God Gave Us The Right » (1st Edition)

What does it mean to be a religious conservative, particularly for a woman, in America today? Drawing on two years of ethnographic research in Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities, Christel Manning explores the diversity of views among women who have returned to tradition. Arguing that America has undergone profound cultural and economic changes in the last thirty years—changes that have created tension between women's lives and traditional gender roles—she demonstrates that conservative Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and Orthodox Jews negotiate those tensions in a variety of ways.

God Gave Us the Right examines how the religious communities profiled have been influenced by feminist values, and describes how these women negotiate gender roles at work, religious services, and at home. Manning explains how they deal with the contradictions arising from their attempts to integrate feminist and traditional norms. The comparative kaleidoscope that Manning presents of these women's views on feminism, however, shows them to be deeply rooted in the diverse theologies and historical experiences of their communities.

Library Journal

Manning (religious studies, Sacred Heart Univ.) has written a comparative study of women who have converted or returned to three different conservative religious communities: Catholic, orthodox Jewish, and evangelical Protestant. Her research challenges the popular view that conservative religious women as united in opposition to secular feminist goals. Through an exploration of these women's views on issues identified with secular feminism, from abortion and homosexuality to women's place in society, Manning shows the diversity of conservative responses. Especially interesting are the ways in which these women's stated attitudes often differ from those of the religious right's official leadership, as well as the degrees to which these women have integrated feminism into their own lives (despite a generally explicit opposition to the feminist movement). Manning observes these women in the context of their respective religious communities and explores their responses to feminism and other challenges of secular society. Suitable for academic libraries and women's studies collections.--Rachel Singer, Franklin Park P.L., IL