Spirituality, Gender, and Expressive Selfhood

Abstract

This article discusses contemporary spiritualities, focusing in particular on the recent growth of practices attending to "mind, body, and sprit" and centered on the goal of "holistic well-being." We argue that the growing popularity of such "holistic spirituality" since the 1980s can be greatly illuminated by reference to Charles Taylor's account of the expressive mode of modern selfhood. Taylor's account is limited, however, by its inability to explain why women are disproportionately active within the sphere of holistic spirituality. By paying closer attention to gender, we seek to refine Taylor's approach and to advance our understanding of contemporary spirituality. Drawing on findings from two qualitative studies of holistic spirituality and health carried out in the United Kingdom, this article offers an analysis of what the "subjective turn" may mean for women. We argue that holistic spiritualities align with traditional spheres and representations of femininity, while simultaneously supporting and encouraging a move away from selfless to expressive selfhood. By endorsing and sanctioning "living life for others" and "living life for oneself," holistic spiritualities offer a way of negotiating dilemmas of selfhood that face many womenand some men-in late modern contexts.

‘Holistic Mothers’ or ‘Bad Mothers’? Challenging Biomedical Models of the Body in Portugal

“…My depiction of holistic mothers in Portugal shows the clear influence of 'holistic spiritualities' (Sointu and Woodhead 2008) and, more specifically, Goddess spirituality. Holistic mothers tend not only to dismiss the Catholicism they grew up with as androcentric and exclusive but also to criticise the medical establishment for being androcentric and eager to control women's bodies.…”

Enemmän kuin liikuntaa

“…Monien tutkijoiden mukaan uskonnollisuuden muutokset liittyvät läheisesti individualismin kasvuun länsimaissa (esim. Heelas & Woodhead 2005;Taira 2006;Sointu & Woodhead 2008).…”

“…Materiaali kuvaa monin tavoin, kuinka joogaharjoitusta voi käyttää eri tavoin holistisen hyvinvoinnin (Sointu & Woodhead 2008) välineenä tai tekniikkana -henkisyydellä tai ilman, vailla pelkoa uskonnollisesta hurahtamisesta tai laajemmasta elämäntapa-muutoksen vaateesta. Erityisesti henkilöhaastattelujen kautta nousee kuitenkin esille, kuinka joogan harjoittaminen voi muuttaa elämää positiivisesti ratkaisevalla tavalla.…”

Women’s Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine: Reclaiming Sisterhood, Spirituality, and Wellbeing

“…However, this complicates a literature review, precisely because of the fuzziness of boundaries between religion/spirituality and the more 'secular' realm of wellness, self-help, therapy culture, and personal growth. Some sociologists of religion have attributed women's growing interest for MBS practices and the 'holistic milieu' to a quest for 'expressive selfhood' seeing the persistence of the gendered division of labour in modern society (Sointu and Woodhead 2008). Equally important for the discussion on women's agency is the fact that that many other social and cultural theorists hold a far more critical view of the wellbeing sphere and self-help culture's tendency to reproduce normative femininities and what it sees as its complicity with a postfeminist version of the neo-liberal self (Salmenniemi and Adamson 2015;Hochschild 1994;Kenny and Bell 2014;Blackman 2004).…”

“…Nevertheless, a literature review of empirical research on women's spirituality in the West shows how longer established counter-cultural and new religious movements and spiritualities such as Wicca, Goddess spirituality, Neo-paganism, and New Age might offer women empowerment lacking in more traditional, patriarchal, and institutionalized religious traditions (Crowley 2011;Eller 1995;Puttick 1997;Rountree 2004;Salomonsen 2002;Fedele 2012;Sointu and Woodhead 2008). In their literature review in Gender and Power in Contemporary Spirituality, Fedele and Knibbe (2013) show how such oppositional movements might promote gender equality; hold a more positive view towards the female body; and engage in validations of 'feminine' values related to practices of healing, care and female solidarity.…”