User:Aleslie plu/sandbox

 Article Evaluation 

Article chosen from Wiki for evaluation: Religious studies

Observations and Learnings

 Evaluating Content : Everything in the article is relevant to the article topic. Information that could be added is a clarification of the various types or major types of religious studies (major religions which are studied).

 Evaluating Tone:  The article is neutral.

Evaluating sources: The links work and the sources support the claims of the article. The sources appear unbiased.

Checking the talk page: Conversations about expansion of the topics in the article, citing sources which support a statement and updating the article are going on behind the scenes. The article is rated B-class. The article is of interest/ a part of to Wiki projects.

Evaluate your article : Women in Religion
Evaluating Content: Everything in the article is relevant to the topic however there are only few religions which are mentioned. There is a vast number of religions and since the topic is so wide there are more religions that need to be mentioned.

Evaluating Tone: The article is neutral

Evaluating sources: The sources appear unbiased

Citations: Each claim appears to have a citation and the citations seem reliable.

Checking the talk page: Less conversation is seen about improvement of the article when compared to the article above. There are mentions that the content in a few of he mentioned religion needs to be improved. The article is rated stub-class of high importance.

What can you add: More religions and the role women play in these religions and improve on some of the content on some of the topics such as Christianity.

Think about sources

 * Sharma, A. (1994). Religion and women. Albany: State University of New York Press.   - add the role of women in Jainism which is listed as one of the largest religions by wiki
 * Vance, L. L. (2015). Women in new religions . - Add information on new religions as a category and the role of women in one or more of these categories
 * Anderson, L. M., & Young, P. D. (2004). Women and religious traditions. Don Mills, Ont: Oxford University Press .- expand on the content of women and Christianity.
 * Keller, R. S., Ruether, R. R., & Cantlon, M. (2006). Encyclopedia of women and religion in North America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press . - expand on Jainism
 * Fohr, S. (2015). Jainism: A guide for the perplexed . - expand on the role women play in Jainism since there is no previous content on the topic in this section.
 * Sharma, A. (2002). Women in Indian religions. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. - expand on the role women play in Jainism since there is no previous content on the topic in this section to ensure that the information written is mentioned in various texts.

Editing an existing article/ Outline for Jainism
"Jainism is an ancient Indian religion founded around the sixth century BCE. Jainism is inclusive of women, as one of the cornerstones of the religion is the “fourfold sangha” which describes the Jainism community, which is made up of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. " copied from Women and religion

Jainism is an ancient Indian religion founded around the sixth century BCE.[7] Janism is nontheistic religion Jainism is currently practiced in multiple countries, due to Jain settlers who immigrated there (mainly United Kingdom, United States, Canada and in some African countries). Jainism is inclusive of women, as one of the cornerstones of the religion is the “fourfold sangha” which describes the Jainism community, which is made up of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.[7] "

The religious status of women is a very important aspect of the in the history of the religion and one of the most critical issues between the oldest religious divisions of the religion, Svetambar and Digambar. Their major distinction between these two divisions is the position of women in their societies. Digambar Jains believe that women are not capable of being enlightened, while Svetambar Jains have opposite beliefs, that women are able to become renounces, are capable of enlightenment and can become religious role models.[9] Women are believed to be deceitful, and that this is the main foundation of their character, to the extent that rebirth as a woman in a consequence of being deceitful in a former life. This belief is common, especially among Svetambar Jains.

“As the result of manifesting deception a man in this world becomes a woman. As a woman, if her heart is pure, she becomes a man in this world.”

Women are important in Jainism, playing a major role in the structure (nuns and laywomen), -making up two of the fourfold members- and in the continuation and spread of the religion. The Jain social structure is a patriarchal society with men holding primary leadership roles in the society. Except for modern times, Jain women have been unable to speak for themselves, to tell their stories and almost all the texts of information about Jain women roles and experiences have been written by monks who are males. The pan-Indian belief that women are “weak-minded”, “deceptive”, “fickle”, “treacherous” and “impure” are beliefs common in Jainism which is mentioned various times in their sacred and later texts.

Jain women have significant roles especially in the performance of rituals[8]. Jain women hold the title of nuns in this society.[1] In the fourfold community, the mendicants (monks and nuns) are centered around asceticism. [9] There are stricter rules/restrictions on nuns in their daily routine and rituals compared to monks. Also nuns are more dependent and subordinated to monks. More years are needed by nuns to gain higher positions in comparison to monks. Although nuns may have seniority in tenure they may be subservient to monks initiated with less years in their religious life.

The laity, which consists of laymen and laywomen, are very important to Jainism for its survival and economic foundation.[1] The laity support the mendicants orders following rules which create the groundwork of the religion. [9] For example, the doctrine of Jainism places great emphasis on dietary practices. Laywomen play a very important role in ensuring that the doctrines surrounding dietary practices are followed, as their first and major responsibility is the preparation of meals.[1]

Remove statement about oppression from subheading in Buddhism.