Wilfully Disempowered

Abby Day (1)

1 University of Sussex

Two cases from the UK are discussed to explore why, in the author's terms, women wilfully disempower themselves in religion and spiritual contexts. A case study of a women's prayer group shows how they resist acknowledging their own power or the idea that they are engaging in informal ritual equally important to their male counterparts. Second, qualitative data from a large study of people's beliefs are used to show how women willingly submit to a higher male power through a process of self-denigration. It is argued that the women are making rational, strategic choices in an increasingly secular and patriarchal world.

Mots clés: gender; patriarchy; religion; secular; spiritual; women

Abby Day. Wilfully Disempowered. European Journal of Women's Studies, 2008, 15 (3), pp.261-276. ⟨10.1177/1350506808091507⟩. ⟨hal-00571333⟩