The Pious Sex strives to enlighten the reader with respect to the relationship between women and religion. The notion that there is a special relationship between women and piety may call to mind the worst of the prejudices associated with women over the ages: the characterization of women as superstitious and inherently irrational creatures who must be kept firmly in hand by the patriarchal establishment. The suggestion that there is a special relationship between women and piety conjures up the most oppressive picture of womanly virtue. The contributors of this volume revisit the claim that women constitute the pious sex and investigate the implications of such a designation. This collection of original essays examines the relationship between women and religion in the history of political thought broadly conceived. This theme is a remarkably revealing lens through which to view the Western philosophical and poetical traditions that have culminated in secular and egalitarian modern society. The essays also give highly analytical accounts of the manifold and intricate relationships between religion, family, and public life in the history of political thought, and the various ways in which these relationships have manifested themselves in pagan, Jewish, Christian, and post-Christian settings.

In Passionate and Pious Monique Moultrie explores the impact of faith-based sexual ministries on black women's sexual agency to trace how these women navigate sexuality, religious authority, and their spiritual walk with God. Providing churchwomen a space to candidly discuss these issues, these popular ministries exist largely beyond the traditional church, with dialogues about sex taking place in chat rooms and through text messages, social media, email, and other media. Moultrie foregrounds televangelist Juanita Bynum's construction of the black Christian sexual identity these ministries promote while emphasizing how churchwomen reconcile these prescriptive identities with their individual experiences. What does it mean for senior women to exercise sexual agency when their church standing could be questioned? What does celibacy mean for women who experience same-sex desire while believing that such desire goes against God's will? Advancing a womanist sexual ethics, Moultrie reframes biblical interpretations and conceptions of what constitutes a healthy relationship to provide a basis for sexual decision making that does not privilege monogamy or deny female pleasure, thereby calling on black churchwomen to experience responsible and life-enhancing sex.

Although women were called the ‘pious sex’ much earlier, it was during the nineteenth century, when the differences between men and women were being made more explicit, that an intense bond between women and religion was developed. Religiosity was thought to be a ‘natural’ part of femininity and turned religious masculinity into an oddity. This clear-cut gender ideology, however, remains an ideology (prescribed and contested) that needs to be put in the perspective of its context of origin, the bourgeois milieu. How were these gender identities constructed and by whom? With this volume Van Osselaer seeks to clarify how the gender differentiation was created among Belgian Catholics. She brings to light the extent to which religiosity was inscribed in these constructions and how religious teachings contributed to it. It is clear that the limitations of the ‘feminization’ thesis, a master narrative that has strongly contributed to the introduction of women in religious history, have gradually become more visible. Documenting pastoral care, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Catholic Action, The Pious Sex offers critical commentaries on the master narratives, suggesting that even men could belong to a ‘pious sex’.

In the midst of private trauma and loss' Vandenburgh delights in revealing large truths about American culture and her life within it. Quirky' witty' and uncannily wise' A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century is a brilliant blend of memoir and cultural revelation.

Charts a faithful theological middle course through complex sexual issues How different are men and women? When does it matter to us -- or to God? Are male and female the only two options? In Sex Difference in Christian Theology Megan DeFranza explores such questions in light of the Bible, theology, and science. Many Christians, entrenched in culture wars over sexual ethics, are either ignorant of the existence of intersex persons or avoid the inherent challenge they bring to the assumption that everybody is born after the pattern of either Adam or Eve. DeFranza argues, from a conservative theological standpoint, that all people are made in the image of God -- male, female, and intersex -- and that we must listen to and learn from the voices of the intersexed among us.

This book focuses on how the the scientific discovery of "plant sex" unfolded due to cultural biases, beliefs, and perceptions about plant reproduction. "Flora Unveiled" is a deep history of perceptions about plant gender and sexuality, from the Paleolithic to the nineteenth century. The evidence suggests that a plants-as-female gender bias both prevented the discovery of two sexes in plants until the late 17th century, and delayed its acceptance for another 150 years.

Sex matters, and at MuslimMatters.org, want to talk about it. There are many evidences that clearly demonstrate Islam's realistic and pragmatic view of human sexuality. Sexuality, like all human emotions, is a natural instinct that should be satisfied in a permissible manner. The emotion itself is not evil or filthy; abusing it and trying to satisfy it outside of the permissible bounds of marriage is evil and filthy." -Dr. Yasir QadhiJoin Dr. Yasir Qadhi, Imam Omar Suleiman, Shaykh Yahya Ibrahim, Shaykh Yaser Birjas and other writers, scholars, and Muslim leaders in this critical MuslimMatters collection. In it, we discuss same-sex attraction, sex addiction, adultery, secret second marriage, and issues facing the Muslim community. Excerpts from the book: "Many women are likely to be blamed for not keeping their husbands happy, even at times by their own families. This approach, of course, is completely devoid of any Islamic precedent or Prophetic tradition. The Prophet ﷺ never chastised the spouse of an adulterer for not doing enough to stop them from cheating." - Shaykh Omar Suleiman"Sex addiction festers in darkness. People can go about their "normal" everyday lives on the surface but in the claws of compulsion leaves them surrendering to the lure of desire. Coupled by the deep rooted belief that they are doomed destined for hell and they can't be cured/ saved, this is of course only a trap from Shaytan..." - Abeda Ahmed "The entire concept of "proof of virginity" is alien to the Deen and completely absent in the Shari'ah. The only Islamically acceptable way of knowing whether someone has committed Zina (fornication) is by confession, or having been caught fornicating by the required four witnesses, making the whole idea of physiological "proof" redundant." - Zainab bint Younis "Asking for a 'virginity test' is something new in the Muslim society. It's hard to find anything regarding this issue in such a straight forward manner in classical works of fiqh, for such a request implies suspicion in the chastity of the woman and hence falls under 'Qadhf' - meaning false accusation. This request is not only a violation to her body, but also to her innocence and to her honor." - Sh. Yaser Birjas "Contracting secret/temporary marriages reduces marriage to sexual relations in an ugly sort of rental arrangement, that is profoundly demeaning, especially to women." - Dr. Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi

PIOUS, a novel by Kenn Bivins, is about a duplicitous man who is confronted with all that he has tried to hide of his past when a registered sex-offender moves into his neighborhood.

More than any other major religion, ideology or philosophy, Christianity associates sex, and especially sexual desire, with sin and evil. People may be able to avoid earthly punishment for their sexual indiscretions, but they can not escape God's judgment; an afterlife of eternal pain and suffering in hell. Religious sanctions of this sort are supposed to be in opposition to man's sinful nature; restraining his dangerous sexuality. However, punishing others for sex is actually part of man's nature. In nature, sex is highly competitive. Dominant males fight and threaten as they try to control sexual access to fertile females. Human males behave similarly. Rather than being in opposition to human nature, religion actually reinforces man's "animal instinct" to control the sexual behavior of others. This explains why religion-inspired sexual restrictions and punishments are so popular among men. Of course, religion claims that it's really all about morality. Without strict religious control over sexual behavior human passions would lead to the destruction of society. God has given us His law in order to protect us from ourselves. Religion, it is often said, is what is good for society. But if this is so, why is it that those societies where religious belief is strongest and which have the harshest penalties for breaking the sexual code are also the societies that tend to be the least orderly and the most corrupt, brutal and violent? Religion is taken very seriously in many of the Islamic societies of the Middle East, and the strictest sexual code is adhered to. Yet, these societies are characterized not by prosperity and social order, but by poverty, violence and oppression. Meanwhile, the most sexually liberal societies, especially those of Western Europe, are the freest and the most democratic, prosperous and orderly. If strict sexual morality is not really good for society, why do religious conservatives everywhere continue to clamor for it? And why do people so willingly accept religion that tells them their sexuality is sinful and shameful? The truth is that most of the time people act on their own selfish feelings and desires, not on what is good for society as a whole. The desire to limit and control the sexual behavior of others is felt by women as well as men. Powerful feelings, such as sexual jealousy, inspire aggressive behavior. Strict anti-sex religious morality allows people to act aggressively on these feelings in a sociably acceptable way. Thus, it's not really about doing what is good for society, it's all about individual desires. This is best explained from an evolutionary perspective, which is exactly what this book does.