Gender and Religion: Getting in Touch with the Feminine
While doing some research on autism spectrum disorders, I happened to notice in several sources that although such conditions, which include autism, asperger's and other developmental disorders, appear more predominantly among men, women who had the disorder seemed to have some variant of the x chromosome, one of the pair was damaged or was missing entirely, as in Turner's syndrome. These findings allowed researchers to conclude damage to the x chromosome (for both men and women) was one of the hallmarks for autism spectrum disorders. Such damage seemed to adversely impact empathy, social skills and the ability to read and use nonverbal communication. Anyway, this prompted me to ponder the role and importance of religion and/or ritual as a gender-influenced issue. Thoughts, anyone?