After watching the film about the lives of Ultra Orthodox Jewish woman I was very intrigued. Coming from a more modern perspective I wondered what drew these woman to these lifestyles and why they continue to live these very difficult and challenging lives. I went into the library catalog and searched for Woman in Orthodox Judaism. And found this novel “Tradition in a Rootless World” that discusses why Orthodox Judaism is very appealing to many woman.

After skimming through this book and reading some sections I think this book is perfect for finding out more about the role of women in the Orthodox Judaism. The paragraph on the back of the book had a sentence that seems to be exactly what I am looking for and will lead me to the answers for some of the questions I have about woman in Orthodox Judaism. The sentence read “Recently, however, some women have turned away from the complex choices presented by modern life and have chosen instead a Jewish orthodox tradition that sets strict and rigid guidelines for women to follow.” The book is split up into 8 chapters. These include chapters discussing a day in the life of these orthodox women, the relationship to Modernity, Order, Belonging, Identity, and how women become wives and mothers in orthodox Judaism. I believe that if i choose to focus my essay on the role of Woman in Orthodox Judaism that this book will be an amazing resource.

In the same Isle as this book  I found many other book having to do with gender in Judaism. I found another interesting book entitled “Mitzvah Girls” which examined the perspective of young girls coming of age in Orthodox Judaism, specifically in Brooklyn, NY. I believe that I found a considerable number of books that will be useful when writing this paper.

Davidman, L. Tradition in a Rootless World. California: University of California Press, 1991. Print.

I was interested in the role that gender plays in Hinduism and its teachings and canons. So I searched I searched the Lafayette library catalogue for “Gender in Hinduism” and it lead me to this book. This book is extremely interesting and discusses aspects of the Hindu epic the Mahabharata from both the female and male perspective.

This whole book was exciting.  Gender is a heavily discussed topic in many different cultures and religions; this book provides an interesting insight into how gender is constructed in an ancient Hindu epic and how that affects gender in the Hindu religion. Its cover art beautifully depicts both male and female characters that I believe are depicting a scene from the Hindu epic. The book is split into 12 different chapters. The chapters dealt with topics ranging from the basics of the Mahabharata, conducting ones self, kings, queens, marriage, tran sexuality and other ambiguities. As I skimmed through the book I noticed that this book brings together the ideas and teachings of many different scholars who are using the Mahabharata to structure the discussion on gender. I believe that if I choose to focus my essay on the aspect of gender in Hinduism that this book would be an invaluable resource.

In the same isle as this book I found a few other interesting books that could be useful when writing a paper. I especially found a few books that focused on the issue of gender in both Hinduism and Jainism. I found books entitled “women as fire, women as sage”, and “gender and salvation”. Additionally I found a book that focused on the Hindu dharma, which is another topic and possible resource for my paper.

Brodbeck, S, Black, B. Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.