Bifurcated Conversations in Sociological Studies of Religion and Gender

Abstract

Feminist sociologists claim that while feminist insights have been incorporated in sociological paradigms and women sociologists have been well-integrated into academia, sociological frameworks have not been transformed, a process known as the missing feminist revolution. Yet, few have examined how the missing feminist revolution operates in specific subdisciplines and the mechanisms that sustain it. This article undertakes these tasks by analyzing religion and gender scholarship published in six sociology journals over the past 32 years. We find evidence of partial integration and continued marginalization. However, we also document disparate networks of interlocutors that operate in two distinct intellectual fields-religion and gender. We argue that this bifurcation partially explains the missing feminist revolution and that insularity of feminist conversations likely contributes to this process. Our findings shed light on obstacles to transforming mainstream disciplines.

Re-Understanding Religion and Support for Gender Equality in Arab Countries

“…Our agentic socialization framework aims to understand support for gender equality in the Arab MENA in a nuanced manner by refining and integrating classic sociological frames and gender theories ( Abu-Lughod 2002 ; Avishai and Irby 2017 ; Elder, Johnson, and Crosnoe 2003 ; Kandiyoti 1988 ; Korteweg 2008 ; Sewell 1992 ; Stark and Glock 1968 ). At its core, the framework emphasizes that MENA citizens are embedded in dominantly patriarchal religious structures, but that socialization processes within those structures differ between men and women.…”

“…The present study aims to understand relations between religiosity and support for gender equality in the Arab MENA in a more sophisticated manner by developing and testing new theoretical notions of “agentic socialization.” These notions build on multidisciplinary insights from classic sociology, in-depth qualitative studies, and feminist scholarship (e.g., Avishai and Irby 2017 ; Charrad 2011 ; Elder, Johnson, and Crosnoe 2003 ; Sewell 1992 ; Spierings 2015 ). The agentic socialization framework rejects claims that MENA inhabitants are solely and uniformly passively socialized to oppose gender equality.…”

Where Men Appear More Religious Than Women: Turning a Gender Lens on Religion in Israel

“…Gender theory, however, suggests that gender is more than just an essential or universal characteristic. Instead, it is a dynamic, intersectional, and context‐specific structure, status, and performance (Avishai and Irby ; Cornwall ; Risman ; Schnabel ) that is in the background (and sometimes foreground) of all social interaction (Ridgeway ; Ridgeway and Correll ). Breaking starkly from previous essentialist and universal explanations for gender differences in religiosity, we argue that religion is a key aspect of our intersectional selves as gendered people (Avishai, Jafar, and Rinaldo ; Edgell ; Schnabel ), that different religions are gendered in different ways (Hackett, Murphy, and McClendon ; Schnabel ), and, subsequently, that people in different religions with varying gendered expectations should exhibit divergent gender gaps.…”

Understanding Compliance in Patriarchal Religions: Mormon Women and the Latter Day Saints Church as a Case Study

“…In other words, a woman who lives up to the gendered cultural expectations of her religion is using her agency because she is achieving a status that she desires (observant, religious woman), even if these actions seem to restrict her. Avishai and others go on to argue that this paradox approach leads: (a) to hostility towards religion from other academic disciplines; and, (b) a bifurcation of views on the intersection of religion and gender; due mostly to a lack of understanding of the nuances of religious identity (Avishai 2016;Avishai and Irby 2017).…”