Lynne Gerber

The Feminist Ethnographer’s Dilemma Reconciling Progressive Research Agendas with Fieldwork Realities

In this article, we use three case studies of conservative field sites to consider the dilemma faced when feminist analytic perspectives clash with observations. We note that feminism can operate as a blinder, limiting our ability to see and interpret empirical realities that do not conform with feminist expectations. Using our research on orthodox Jewish women’s practices of menstrual purity, evangelical ex-gay ministries, and state-sponsored marriage promotion programs as examples, we discuss our shared experience that unreflexive feminist critiques of seemingly antifeminist social practices, groups, and policies can impede our ability to understand how feminism has influenced nonfeminist spaces. We use our cases to reflect upon a tension that informs all progressive social change research: the tension between our political sensibilities and goals and our intellectual mission to produce reliable knowledge. In responding to that tension, we argue that feminist researchers should incorporate institutional reflexivity on feminism itself as part of their ethnographic practice.

Grit, Guts, and Vanilla Beans: Godly Masculinity in the Ex-Gay Movement

Ex-gay ministries, like many evangelical groups, advocate traditional gender ideologies. But their discourses and practices generate masculine ideals that are quite distinct from hegemonic ones. I argue that rather than simply reproducing hegemonic masculinity, ex-gay ministries attempt to realize godly masculinity, an ideal that differs significantly from hegemonic masculinity and is explicitly critical of it. I discuss three aspects of the godly masculine ideal—de-emphasizing heterosexual conquest, inclusive masculinity, and homo-intimacy—that work to subvert hegemonic masculinity and allow ministry members to critique it while still advocating for innate gender distinction and hierarchy. I conclude by arguing that gender theorists need to be more precise in distinguishing conservative religious masculinities from hegemonic ones.

Religion and Fat = Protestant Christianity and Weight Loss? On the Intersections of Fat Studies and Religious Studies

This article introduces the special issue on religion and fat by providing an overview of the connections between fat studies and religious studies. We identify four areas of potential overlap: religion and the fat body; religion and embodiment more generally; religion, food, and eating; and religion, weight loss, and food restriction. We then introduce the articles in this volume, which focus largely, if not exclusively, on Protestant Christianity and weight loss. We conclude with a call for fat studies scholarship to take religion more seriously, and for scholarship on religion and fat to engage a broader range of questions and religious traditions.

Toward a Feminist Ethnography of Feminist Ethnography: A Response

In “The Feminist Ethnographer’s Dilemma: Reconciling Progressive Research Agendas with Fieldwork Realities,” we reflected on methodological tensions we each experienced when our feminist theoretical frameworks did not adequately explain what we observed and heard in the field.1 Our fieldwork consisted of multiyear ethnographic studies of three conservative, seemingly nonfeminist social spaces: orthodox Jewish women’s practices of menstrual purity, evangelical ex-gay ministries, and a state-sponsored marriage education program. In identifying this shared tension, we argued that feminism2 can operate as a blinder when our feminist political commitments to progressive social change—particularly the eradication of gender inequality—constrain our ability to analyze our data adequately and accurately. To address this tension, we advocated for institutional reflexivity, a supraindividual reflexive practice focused on interrogating the political and intellectual commitments learned through feminist ethnographic training that inform our fieldwork and analysis. Since we began writing about the feminist ethnographer’s dilemma in 2009, we have had the privilege of sharing our work in a variety of academic

Gender and Power in Contemporary Spirituality: Ethnographic Approaches

Alana Harris’s study of the Catholic Association “Catena”, which in the twentieth century changed from a masonic inspired association for Catholic middle-class men to a club for Catholic family fathers. These changes are in line with the deritualization of Catholic spirituality that followed in the 1960s. The normative status of heterosexuality in the ecclesiastical discourses is illustrated in Sean Brady’s article about constructions of masculinity in Northern Ireland. Brady explores how the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, which was institutionalized in militarized confessional blocs, contributed to maintain conservative attitudes in gender issues and a negative view of women’s emancipation. Whereas Protestant masculinity was loyalist, the Catholic ideals of manhood were characterized by a discourse of victimhood. In an analysis of the Anglican Church’s handling of sexual issues, Timothy Jones explores how church representatives engaged in pastoral questions contributed to develop a new approach to homosexuality, which helped to strengthen the rights of homosexuals in the United Kingdom and to challenge prevailing gender stereotypes. As Stephen Hunt explores, some of the new religious movements also performed this function, while others contributed to consolidating heteronormative ideals. Within non-Christian religious communities the gender ideals tend to be marked by a tension between a desire to preserve religious heritage and the quest to adapt to British society. This is illustrated in the chapters dealing with Indian Hindus, Pakistani Muslims and Jewish associations. These studies also reflect the generational conflicts between immigrants with strong roots in their own national culture and their children and grandchildren. An interesting example is given by Amanullah De Sondy in his chapter about Pakistani Muslim immigrant communities. He also shows how the Rushdie affair with its criticism of the Prophet Muhammad contributed to strengthen traditional Islamic gender ideology and related masculinity ideals. The generational perspective is highlighted also by Callum Brown. On the basis of interviews with non-believers, he argues that publicly manifested atheism was a male phenomenon, and that female non-believers rarely kept their atheism more private. This result is in line with his feminization theory and the connection between religiosity and femininity. The anthology illustrates that religious masculinity is an ambiguous phenomenon which can take diverse forms that change over time. It also shows how difficult it is to carry out research on this theme. Several of the contributions seem to have different focus from gender and masculinity, and the gender perspective sometimes appears rather superficial. Yet the book is very readable and gives an interesting insight into the cultural, political and social developments in an increasingly multicultural British society.

The Christian Dieter’s Dilemma: Abundance and Restriction in Two Christian Weight Loss Programs

Christian weight loss programs call on people to develop seemingly ascetic practices in the name of pleasing God by getting thin. But they also want to affirm a God who provides all good things to his people and who would never deprive them, especially of food. In order to be effective both as weight loss and as religious groups, these programs have to find a way to navigate this fundamental tension. The author examines two distinctive discursive approaches to resolving it: abundant eating within strict food guidelines, and extreme restraint while eating most pleasurable of foods.