Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

has a complex relationship with concepts of gender roles and discrimination, as while the core beliefs of Scientology hold humans to consist of genderless

Thetan In Scientology, the concept of the thetan () is similar to the concept of self, or the spirit or soul as found in several belief systems. The term is derived from the Greek letter Θ, theta, which in Scientology beliefs represents "the source of l ...

s, the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and other Scientology organizations have frequently been noted as upholding discriminatory policies or views based on the original writings of founder

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

. Roy Wallis, in 1976 wrote in ''The Road to Total Freedom'' that the Scientologist population was 59% male and 41% female, a number referenced on ''The Auditor'', a publication of the Church of Scientology. In 1988, a participant observer study from the University of Copenhagen showed that the average participant in the Church of Scientology Copenhagen was a 35-year-old man. Though the numbers are not great in disparity, "they provide non-census evidence supporting the contention that more men than women become member of CoS," Tollefson and Lewis write.

Gender roles

In his book ''Scientology: A New Slant on Life'',

founder

wrote the following passages: Hubbard's '' Scientology: A History of Man'' additionally fails to use

gender-neutral language Gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language is language that avoids bias towards a particular sex or gender. In English, this includes use of nouns that are not gender-specific to refer to roles or professions, formation of phrases in a c ...

. These passages, along with other ones of a similar nature from Hubbard, have been criticized by Alan Scherstuhl of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' as expressions of hatred towards women. However,

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

professor J. Gordon Melton has written that Hubbard later disregarded and abrogated much of his earlier views about women, which Melton views as merely echoes of common prejudices at the time. Melton has also stated that the Church of Scientology welcomes both genders equally at all levels—from leadership positions to auditing and so on—since Scientologists view people as spiritual beings. The traditional Scientology wedding ceremony includes these remarks on men and women:

Pregnancy and abortion

's discussion of abortion in his 1950 book '' Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'' states that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. Scientologists came to believe that attempted abortions could cause traumatic experiences felt by the fetus, which would later be remembered as memories referred to in Scientology as "engrams". In the Scientology technique called Auditing, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. One of the questions asked in these security checks is, "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?". In contrast, it has been alleged that if a woman gets pregnant while in the Scientologist organization called

Sea Org The Sea Organization (also known as the Sea Org) is a Scientology organization, which the Church of Scientology describes as a " fraternal religious order, comprising the religion’s most dedicated members". All Scientology management organizatio ...

, she will either be sent to a lower-level organization of Scientology, or be pressured to have an abortion.

Silent birth Silent birth, sometimes known as quiet birth, is a birthing procedure advised by L. Ron Hubbard and advocated by Scientologists in which "everyone attending the birth should refrain from spoken words as much as possible" and where "... chatty doctor ...

, sometimes known as quiet birth, is a birthing procedure advised by

and advocated by

Scientologists Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

in which "everyone attending the birth should refrain from spoken words as much as possible" and where "chatty doctors and nurses, shouts to 'PUSH, PUSH' and loud or laughing remarks to 'encourage' are avoided". According to Scientology doctrine, this is because "any words spoken are recorded in the

reactive mind The reactive mind is a concept in the Scientology religion formulated by L. Ron Hubbard, referring to that portion of the human mind that is unconscious and operates on stimulus-response, to which Hubbard attributed most mental, emotional, and p ...

and can have an aberrative effect on the mother and the child." There have been no attempts to prove this medically or scientifically. Hubbard warned against sexual activity (including masturbation) during pregnancy, on premise that sexual activity during pregnancy could damage fetal development, as by producing engrams detrimental to future activity. This view is disputed by some doctors, as

Paulette Cooper Paulette Cooper (born July 26, 1942) is an American author and journalist whose writing against the Church of Scientology resulted in harassment from Scientologists. An early critic of the church, she published ''The Scandal of Scientology'' in ...

commented in her book ''

The Scandal of Scientology ''The Scandal of Scientology'' is a critical exposé book about the Church of Scientology, written by Paulette Cooper and published by Tower Publications, in 1971. In 2007, Cooper wrote about the events resulting from the publication of her stor ...

'': These same beliefs form the basis for Hubbard's silent birth doctrine. According to a Scientology manual on raising children, a couple should be silent before and after coition.

Gender roles

Pregnancy and abortion

See also

References

Further reading