Intersectionality and the Construction of the Normative Religious Self: The Case of Protestant Women in Prison

• In Event: 2253 - Religion

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that “doing religion” involves “doing gender.” Using the case of female inmates—some of the most disadvantaged Americans—this paper shows that “doing religion” is not only gendered, but also deeply intertwined with race and class. Data from 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork on religion inside a U.S. state women’s prison reveal that religious volunteers—predominately middle class African American women—preached feminine submissiveness and finding a “man of God” to marry to embody religious ideals. However, these messages were largely out of sync with the realities of working class and poor incarcerated women, especially given their temporary isolation from the marriage market and the marital prospects in the socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods to which many inmates will return. These findings suggest that scholars must pay attention to how race, class, and gender define dominant discourses around the religious self and must consider the implications for stratification for those who fail to fulfill this dominant ideology.

Author

• Rachel Ellis, University of Missouri-St. Louis