Gender & Religiosity (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

Belief trends: stronger in women

• Even though some argue that women are exploited by religion, evidence shows they are more religious than men across almost all measures (belief, prayer, attendance) and in both Christian and non-Christian faiths, including the New Age

Church attendance

• Women make up the majority of regular churchgoers

• Field (2010) found that in 2005, 57% of regular church attenders were female

• Brierley (2005) found female churchgoers outnumber men by almost half a million

Belief

• According to the British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey (2012), 55% of women say they have a religion, compared with 44% of men

• The BSA (2008) found that more women than men describe themselves as spiritual (40% vs 28%)

• Voas (2015) found that fewer women than men identify as atheist or agnostic (34% vs 54%)

Practice

• According to Ferguson and Hussey (2010), in nearly all major religions (except Sikhism), women are more likely to practice than men

• Women are more likely to pray privately (40% vs 28%)

Religious organisations

• Women are over-represented in sects and new religious movements (NRMs) compared to men, e.g., the New Age

Explanations: why women are more religious

• Sociologists have put forward several explanations for gender differences in religious belief and practice

Gender role socialisation

• Miller & Hoffman (1995) suggest three main reasons for women's higher levels of religiosity:

  • Women are more risk-averse compared to men, so being religious reduces the risk of going to hell

  • Women are socialised to be more passive, obedient and nurturing – values reinforced by most religions

  • Women are more likely than men to work part-time or be full-time carers, so they have greater flexibility to engage in religious activities

• Greeley (1992) argues that religion aligns with women’s traditional role as carers and providers of moral guides – this can be through taking children to church

• Davie (2013) argues that women's closeness to birth and death (through childbearing and caring for the elderly) brings them closer to religion's 'ultimate' questions

Paid work and secularisation

• Bruce (1996; 2011) argues that women’s higher religiosity is linked to historically lower involvement in paid work

  • Religion is tied to the private sphere (home/family), which is traditionally women’s domain

  • As religion became privatised, men's religiosity has declined more quickly than women's

• Brown (2009) argues that from the 1960s, women entered paid work and became less religious

• Despite the decline, religion remains attractive to women because it:

  • emphasises caring values aligned with family roles and many paid jobs women do

  • emphasises women's concerns as churches gradually became feminised spaces

New religious movements (NRMs)

New Age beliefs

• Women are over-represented in NRMs and New Age spirituality

  • Heelas and Woodhead (2005) found that 80% of the participants in the holistic milieu in Kendal were female

• Bruce (2011) argues that women are drawn to the New Age because it values nurturing, healing and spirituality

• The New Age is attractive because it emphasises the importance of being 'authentic' rather than merely acting out restrictive roles, e.g., gender roles

• Woodhead (2001) suggests that the New Age offers a 'third sphere' of individual autonomy and personal growth, which helps women resolve conflict between their:

  • instrumental role in the public sphere of work

  • expressive role in the private sphere of the family

• Many women prefer New Age spirituality over traditional religion because it feels more empowering and less oppressive

• However, we must consider class differences in the types of religion that appeal to women

Women and sects

• Bruce (1996) estimates women are twice as likely as men to join sects

• Religious market theorists Stark & Bainbridge (1985) explain that women are drawn to sects due to different forms of deprivation:

  • Organismic deprivation – health issues (due to illness and childbirth) make women more likely to seek healing that sects offer

  • Ethical deprivation – women are perceived as more morally conservative, so are attracted to sects that condemn moral decline

  • Social deprivation – women are more likely to be poor or marginalised, so sects offer community and support

The Pentecostal gender paradox

• Pentecostalism (especially in Latin America) is patriarchal, yet highly attractive to women

• Brusco (2012) found that in Colombia, Pentecostal women used religion to challenge male machismo and demand respect at home

  • Men are pressured by pastors and the church community to stop wasting money on alcohol, gambling, and sex work

  • They are encouraged to improve living standards for women and children; therefore, Pentecostalism is attractive to women

• Drogus (1994) notes that while official Pentecostal doctrine gives men authority, church literature often promotes more equal marriage relations