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7 - Religion and Gender Inequality

From Attitudes to Practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2014

By
John P. Bartkowski  and
Sarah Shah
Edited by
Lisa A. Keister  and
Darren E. Sherkat
John P. Bartkowski
Affiliation:
University of Texas
Sarah Shah
Affiliation:
University of Texas
Lisa A. Keister
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Darren E. Sherkat
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
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Summary

The family has been famously dubbed a “gender factory” for its foundational role in reproducing social inequalities between men and women (Berk 1985). Given that the principal mission of religious organizations entails the support of families, to what degree is religion an institutional ally in the reproduction of gender differences in the domestic realm? Even more broadly, does religion reinforce gendered systems of privilege in other societal contexts (e.g., the labor force)? In this chapter, we outline and then apply a conceptual framework for examining the relationship between religion and gender inequality.

Religious involvement often entails the differential bestowal of opportunities and privileges by virtue of gender, and we explain this circumstance by introducing a multidimensional explanation of religiously inspired gender inequality. In religious contexts, gender inequality manifests itself in the form of (1) gender ideologies, (2) gendered institutions, (3) gendered interactions, and (4) gender identities. After introducing this theoretical framework, we execute three abbreviated studies of religion and gender inequality. In taking this empirical turn, our goal is to illustrate the utility of our conceptual framework while demonstrating how religion is linked to gender stratification. In the first illustrative study, we find that masculine God imagery is positively associated with attitudinal opposition toward maternal labor force participation, whereas feminine God imagery is not. In the second abbreviated study, we reveal that religious adherence can reinforce gender inequality in households by legitimating separate spheres and maternalist orientations. And in the third study, we use an ethnographic approach to examine how a patriarchal church leadership structure gives rise to gender negotiation within a conservative Protestant congregation. Taken together, these three lines of inquiry reveal the multifaceted and complicated relationship between religion and gender inequality. To be clear, our empirical investigations are not designed to provide a comprehensive or in-depth portrait of the nexus between religion and gender stratification. Quite the contrary, these inquiries aim to render exploratory snapshots that, we hope, will underscore the complexity of our subject even as they stimulate further research.

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Chapter
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Religion and Inequality in America
Research and Theory on Religion's Role in Stratification
 , pp. 173 - 194
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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