Society is still influenced by gender and gender issues. Even in America, where the legal system strives for an equality of treatment of men and women, inequalities exist, and these can be traced, in part, to the mythic origins of Western attitudes toward the roles of men and women as outlined in Genesis. Male and female stereotypes continue to influence personal relationships, self-identity, and social institutions. And, while Western society struggles toward an equality of treatment and opportunity, it cannot be denied that there are fundamental differences between men and women when viewed as a whole. And that is the crux of the issue. The differences between men and women are not so extreme as to be exclusionary, but overlapping so that within those broad outlines, there is a broad spectrum for individual differences. The danger in recognizing the differences between the genders is in assuming those differences are so great that clear dividing lines can be drawn between the social, psychological, and emotional parameters of personality. The danger in striving for equality of treatment is in erasing the uniqueness that makes each of us a gendered individual.

Differentiation between the genders begins early. Parents dress boys in blue and girls in pink. Even the attempt at gender neutral colors has failed as, increasingly, green is associated with boys and yellow with girls. Boys are still generally encouraged to be "men," "keep a stiff upper lip," never cry while girls are often likely to be coddled and encouraged to express the full range of human emotions. At the same time, young women are now encouraged to seek jobs and opportunities once restricted only to men, but as they enter the competitive work force, their personal ambitions and striving for excellence are often characterized as "butch" or other derogatory terms. Young men are now encouraged to "get in touch with their feminine sides." to open up and share their feelings--frequently after a childhood of stunted and oppressed emotions. These contradictory and ambivalent attitudes toward gender create chaos and confusion.

With regard to ritual and sacredness, American culture is increasingly pragmatic and profane. Religous services are casual in dress and demeanor, held in large warehouse-like buildings where the emphasis is often on "saving souls," a parody of American business and an indication of how much the modern Protestant church has been influenced by a capitalistic way of life. Graduation ceremonies, once marked by "pomp and circumstance," have the character of football games, complete with air horns. Even the tradition of opening a baseball game with the national anthem has not been free of musical parody. Only the military still retains an adherence to ritual.

It is difficult to evaluate the consequences of this loss of ritual and sacredness in American culture. At worst, it manifests itself in prejudice toward cultures that practice ritualistic behavior, whether Muslim, Quaker, or Catholic.