“We Are the Women Our Parents Warned Us Against:” Identity Reconstruction and the Re‐Imagining of Gender After High‐Cost Religious Disaffiliation

Abstract

This paper examines the identity work of women undergoing high-cost religious disaffiliation by examining the exit experiences of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon). Previous research into religious change has not fully engaged with the extensive identity work that exiters do as they leave these groups. I propose a stage model of religious exit identity development to expand upon the process of identity transformation during and after high-cost religious exit. Additionally, I examine how the gender regimes of high-cost-religions result in different pathways out and experiencesduring disaffiliation for women and men. Though constructed to describe high-cost religious exits, this model may also be helpful in understanding other "high-cost" exits. A video abstract is available at https://youtu.be/hup3KFXvODs.

Born again: Narrating the mental health journeys of religious exiters

“…Reflecting on role‐identity disillusionment generated from observed hypocrite in fellow religious members, one interviewee reasoned, “if this is what it means to be Southern Baptist or Christian, then, I don't think this is something I want to be” (Streib et al., 2009, p. 120). Some pre‐exiters experienced religious role conflict in relation to other identity‐based roles, like gender, around which religion often prescribes impermeable boundaries (Gull, 2022; Nica, 2018, pp. 128–129).…”

“…Drastic rifts, like disownment (Gillette, 2015, p. 100) can occur, and the loss of support can lead to depression and suicidality (Nica, 2018, p. 75). This can be particularly difficult for women exiters, who may have been more insulated in the community and prevented from seeking tangible support (like employment) outside of the family (Gull, 2022). Some exiters even returned to their religion and left again multiple times due to difficulties experienced in coping with relational loss (Nica, 2018, p. 75).…”

“…Current literature is heavily skewed towards exit from Christian traditions. Of the studies describing narratives of religious exit that were utilized for this synthesis, almost half focused on exiters of HC3 Christian groups (Babinski, 1995; Coates, 2010; Collins, 2016; Fazzino, 2014; Gillette, 2015; Gull, 2022; Ineichen, 2019; Lee & Gubi, 2019; Lougheed, 2015; Nica, 2018; Smull, 2002). The data are also geographically biased; most of these narratives came from the United States (however, this paper also incorporates studies from Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia).…”

“…Newfound freedom of choice can be particularly emotionally challenging for women who have “internalized oppression” from their religious communities, especially with regard to bodily autonomy in sex and reproduction (Gillette, 2015, pp. 91–93; Gull, 2022).…”

“…91–99; Kolysh, 2017, p. 4) or family connection (Ammerman, 1987; Saroglou, 2013, p. 371; akin to a “role‐person merger,” Turner, 1978). For example, women in some religious communities may adhere to standards of modest dress (Bartkowski & Read, 2003; Gull, 2022), refrain from participation in the workforce (Colaner & Giles, 2008), or eschew certain medical procedures to embody religious identity expectations (Glassman, 2018). Religious families may dissociate from family members who leave the religion or who espouse other identities contrary to what the religion allows (e.g., gender and sexual minority identities; Bjork‐James, 2018).…”