God is a Woman? The Association Between Religiosity and Feminism

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Caroline Colbert
Caroline Colbert

I am a senior at Wesleyan University majoring in government and French studies. While writing a thesis on secularist laws in France, which were supported by French feminists, I decided to research the ways that religiosity in the United States affected people’s identification with feminism.

Abstract: This study researches the association between religiosity, measured by how often they attend religious services, and their support for feminism (which is first identified with the question “Are you a feminist?” and later “How concerned are you for women’s rights?”). Under the umbrella of social and political beliefs influenced by religion in the United States is feminism. There is an association between specific religious identity and the likeliness of someone to identify as feminist. The studies conducted to date in this field have focused on specific religious identities and likelihood to identify as feminist, and most study women’s behaviors toward the interconnection of religiosity and feminism. While it is true that factors like age, specific religion, and gender influence one’s likelihood to identify with or support feminism, it is unclear whether the level of piety relates to individuals’ relationship with the feminist movement. Is there a relationship between how often people attend religious services and how likely they are to identify as a feminist? Is the word “feminist” taboo within the religious community, and what happens when it is replaced with “concern for women’s rights?” Ultimately, this study finds that while there is no significant association between how often someone attends religious services and how likely they are to identify as a feminist, there is a significant and positive correlation between how often someone attends religious services and how concerned they are for women’s rights.

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