Women and Religious Traditions analyzes the roles of women in the world's religions from historical, textual, political, psychological, and contemporary perspectives. It begins with an introduction to feminist theory and issues in the study of religion, followed by individual chapters devoted to each of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Chinese Religions, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Native Traditions, and New Age Religions. Organized by themes such as history,texts, symbols, sexuality, and social change, the new second edition examines how religious mythology and patriarchy have shaped the social and private lives of women throughout history.