How have changing views of gender roles, family and motherhood challenged traditional Christian teaching, and how have Christians responded to secular feminism?
Component 03 Gender and society: Christian teaching on the roles of men and women in the family and society, motherhood and family life, and the impact of secular views of gender and of feminism on Christian practice.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to gender and society. Covers Christian teaching on the roles of men and women in the family and society, motherhood and family life, and the impact of changing secular views of gender and of feminism on Christian practice, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR Component 03 examines gender and society: how Christianity understands the roles of men and women in the family and wider society, the value placed on motherhood and family life, and how changing secular views of gender and the rise of feminism have affected Christian practice. This is a contested area to be treated neutrally: the task is to set out the range of Christian positions and the secular challenge fairly and evaluate them. The exam rewards explaining the teaching and the challenge precisely and then evaluating whether traditional teaching is outdated or defensible.
The answer
Christian teaching on the roles of men and women
Motherhood and family life
The egalitarian reading
The impact of feminism on Christian practice
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. "Christian teaching on gender roles should change to reflect modern views of equality." Discuss. [40 marks]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 essay weighing complementarian teaching (equal worth, distinct roles, motherhood) against the egalitarian reading and secular feminism, judging whether the tradition is outdated or defensible. AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15. Keep the treatment neutral.
Q2. Assess the impact of secular feminism on Christianity. [40 marks]
- Cue. Feminism has driven the ordination of women, inclusive language and shared parenting, but also division. Weigh whether it has corrected injustice or conflicted with scripture and tradition, and judge.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H573/03 2018 (style)20 marksAssess the view that Christian teaching on gender roles is outdated. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A 40-mark Component 03 essay on the six-level scheme (AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15). Explaining the teaching earns AO1; the higher levels reward judging the "outdated" claim.
Explain (AO1). Traditional Christian teaching has often given men and women complementary but distinct roles (male headship in family and church, motherhood as a special vocation), drawing on Genesis, Paul and church tradition. Secular feminism and changing roles challenge this, and many Christians now read the tradition as affirming equality.
Evaluate (AO2). For "outdated": fixed gender roles conflict with equality, the dignity of women and modern family life. Against: complementarians argue equal worth can coexist with different roles, and that the tradition values motherhood and family rather than degrading women.
Judge. A top answer decides whether traditional teaching is outdated or defensible in a modern form, and defends the verdict, remaining neutral.
OCR H573/03 2021 (style)20 marksCritically assess the impact of secular feminism on Christian practice. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A levels-of-response essay testing AO1 understanding of feminism's impact and AO2 evaluation of it.
Explain. Secular feminism has pressed for equality in family, work and church, influencing many denominations to ordain women, rethink language about gender, and affirm shared parenting. Other Christians resist, holding to complementary roles and male headship as scriptural.
Evaluate. For: feminism has corrected real injustice and recovered the dignity and gifts of women, arguably closer to Jesus's own practice. Against: critics argue some feminist demands conflict with scripture and tradition, and that the changes have divided churches.
Judge. A high-level answer weighs whether feminism has improved or distorted Christian practice, and reaches a justified conclusion.
Related dot points
- Component 03 Gender and theology: feminist theology and the critique of patriarchy, the reformist theology of Rosemary Radford Ruether and the post-Christian feminism of Mary Daly, and the implications for language about God.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to gender and theology. Covers feminist theology and the critique of patriarchy, Rosemary Radford Ruether's reformist theology and critique of male images of God, Mary Daly's post-Christian feminism, and the implications for language about God, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
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- Component 02 Applied ethics (sexual ethics): premarital and extramarital sex and homosexuality, the application of natural law, situation ethics, Kantian ethics and utilitarianism, and the influence of developments in religious belief.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 02 guide to sexual ethics. Covers premarital and extramarital sex and homosexuality, how natural law, situation ethics, Kantian ethics and utilitarianism apply, and the influence of developments in religious belief, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- Component 03 Christian moral principles: the Bible as a source of moral teaching, the roles of reason, conscience and Church, the principle of love (agape), and the distinction between heteronomous and autonomous Christian ethics.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Religious Studies (H573) specification — OCR (2016)
- BBC Religion: Christianity and the status of women — BBC (2009)