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A* A Level essay on gender and New Religious Movements
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“Outline and explain 2 ways in which women are more attracted to New Religious Movements than men”
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“Outline and explain 2 ways in which women are more attracted to New Religious Movementsthan men”
One way in which women are more attracted to new religious movements than men is through the
emphasis of the natural amongst New Age Movements (NAMs). New age movements are a
contemporary religious organisation which is attuned to femininity. This is because women tend to
focus on the natural rhythms of life, and so NAM’s emphasise the use of the natural for personal
fulfilment. For example, contemporary NAM’s such as the Dianic Wicca (branch of female-
empowered paganism) use aromatherapy, crystal healing and herbal therapies. Brown thus refers to
NAM’s as a self-religion for women, as it appeals to their personal autonomy, giving them a higher
status than men. Woodhead expands upon this by stating that NAM’s provide women with an
‘individual sphere’ to relieve them from the status frustration they face. Women are usually restricted
by housework/childcare in the private sphere and by low paid unsatisfactory jobs in the public sphere.
The conflict between the two spheres causes women to experience role conflict. To deal with role
conflict, they turn to NAM’s. Instead of focusing on the role they perform, according to religion,
NAM’s allow them to focus on personal autonomy and fulfilment with spiritual wholeness. (this can
be seen in the Item, in which it states…). On the other hand, Brown counteracts Woodhead’s claim
and states that women are becoming less religious due to the decline in female piety. This is where
women are taking more masculine jobs in the private sphere meaning these is no status frustration left
for NAM’s to solve. Instead, women follow patterns of male religiosity (since 1960’s) causing rise to
work centred women and jugglers who may not have time to schedule religion into their high-status
jobs as a breadwinner. Therefore, one way in which women are more attracted to New Religious
Movements than men is through New Age Movements, where an emphasis of the natural allows
women to resolve their role conflict in society.
A second way in which women are more attracted to New Religious Movements is through Sect
participation. Sects are a contemporary form of a religion where it breaks away from a church due to
disagreements in beliefs. Bruce found that women are more likely to be attracted to New Religious
Movements due to the trend of 2:1. Stark and Bainbridge explain this trend through sects acting as a
theodicy of deprivilege, treating deprivations (organismic, ethical and social). Organismic deprivation
is where women experience issues in terms of mental and physical health. As a result of this, they
look to Sects to provide healing. A second deprivation is ethical. Women maintain a conservative
outlook on society and sects are often world-rejecting (against rapid social change). This means that
the beliefs are tailored towards the female outlook (which is due to women being socialised as
guardians of the family according to miller and Hoffman). A final deprivation that women face is
social deprivation. Women are marginalised and alienated in society via unsatisfactory low paid jobs
and being restricted to the home. They turn to Sects to provide a theodicy of deprivilege to explain
their status frustration. So, they are attractive to the powerless and poor. (This can be seen in the
item…). An example of a Sect which helps solve ethical deprivation would be the Army of Mary
from Catholicism. Their beliefs depart from the original doctrine of the church, whereby sanctification
of souls is through devotion of the Triple White to prepare for Christ’s return. This reinforces the
conservative belief of fidelity and morality. On the other hand, it cannot be stated that women are
more religious than men as there are discrepancies within generations. Younger women are less likely
to be religious than older women. According to Arweck and Beckford, this is due to the collapse of
religious socialisation. Younger women are less exposed to religion in school assemblies, due to its
secular morality characteristic, and do not attend Saturday school. As a result, they see religion to be a
persona choice rather than an obligation, unlike the elderly women who experienced religious
education throughout their youth and childhood. So, there are larger differences in religion, other than
gender. Therefore, a second way in which women are more attracted to New Religious Movements,
such as Sects, is due to social, organismic and ethical healing tailored towards feminine outlooks,
rather than masculine.
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