https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to women and religion en https://religiondispatches.org/2017/12/21/popesplaining-women-remain-strawberries-franciss-book-happiness As we inch toward Christmas, it’s no surprise to hear that Americans are miserable. Any amount of time spent in line at a Target as the holiday approaches will swiftly reveal that we’re a mess. Not only has our happiness… Thu, 21 Dec 2017 03:57:07 EST Kaya Oakes 9529f61c-d041-4acb-b7a0-b91679bd89f1 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/27/dear-metoo-christians-time-take-long-look-mirror Confession: I hold an ordination from a denomination that, broadly speaking, does not ordain women. I have benefited greatly from this ministerial minority status. It propelled me forward in attending a top-tier divinity school. Credentials in hand, I can marry… Fri, 27 Oct 2017 01:59:44 EDT J. Dana Trent 2833560c-6712-4cef-9bdf-28eb591a8407 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/01/secret-life-mormons-told-prodigal-daughter-novelist-judith-freeman “Who do you think you are—to want to be a writer?” These are the words that haunt the young Mormon girl who is the protagonist of Judith Freeman’s new memoir, The Latter Days (Pantheon). Freeman, whose breakout novel The Chinchilla… Wed, 01 Jun 2016 03:14:32 EDT Joanna Brooks 36dd1bec-de0d-4859-bfea-99df5fc5d88d https://religiondispatches.org/2015/04/03/dont-be-tooken-kimmy-schmidts-cult For all its laudable qualities—its complex characters, its unwavering if imperfect commitment to tackling race, class, and sexual violence—Tina Fey’s new Netflix comedy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, falls prey to a classic American media blunder: it portrays new religious movements as… Fri, 03 Apr 2015 11:15:05 EDT Megan Goodwin 63890d06-aee0-4360-92f8-8033e0128cb3 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/02/04/vatican-entangled-womens-issues Pope Francis has promised to lift up women’s voices and create more meaningful roles for women in the church, but if the Vatican’s latest bumbling effort to do so is any indication, it might be better for the pope to… Wed, 04 Feb 2015 04:17:07 EST Patricia Miller 5a66969c-fca6-4e06-b573-c91caf3a448b https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/12/what-church-needs-more-good-pope As many have noted, Pope Francis’s latest interview offers a refreshing departure from his predecessors despite, among other things, the pope’s dubious perspective on women. But rather than more emphasis on Good Pope Francis, there’s another upside to wish for. Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:53:14 EST Mary Hunt 47d1f644-bd2b-425e-94c0-722849190b4a https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/12/mormon-women-knock-door-are-turned-away “I find that really hurtful that as a woman who’s been a member my whole life who’s faithfully attended, paid my tithing, held a calling—that the fact that I don’t have a Y chromosome would prevent me from being allowed to sit before my prophet and listen to his words.” Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:44:10 EST Holly Welker 084712f0-342b-4308-a9e6-419d38ea3d37 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/09/30/why-womens-ordination-question-will-shape-future-mormonism A matter of “Radical Self Respect.” Mon, 30 Sep 2013 03:05:32 EDT Joanna Brooks ae92025e-51b8-4510-9270-9216c456a486 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/09/19/pope-francis-distances-himself-further-right-new-interview A must-read. Thu, 19 Sep 2013 12:50:18 EDT Peter Montgomery 77e501bf-5aa4-42f3-828d-014f953e79db https://religiondispatches.org/2013/06/18/female-breadwinnersdeath-civilization-says-fox-panel To these guys, the idea of women working outside the home is destroying American culture. They’re saying that a society in which a majority of women support their families cannot possibly be compatible with a strong, traditional, vibrant society. Yet we need only look to the traditional Jewish culture of Eastern Europe of less than two centuries ago in order to find an example that gives the lie to conservative handwringing over women’s work. Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:42:06 EDT Melissa Weininger 2d6ccaa0-5c29-4581-8311-3025d09ad9ab https://religiondispatches.org/2013/03/21/multifaith-weight-loss-problem-fat-promise-peace When things go well, feelings of “joy” and being “moved” abound, much like the Slim Peace participants claim of their experience. It is unclear whether such events actually change how these Jews and Muslims perceive each other, or if they only change how Jews and Muslims view themselves. Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:53:52 EDT Shaina Hammerman 174dd75a-b4bb-41d1-bada-b683c5bb91fa https://religiondispatches.org/2013/03/18/note-new-pope-half-worlds-poor-are-women Let’s be clear: half of the world’s poor are women, and the church’s effort to deprive the Catholic women among them of contraceptives, of the use of condoms that could protect them from HIV-AIDS, and of the ministry of women priests who would marry, absolve, and anoint them, is no service to them. Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:32:10 EDT Marian Ronan d8996342-13b5-4801-a8b8-f2b6c7474a6b https://religiondispatches.org/2013/03/11/are-women-secondary-catholic-church How about the supposedly progressive mainline churches? Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:48:56 EDT Elizabeth Drescher 8b7e840a-d3b5-4d46-845c-f41f3e963e06 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/12/05/ross-douthats-missing-pregnant-women Babies don’t grow on trees. Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:12:31 EST Sarah Morice-Brubaker eabe69a3-fa4d-4b1b-b775-ecb555d9a3f2 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/12/04/cru-official-demoted-refusing-let-women-teach-bible-men Campus Crusade for Christ affirms ‘shared leadership’ model . Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:30:18 EST Peter Montgomery 8b349759-fd30-414e-8249-431173e43ac8 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/12/03/archbishops-try-hold-it-together-order-re-vote-women-bishops Second time’s a charm? Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:46:21 EST Joanna Brooks 09510b71-d20d-42a8-86b4-5db1625d13b9 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/17/mormon-girls-guide-equal-opportunity-workplace Ladies, start your binders. Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:19:53 EDT Joanna Brooks 59886cf8-a4b4-4030-97ab-a5bae36983f6 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/09/lds-church-drops-missionary-age-women-19 Policy shift has far-reaching impact. Pivotal, even. Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:02:16 EDT Joanna Brooks 3bf46a98-e986-49e0-92d0-002a8e0e4dd8 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/03/should-romney-be-asked-about-mormon-womens-issues-debates Ask the Mormon women who are defining the Mormon moment. Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:51:37 EDT Joanna Brooks fdd720a9-f821-4110-b7da-3a757b5956ed https://religiondispatches.org/2012/08/06/while-mormon-men-brawl-mormon-women-talk-gender-equality Concern over gender-segregated Church administration quietly builds. Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:24:35 EDT Joanna Brooks e896f057-d3a7-400d-b538-d1592ab6e4a0 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/06/06/constitutional-scholar-marie-ashe-religious-freedom-and-women From Anne Hutchinson to the HHS contraception mandate. Wed, 06 Jun 2012 01:54:43 EDT Sarah Posner b04a5612-73a2-423e-8931-932122bcd42c https://religiondispatches.org/2012/05/29/former-usccb-spox-hhs-doesnt-speak-me-contraception Is it supposed to? Tue, 29 May 2012 12:50:39 EDT Sarah Morice-Brubaker b22a3dbd-2373-48e9-91c3-61d392c02fe2 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/04/17/women-and-children-first-syrias-day-dignity A consciousness change is happening in Syria, a country of twenty-three million that has been brutalized under Martial Law since 1963. My parents left in 1971 with their children, including me, because the repression of civil liberties had already become intolerable. The sense of helpless terror became so ingrained among Syrians that relatives who remained in Syria spoke only in hushed tones and coded words about the brutality of the state—even, incredibly, when they were visiting us in our suburban U.S. home, miles from the reach of any Syrian state police agent. Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:36:09 EDT Mohja Kahf 166725c7-9520-456e-a812-0399fb5e5592 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/01/30/dancing-streets-and-ending-womens-segregation-israel Conservative communities can make their own rules, but not when it comes to women’s rights. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:35:21 EST Ruth Tsuria dae756b1-c4d5-4991-8b99-31b9c37a1282 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/01/27/open-letter-rabbi-dov-linzer-modesty-and-jewish-law While the Talmud dictates that both men and women dress modestly, the legal tradition that follows in its wake makes dress requirements for women much more rigid. Thus, the fact that in many Orthodox summer camps, or Kibbutzim, one can readily find young Orthodox men in shorts and T-shirts while young girls wear skirts and longer sleeves is not inconsequential. And how often are religious boys told, “Don’t wear that, it’s not tznius (modest)!”? Not very often. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:29:23 EST Shaul Magid 6b668a4f-45c8-45e1-9bb2-56f7cefffca2