Women, Religion, and Politics

Women make important contributions to the livelihood of religion. Public polls have been generally consistent in affirming that women evince higher religious devotion than men. But that’s not all. According to the findings of a 2008 study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, there is greater percentage of women than men who espouse the following traits:

• affiliation with religion (86 to 79 percent).
• daily prayer (66 to 49 percent).
• certainty of belief in God or a universal spirit (77 to 65 percent).
• affirm that religion is very important in their lives (63 to 49 percent). [1]

What’s more, based on trends in Protestant seminaries, it is estimated that women will become the majority of mainline protestant clergy by the year 2050 (Fowler: 296). In light of these phenomena, what can be said about the role that religion plays in relation to the politics of women in the U.S.? 

Women and Conservativism

Women with conservative political inclinations, statistics suggest, are becoming a momentous force in America. Since 1964, a “gender gap” was observed in voting habits, with women being more likely to vote democratic than men (Fowler: 297). However, the trend seems to be changing, especially among conservative evangelical women. In 2008, John McCain received 43 percent of women’s votes, with 71 percent of those votes coming from evangelical women (Fowler: 297). Large groups such as Concerned Women for America and the Eagle Forum are endorsing traditional family values, social-moral issues, and also getting involved in economic and foreign policy issues (Fowler: 298). Most men and women of a conservative religious persuasion affirm traditional gender roles in the family -- the complementation view (i.e., a man and wife compliment each other in different ways) -- as well as with respect to women as clergy. There are indications, though, that this is declining. Most notably, a majority of evangelical college students do not agree that a man should have the final say (Fowler: 299).

Women and Liberalism

Liberalism also has wide reaching support from religious women. Various groups such as Catholics for Choice, Church Women United (constituted by mainline Protestants), and Women-Church Convergence are among those advocating for liberal values. Women-Church Convergence has sought to advocate for reproductive rights, egalitarianism, feminist theology, and the ordination of women. As a consequence of the Church’s shift towards more traditional views, however, Women-Church Convergence has lost some of its influence (Fowler: 301). Furthermore, many religious women are pioneering new ground in feminist theology, calling for a reinterpretation of traditional notions of God, the goal of which is to unveil male dominated images of God and to reconstruct such images on more holistic foundations (Fowler: 302). Lastly, research demonstrates that Jewish women tend to be the most liberal with respect to “women’s issues” and a number of other political matters (Fowler: 301).

Feminism and the Redeamability of Religion

There is a question about whether religion can be redeemed for feminists. On the one hand, there are those who think that religion is irredeemable. Major religions like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are so heavily embedded with male-centered motifs, it is argued, that the best solution is simply to embrace something new. Popular alternatives nowadays include Goddess religion, Wicca, and Ecofeminism (Fowler: 304). On the other hand, there are many who think that religion is redeemable for the feminist. These thinkers do not seek to wholly reject traditional religious systems, but only to reform how these systems view the role of women in society and in the church, as well as how these traditions view the nature of God (Fowler: 303).

Concluding Statistics 

There are various other considerations that mark differences in the political inclinations of religious women. For the most part, women with higher religious devotion tend to have more conservative views about political and religious issues. Women clergy and Jewish women are the exceptions, however, with both tending to be more liberal. This is especially true as concerns gender equality and gay rights (Fowler: 306, 308). Also, Catholic women are more liberal with respect to a number of issues than are Protestant women. Finally, women of all faiths tend surpass their male counterparts with respect to voting democratic. In 2008, Barack Obama received more votes from evangelical Protestant women, Mainline Protestant women, black Protestant women, and Jewish women than their male counterparts from the same traditions. The majority of women from the latter three traditions gave Obama their vote, with evangelical Protestant women being the exception, as noted above (Fowler: 308).
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[1] Fowler, Robert B., Allen D. Hertzke, Kevin R. Den Dulk, and Laura R. Olson. Religion and Politics in America. 4th ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 2010. Print.