Gender inequality, Pastoral Ministry and Social Change"

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"Issues in Gender inequality in the Pastoral Ministry and Social Change"

Among the issues affecting gender inequality and influencing pastor ministry and social change is the concept of gender role development. Gender role development is the expectations of parents, peers, and society that underlie perceptions of masculinity and femininity (Webster, Vogel, O'Neil, & Danforth, 2011). According to Webster et al., emerging from this concept in the pervasive research in the literature is the construct of gender role conflict. This conflict is grounded in the belief that gender roles are based on biological factors that suggest that men and women are dissimilar. Research shows that pastoral counselors must deal with the impact that these sex defined roles have on women. They must also be aware of the changes in these roles due to a growing consciousness by individuals and families. Further research shows that the impact of this growing awareness of role changes has affected pastoral counselors both personally and professionally. As Justes (1985) points out. "Women seeking pastoral counseling today pose some particular new problems such as: (1) psychological perspectives involving feminist, liberation theologies, (2) theological considerations in which women held a secondary status, (3) psychological approaches and/or interventions, (4) Sex-defined roles, limitations and change, (5) struggles and change, and (6) violence against women. (pp. 284-285).

Research shows that rejection and discrimination against women are reasons they are prone to depression and other illnesses (Corey, 2005). For instance, based on sex-defined roles, according to Justes (1985), in some societies a woman's role may be ...