Gender Studies (Religion)

Beyond “Liberal” Female Piety or “Women Read the Qur’an Too” by Amy Levin

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I’m a teacher’s assistant for an undergraduate course at New York University called, “What is Islam?” The other day in... more I’m a teacher’s assistant for an undergraduate course at New York University called, “What is Islam?” The other day in class, my professor asked the students whether or not the Qur’an is considered a “book”. Fraught with anxiety over inheriting such a problematic scholarly tradition of defining and delineating what “religion” is, I kept quiet. While my professor was aiming more for something sounding like, “a book is read, while the Qur’an is recited,” I kept thinking about the physicality and sacrality of the Qur’an (among other authoritative religious texts) and the way it is handled, revered, preserved, loved, an constantly under interpretation. It was about a week later when news broke out that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan were guilty of burning several copies of the Qur’an on their military base, followed by an unfortunate slew of casualties including at least 30 Afghan deaths and five US soldiers.

Men and Women in He Longxiang's Nudan hebian

by Elena Valussi

il sacro in mano alle donne

by Mariapia Rosa Campanella

Margaret Kamitsuka: Feminist Scholarship and Its Relevance for Political Engagement: The Test Case of Abortion in the U.S.

by Religion and Gender (e-journal)

Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 18-43

This essay explores how gender studies in academe, including in religious studies, might remain relevant to ongoing... more This essay explores how gender studies in academe, including in religious studies, might remain relevant to ongoing feminist political engagement. I explore some specific dynamics of this challenge, using as my test case the issue of abortion in the US. After discussing how three formative feminist principles (women’s experience as feminism’s starting point, the personal is political, and identity politics) have shaped approaches to the abortion issue for feminist scholars in religion, I argue that ongoing critique, new theoretical perspectives, and attentiveness to subaltern voices are necessary for these foundational feminist principles to keep pace with fast-changing and complex societal dynamics relevant to women’s struggles for reproductive health and justice. The essay concludes by proposing natality as a helpful concept for future feminist theological and ethical thinking on the subject.

Paul Reid-Bowen: Vital New Matters: The Speculative Turn in the Study of Religion and Gender

by Religion and Gender (e-journal)

Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 44-65

This article provides an introduction to a new trend in continental philosophy, the turn toward metaphysics, realism... more This article provides an introduction to a new trend in continental philosophy, the turn toward metaphysics, realism and speculative philosophy. This stands in sharp contrast with the antirealist and correlationist traditions that have held sway since Kant’s Copernican Revolution in 1781. It is claimed that the study of religion and gender has been shaped by the antirealist legacy of Kant, but there are good reasons for taking account of the new ‘speculative turn’. Two examples from the leading exponent of this turn, speculative realism, are introduced, and some provisional notes toward applying these to the gender-critical turn in the study of religion are considered. Research notes on the current state of the Goddess movement serve as a test case for the introduction of an object-oriented ontology into religious and gender studies.

Claudia Schippert: Implications of Queer Theory for the Study of Religion and Gender: Entering the Third Decade

by Religion and Gender (e-journal)

Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 66-84

This essay explores the conceptual and contextual shifts in queer theoretical work as it is entering into its third... more This essay explores the conceptual and contextual shifts in queer theoretical work as it is entering into its third decade of articulation. The essay reviews important recent themes in, and examines implications of, queer theoretical scholarship for the study of religion and gender. I suggest that among the implications are a more un-disciplined study of religion (and secularism) that takes seriously shifts resulting from transnational and diasporic queer scholarship, as well as shifts in conceptions of agency and resistance resulting from analyses and critique of homonormative positions, and that can critically intervene in homonationalism and Islamophobia.

Burkhard Scherer: Macho Buddhism: Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way

by Religion and Gender (e-journal)

Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 85-103

Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In... more Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In contrast, Ole Nydahl’s convert lay Karma Kagyu Buddhist movement, the Diamond Way, has drawn attention for its apparently hedonistic style. This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. It analyses views on and performances of gender, sexual ethics and sexualities both diachronically through textual-historical source and discourse analysis and synchronically through qualitative ethnography. In this way the article demonstrates how the approaches of contemporary gender and sexualities studies can serve as a way to question the Diamond Way Buddhism’s location in the ‘tradition vs modernity’ debate. Nydahl’s pre-modern gender stereotyping, the hetero-machismo of the Diamond Way and the mildly homophobic tone and content of Nydahl’s teaching are interpreted in light of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist sexual ethics and traditional Tibetan cultural attitudes on sexualities. By excavating the emic genealogy of Nydahl’s teachings, the article suggests that Nydahl’s and the Diamond Way’s view on and performance of gender and sexualities are consistent with his propagation of convert Buddhist neo-orthodoxy.

Adriaan van Klinken: Male Headship as Male Agency: An Alternative Understanding of a ‘Patriarchal’ African Pentecostal Discourse on Masculinity

by Religion and Gender (e-journal)

Published in Religion and Gender, vol. 1 no. 1 (2011), 104-124

In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this... more In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this article is how discourses on masculinity that affirm male headship can be understood. A review of recent scholarship on masculinities and religion shows that male headship is often interpreted in terms of male dominance. However, a case study of sermons in a Zambian Pentecostal church shows that discourse on male headship can be far more complex and can even contribute to a transformation of masculinities. The main argument is that a monolithic concept of patriarchy hinders a nuanced analysis of the meaning and function of male headship in local contexts. The suggestion is that in some contexts male headship can be understood in terms of agency.

Male Headship as Male Agency: An Alternative Understanding of a ‘Patriarchal’ African Pentecostal Discourse on Masculinity

by Adriaan van Klinken

Published in Religion and Gender vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), 104-124

In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this... more In some Christian circles in Africa, male headship is a defining notion of masculinity. The central question in this article is how discourses on masculinity that affirm male headship can be understood. A review of recent scholarship on masculinities and religion shows that male headship is often interpreted in terms of male dominance. However, a case study of sermons in a Zambian Pentecostal church shows that discourse on male headship can be far more complex and can even contribute to a transformation of masculinities. The main argument is that a monolithic concept of patriarchy hinders a nuanced analysis of the meaning and function of male headship in local contexts. The suggestion is that in some contexts male headship can be understood in terms of agency.

Transforming Masculinities towards Gender Justice in an Era of HIV and AIDS

by Adriaan van Klinken

Published in B. Haddad (ed.), Religion and HIV and AIDS: Charting the Terrain, Scottsville: University of Kwazulu-Natal Press 2011, 275-296.

As part of a survey project on religion, HIV and AIDS, this paper examines literature on the intersection of men,... more As part of a survey project on religion, HIV and AIDS, this paper examines literature on the intersection of men, masculinities and HIV/AIDS from the perspective of religion and theology.

St. Joachim as a Model of Catholic Manhood in Times of AIDS: A Case Study on Masculinity in an African Christian Context

by Adriaan van Klinken

Published in CrossCurrents 61/4 (December 2011), special issue on Embattled Masculinities in Religious Traditions, p. 467-479.

Theology, Gender Ideology and Masculinity Politics: A discussion on the transformation of masculinities as envisioned by African theologians and a local Pentecostal church

by Adriaan van Klinken

Published in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa no. 138 (2010), 2-18.

As a result of the HIV epidemic, masculinities in sub-Saharan Africa have become problematised. There is called for a... more As a result of the HIV epidemic, masculinities in sub-Saharan Africa have become problematised. There is called for a transformation of masculinities. But what is the vision of such a transformation? This article explores the different visions and strategies proposed by on the one hand some African theologians and on the other hand a local Pentecostal church. The fundamental difference is that the church seeks to transform masculinity within a patriarchal framework while the theologians envision a transformation of masculinity beyond patriarchy, towards a reality called “gender justice”. The article critically analyses and discusses the different masculinity politics and makes a constructive contribution to the debate by providing an eschatological perspective to the transformation of masculinities.

Le recours à l'expertise psychiatrique dans les juridictions ecclésiastiques (1850-1930)

by Laurent Kondratuk

Published in "Droit et Cultures", 60, 2010.2, p. 45-57.

Ecclesiastical courts, like civil courts, call on psychiatric expertise in criminal trials, especially where spouses... more Ecclesiastical courts, like civil courts, call on psychiatric expertise in criminal trials, especially where spouses are involved. Judges seek expert advice in determining whether one of the parties, presumably mentally deficient (furiosus), was competent to consent to, and take on, the obligations of marriage. We review cases in which ecclesiastical courts resorted to psychiatric and even gynecological expertise. Next, we consider both doctrine and jurisprudence concerning the question of madness and sexual psychopathology (as was deemed homosexuality) in the nullification procedure, mainly during the first half of the twentieth century.

SARA MILES AND JESUS’ DEFINITION OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS: AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF MATTHEW 5:3-9

by David Buhrow

Master's Thesis

Sara Miles was an atheist who nursed a healthy cynicism toward Christianity. Despite her prejudices toward... more Sara Miles was an atheist who nursed a healthy cynicism toward Christianity. Despite her prejudices toward Christianity, in the Eucharist Miles was confronted by the “impossible reality of God.” Miles experienced a Christianity that is available to all without regard to race, gender or social status. She discovered a Christianity that is inclusive.

Interpreting Mathew 5:3-9, this essay notes the attributes of the Church that Jesus pronounced and relate them to the life of Miles. In this pericope, the Matthean community is attempting to develop their definition of the Church based upon Jesus’ early preaching. They define their religious community based upon their understanding of the Kingdom of the Heavens. They believed the Church was to reflect in the present the attributes of the future Kingdom of the Heavens. Like the Matthean community, Sara Miles finds the Kingdom of the Heavens that Jesus offers is not based upon one’s piety or church attendance, but upon one’s hunger and thirst.

Thus the poor, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, and those who make peace are blessed because they are willing to act upon their innate urges to help those in need and seek God’s kingdom. This is the Kingdom of the Heavens which Sara Miles “discovered,” the Christian kingdom where she is accepted with only one prerequisite: a desire to feed others and thus herself be satisfied. Jesus is requesting that his disciples have this desire in the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount—The Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12).