Religion made me free: Cultural construction of female religiosity

Abstract

The cultural constructions of what “religious woman” means usually imply gender and religion as reified entities. Such constructions have prominent place in the social life of a society. Narratives of women of Catholic and Muslim faith in Italy allow us to analyse the meaning-making processes involved in defining themselves as women, as human beings and as religious persons. Being immersed in a religious belief system enhances empowerment through―and not in spite of―feelings constrained to the faith. Cultural psychology of religious feelings needs to understand the processes involved in religious commitment, as this is strongly related to the cultural discourse about other interrelated human differences―such as gender―and the renovated demands for metaphysical sense-making in post-modern era. The present study revealed the particular elaboration of personal narratives about how these women use religion to approach differences and similarities in society, as well as to stress the local and multifaceted construction related both to religion- and gender-belonging.