Religious/secular discourses and practices of good sex

This article focuses on the triangulation of sexuality, religion and secularity in Dutch society by analysing two contemporary case studies. We focus on sexual experiences and practices rather than sexual identities to further understand the constructions of what constitutes 'good' sex. The empirical research is situated in the Netherlands, where the binary of religion and sexual regulation versus secularity and sexual freedom has been dominant in both public and political discourse for a long time. Exploring sexual practices and narratives as central to the constitution of both religious and secular selves, we noted these to be fluctuating, inconsistent and subject to discourses. Our first case study discusses sexual experiences of non-heterosexual Protestant women, whereas the second explores the frequently considered 'neutral' notions of secularity in sexual education. Applying insights from both religious studies and queer studies, we bring the empirical study of sexuality together with the theoretical debates about the conceptualisation of the secular and the religious in contemporary Western Europe.This comparative approach to sexuality not only undermines the culturally presumed exclusive opposition of the secular and the religious but it also provides new empirical contributions for understanding the interactions between sexual practices and sexual discourses

Women wearing the tallit : tracing gender, belonging, and conversion of new Jewish women

This chapter draws on ethnographic fieldwork, to see how conversion materialises in daily ritual practice for Jewish women, within the ritual use of the prayer shawl (tallit). It starts from the argument that conversion is not merely a change in worldview, but is a material and bodily process. Conversion to Judaism involves learning of practices and commitment to synagogue life. This process of self-making is directly related to questions of gender and inclusion in religious practices, such as wearing the prayer shawl during shabbat service. Historically, women have been excluded from this practice in orthodox forms of Judaism, but it became a main marker of inclusion and gender equality in liberal synagogues in the Netherlands. For converted women in the Jewish diaspora of the Netherlands, wearing the tallit in service can be a confirmation of their Jewishness, but is more often met with ambivalence. This chapter starts from these various prayer shawl practices to trace broader questions of belonging. It asks not only how this object is used, but also which types of gender discourses, pious desires, and notions of agency are expressed through the use (or lack thereof) of a tallit

Gender, gioer en gebedssjaals. Het gebruik van een talliet door nieuwe liberale Joodse vrouwen

This article analyses the use of a prayer shawl by Liberal Jewish women who did a giyur (‘conversion’) in the Netherlands. One of the defining features of Liberal Judaism is the renewed interpretation of certain commandments in Jewish law. In these communities women are permitted to take on certain roles and tasks traditionally reserved for men. A symbol of this change is the use of a prayer shawl, a tallit, during services on Shabbat. However, the practice of women wearing a tallit is disputed and was often discussed amongst the newcomers I interviewed. For some wearing a prayer shawl marked the full inclusion in Judaism after a long and challenging conversion process, whilst others were hesitant or even opposed to wearing a tallit for various reasons related to gender norms. This article analyses the different uses of a prayer shawl by my research participants as an illustration of the varying gender norms in Liberal Judaism as well as the role of gender in giyur trajectories

Esther Fuchs, Jewish Feminism : Framed and Reframed

In Jewish Feminism, Esther Fuchs reflects on the developments in Jewish Feminist scholarship over the past decades. In just over two hundred pages Fuchs maps a wide field of research in Jewish studies. Two types of work are included, those by self-defined scholars of Jewish feminism; and main anthologies that thematically deal with gender and Judaism. Fuchs’ methodology is a form of “critical retrospective”, which is a close reading of anthologies