error; however, now I realize that the y in womyn was probably done on purpose, probably as a metaphor representation liberation from a patriarchal society. Kripal explains cases of religious discrimination towards females throughout history which include genital mutilation, foot binding, inability to divorce, getting blamed for getting raped, dowry deaths, etc. .
Caroline Bynum further reveals religious discrimination towards females in "The Female Body and Religious Practice in the Later Middle Ages".
