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Beliefs in Society Topic 4 - Coggle Diagram
Beliefs in Society
Topic 4
Gender
Religion and Patriarchy
AGAINST the Patriarchy
Down to mans interpretation
Female Goddesses
Veil of Women = Free of 'male gaze'
Promotes women's rights
FOR the Patriarchy
Veiling of Women
Scriptures
Fewer Rights
e.g - Islam (polygamy)
Morally pollutes society
Stained glass ceiling
Women in Religion
Main consumers of religion (except Islam)
More likely to:
Stronger Faith and committment
Personal involvement in rituals
Express Interest
Pray privately
Bruce
: Join NRM's and New Age movements
Reasons Women are more religious than men
Greater Life Expectancy
Living longer means women use religion as support and comfort helping communities grown
Status Frustration
Lack of personal fulfilment due to domestic constraints
Unsatisfying jobs = religion is a compensator
Socialisation, Motherhood and Fertility
Miller
&
Hoffmann
= gender socialisation means women are submissive and more caring leading to a greater religious involvement
Such as :
1
Guardians of Family Life
Defends traditional family
Looks after home
Takes care of morally developing children
2
Visions of God
Davie
Women associate God with love and comfort where as men associate him with power and control
3
Nurturing
Bruce
- Traditional femininity and child bearing comes naturally to women
Connects with NA Ideas (Gaia - Mother Earth)
Glendinning
&
Bruce
NA Ideas (yoga / herbalism) appeal more to women
4
Life, Death and Life Changes
Walter
&
Davie
- women are more exposed to ups, downs and life changes due to biological involvement
Davie
- Women have a closer relation to death making them more aware of human vulnerability
Social Deprivation, Marginality and Theodicies of Deprivilege
Women are alienated from wider society
Suffer:
More Poverty
Family problems
Less confidence
Consequently women seek a place of solace giving solutions and support
The Declining Participation of Women in Religion
Women's level participation in all forms of religion is declining
Aune et al
suggests different reasons for this
Feminism and Movements
Women begin to question roles
Changing sexual attitudes (sexually permissive society) - the church is seen to be old fashioned and out of touch
The Changing Role of Women
Paid employment, succeeding demanding career jobs - these demands replaced religious focus
Work - source of identity beyond the family and religious
Changing Families and Relations
Growing diversity in family types and living arrangements (divorce, cohabitation) - have met disapproval of traditional religions = further alienation of women
Ethnicity
Ethnic differences in religion
Poorer countries
High levels of religious belief and practice
Cultural defence / transition
Family pressure
Statistics
Great Britain Religion 2011-12, British Attitudes Survey
No Religion = 50% (change)
England and Wales Religious Census 2011
Religious people = 67.7%
Second most followed faith after Christianity = Islam
No Religion = 25%
Minority Ethnic Groups
African Caribbean
Mainly follow Christianity
Due to marginality and racism, there was individual establishment of independent churches
Pentecostalism / Charismatic tradition
Pentecostalism
Largest group of AC in the UK
Emphasis on teaching the word of God, express through dance and clapping - loud services
Rastafarianism
Jamaica - working class in 1930's
Mainly young men
Modood et al
- Religion by choice among the AC community (deadlocks, ritual smoking of cannabis and Reggae music)
Asian
Pakistani and Bangladeshi shared dominant Christian ideals
India has a non-Christian background - established temples (influencing Hinduism/Sikhism)
Youth MEG bought up around equality which puts the traditional values of their religions under pressure (Caste system in Hinduism)
Islamophobia / Islamic Identity in the UK
Irrational fear and or hatred of Islam, muslims and the Islamic culture
Has become an issue --> Muslims are stigmatised and under threat of harassment since 9/11due to media stereotyping
There's a growing demand for education and legal arrangements complying with Sharia Law's - 35% of 16-24 year olds prefer SL (Punishments for women disobedience, allowance of polygamy)
Mirza
- Many young men are choosing to identify with Islam, women are choosing to wear a hijab as part of their individual
Reasons for the rising muslim culture in the youths:
1)
British Foreign Policy
- Muslims see policy as cultural invasion
2)
Decline of other sources of identity
- Drives youths who have an isecure status to seek new sources of meaning and belonging, leading to assertion of Islamic culture
3)
Multicultural Policies
- Major feature of British educational system
Respect cultural differences means we treat other cultures differently - inclusions = There are more Islamic demands for faith schools and women authority wearing the hijab = suggesting multi policies in aim of cultural protection are opposing their role as it makes Muslims seem 'unreasonable' and as though they are asking for special treatment (leading them to embrace their identity)
Why MEG's are More Religious
Social Identity
Religion in MEG = Marker of identity as it is drawn from religious elements
Resist denial of status and the devaluing of their own culture by racism
Johal
- Young British Asians have forged a single new hybrid -
Brasian'
(blend of British and Asian)
Butler
- Interviewed 18-30 year old Muslim women - The religious attachment = shapes identity (they desire choice and more individualism)
Jacobson
- Explored issues with religious identity: Muslim identity appeals to the youth as a demonstration of stability and security
Community Identity and Cultural Defence
Bruce
- MEG = Sign of greater religious commitment but more an assertion of community solidarity and pride
Acts as a focal point for community identity
Means of cultural defence when under threat through periods of cultural transition (racism)
Similar to Durkheim's role of religion
Davie
- High religiosity in MEG's as a means of maintaining tradition (marriage and cooking)
Temples = community centres as well as a place of worship - social life promotes culture under threat by the white culture
Modood et al
- Religion is important in MEG's as a source of socialisation maintain traditional morality - Helps cope with worries (link to Malinowski)
EVALUATION
Just because religion is a source of communication doesn't mean people completely believe in the religious teachings
Social Deprivation, Marginality and Status Frustration
Older Asian women = marginalised due to poor English
Pakistani and Bangladeshi = poorest in UK (2/3 = unemployed)
Fits to Marx ' opium' = conforming as it is a diversion of attacking the cause of racism
Theodicy of Disprivilege (Weber) - compensation (pent / rasta)
Family Pressures
Asians = more tight knit through social control and socialisation
There is a pressure to conform as the family is at risk of sanctions
Religious Commitment among MEG's
Only around 6% of British population went to church on a Sunday in 2007
1 in 6 were AC
Age
The largest group of people practicing religion are over 45
Disengagement
Detached from integration mechanisms of society
Older = face growing privatisation of their lives - Social isolation = Religion becomes a support group
Links to Durkheim's social solidarity
Religious Socialisation
Elders were socialised through education and social control at a young age
Older = more willing to be open to explore tradition and new ideas
Link to vacuum of meaning
Ill Health and Death
Death looms = religion = coping mechanism
Increased life expectancy
Link Malinowski - Psychological
The Youth and Religion
On the surface they are less religious except in Islam, yet there is still some attraction
Reasons why the youth seem less religious:
Secular Spirituality and The Sacred
Lynch
- Youth may be diverted from religion yet they may find some religious feeling in themselves
Similar to Durkheim's "inclusive" definition
It is suggested that when people become attached to experiences it becomes sacred in their life
The youth may not be less religious just simply finding new forms of spirituality
The Expanded Spiritual Market
Cusack
- Early 21st century- teens who used to be religious = declined yet spiritual interest remains high
Less likely to be socialised into religion more likely into spiritual identity
Lynch
- Conventional ideas around religion = pushed against due to what
Roof
suggests is an
expanding spiritual market place
= New wide diversity where youths pick'n'mix
These choices are used to construct lifestyle
Declining Attraction of Religion
Unattractive to most - Morning and repetitive - its uncool
Common day controversy over themes like abortion and sex
Kids see religion as 'an elderly lady who mutters away to herself'
The Privatisation of Belief (Believing and Not belonging)
Youth treat religion as a private matter even when belief is genuine
Davie
= 'Believing without belonging'
Secularisation and Declining Metanarratives
Postmodernists -
Lyotard
- Metanarratives like religion are losing power to influence thoughts of the world
Declining Religious Education
Bruce
- Church of England unable to recruit youths through religious thinking in Sunday schools because of the terminal decline in the state
Christian Research = century ago - 50% children attended Sunday School, by 2000 it was 1 in 25
Pragmatic Reasons
Leisure is more demand now and there are better things to do
Tony Blair Played down his religiousiosity as he didn't want to be seen as a 'nutter'
Social Class
Approaches
Traditional Marxist
- Religiosity and religious participation should be greatest among the most deprived social classes for whom religion provides a means for coping with poverty and oppression while dominant classes use religion as a means of establishing hegemony justifying power and control
Weber - Idea of Theodicy of Deprivilege
Religion might appeal most to disadvantaged and marginal groups
Neo-Marxism
Maduro - religion may be used by the poorest to help fight oppression
Sects and Cults
Sects seem to gain their strongest support from the most deprived and marginal social groups who perhaps use them as a means of coping with their disadvantage (Opium of the people) - Appeals to young middle class
Cults attract a cross section of society, including derived and marginal groups. Bruce and Heelas = New Age client cults and world affirming NRMs have the f=greatest appeal for those who are affluent members of the middle class - followers are customers (buy into associates in cults)
New Age idea's (yoga) Heelas = middle class women - all manner of New Age therapies (aroma) - spiritual healing appeals to middle class
Churches and Denominations
The Upper and Upper-Middle Classes (women) tend to be over-represented in churches though members of all social classes attend
YouGov survey 2015 - 60% of people attending church are middle class (38% working class)
Church of England is middle class dominated, with leaders from privileged backgrounds
Ashworth
and
Fathing
= church going is a large middleclass pursuit
Higher social classes = regular churchgoers vs manual workers = lowest proportion
State defenders fail to attend church due to reasons such as sickness or unemployment