Femmes, mères et prêtres dans l’église d’Angleterre:quels sacerdoces

Cet article entend analyser la façon dont les femmes prêtres ayant des enfants ont été intégrées dans l'Église d'Angleterre. C'est en 1992 qu’a été autorisée l'ordination des femmes et en 1994 que les premières ont été prononcées. Comme cet article le montrera, les femmes prêtres sont confrontées à de multiples discriminations dans l’Église d’Angleterre, qui est structurellement réticente à la féminisation. Notre étude se concentre plus particulièrement sur la situation des mères, qui sont encore plus rudement mises à l’épreuve. La question du corps, celui de la femme enceinte comme celui de la mère qui allaite, apparaît très problématique au sein de l’Église. Les femmes prêtres ne sont en effet pas des professionnelles comme les autres, leur mission relève en même temps du domaine du sacré, ce qui complique le processus de féminisation, par rapport à d’autres univers professionnels

Altruism and sacrifice:Anglican priests managing ‘intensive’ priesthood and motherhood

Motherhood and Priesthood are two roles that carry with them particular expectations and demands; both are premised on the notion of altruism and sacrifice, constant availability, and putting the needs of others before one’s own (Carroll et al. 1983; Hayes 1996; Peyton and Gatrell 2013; Thorne 2000). This has also been gendered; sacrifice and altruism have traditionally been connected with women (Hays 1996). This article will examine what happens when clergy mothers simultaneously enact the roles of priesthood and motherhood, and how this is managed in the context of ‘intensive’ motherhood and priesthood. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 clergy mothers in the Anglican Church, it will highlight the contradictions, negotiations and interweaving which occurs for both roles to be concurrently enacted, offering a contextual insight into the management of motherhood vis-à-vis professional life

Rights-based claims made by UK anti-abortion activists

This article analyzes the ways in which rights-based arguments are utilized by anti-abortion activists in the UK. Drawing on an ethnographic study featuring 30 abortion clinic sites, anti-abortion marches, and other campaigns, we argue that rights-based claims form an important part of their arguments. In contrast to the way in which human rights law has been interpreted to support abortion provision, anti-abortion activists seek to undermine this connection through a number of mechanisms. First, they align their arguments with scientific discourse and attempt to downplay the religious motivation for their action. While this is an attempt to generate greater credibility for their campaign, ultimately, the coopting of scientific arguments actually becomes embedded in their religious practice, rather than being separate from it. Second, they reconfigure who should be awarded human rights, arguing not only that fetuses should be accorded human rights but also that providing abortion to women goes against women’s human rights. This article is important in showing how rights claims are religiously reframed by anti-abortion activists, and what the implications are regarding debates about access to abortion services in relation to religious rights and freedom of belief

The gendering of heterosexual religious young adults’ imagined futures

This article draws from a mixed-methods project that examined religion, youth, gender, and sexuality among young women and men aged between 18 and 25, from various religious traditions, and living in the UK. It charts how unmarried heterosexuals imagined their future lives in relation to marriage and parenthood. We deploy conceptual literature on ‘imagined future’, which is under-used in the sociology of religion, to explore what difference, if any, religious belonging makes to the futures the participants imagined. We assert that religion is part of their cultural tapestry, which broadly informed their values and actions. In other words, religion, as a component of culture, provides a ‘tool kit’ which they used in imagining futures that they deemed meaningful. This article contributes significantly to literature on gender and religious cultures and imagined future, highlighting the complex and interweaving role religion played in the way young adults in this study imagined their future gendered lives

Raising ‘True Believers’: Anti-abortion ‘education’ for primary children in the UK

In the UK, the vast majority of people accept abortion, whether or not they are religious. Holding an absolutist anti-abortion view is out of line with the general population. The overwhelming majority of anti-abortion activists are motivated by conservative Christian religious beliefs, not necessarily shared by others in their faith communities. Their minority position, and ageing population, poses issues for the continuance of the anti-abortion movement, creating a need for specific anti-abortion religious socialisation that is unavailable elsewhere. Drawing on data from a longitudinal ethnographic study of anti-abortion activism, this article highlights the ways in which anti-abortion activists seek to develop anti-abortion values among primary-aged children. It illustrates their conflict between the need to develop a strong anti-abortion identity and involving children in potentially controversial discussions on abortion. We use the framework of lived religion to argue that, while much attention has been given to the concerns about children in minority religions, this has resulted in a lack of attention to the diversity of practices within mainstream religious communities, and how controversial forms of socialisation are managed

Understanding Young Adult Muslim and Christian Attitudes toward Queer Identity: A Canadian and UK Comparison

This article utilises data from two parallel mixed-methods projects to examine attitudes to queer identity among heterosexual Muslim and Christian young adults aged between 18 and 25 in Canada and the UK. Drawing on questionnaires, interviews and video diaries, our analysis revealed the enormous complexity regarding how participants made sense of their, largely contextually mediated, attitudes. A qualitative approach enabled us to carefully consider how these attitudes are forged, formulated and embodied, offering greater nuance and detail compared with attitudinal approaches focused solely on quantitative data. Responses by these young Muslim and Christian participants explore the fluidity and movement in the attitudes expressed, further emphasising complexity

Navigating youth transitions as a buddhist:Privilege, reflexivity and sexuality

This article focuses on how young Buddhists (aged between 18 and 25, living in the UK, who typically had not been raised Buddhist) utilised reflexivity as a strategy to navigate youth transitions. Participants’ decision-making was premised on Buddhist ethics of avoiding harm, cultivating compassion, and embracing diversity. They scrutinised their actions to ensure they positioned themselves ethically in their everyday lives, particularly regarding sexuality. This reflexivity had a positive impact at the individual level, enabling them to construct a coherent biographical narrative. Yet, analysing this through the sociological lens of advantage and disadvantage, we posit that these accomplishments were facilitated by certain classed privileges. Their Buddhist identity was cultivated because of, rather than in spite of, their existing privileged location in the social strata, resulting in a consolidation of their already-privileged biographies. Our arguments are based on an in-depth mixed-method project which encompassed questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and video diaries

The construction of masculinities and femininities in the Church of England:the case of the male clergy spouse

The ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England in 1994 signified great change. The impact of the new priests was well documented, and their integration became the focus of much research in the following years. One important area of change was the altered dynamics of gender identity. New roles had opened up for women, but new identities had also emerged for men. While women priests were a new historical emergence, so too were clergy husbands. This paper will consider the historical construction of masculinities and femininities within the church and will go on to look at this in the context of clergy spouses, specifically focusing on men occupying this role. Some provisional findings, acting as work in progress, will be considered