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Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies
Women’s presence and role in contemporary mosques in Western Europe is debated within and outside Muslim communities, but research on this topic is scarce. Applying a feminist lens on religion and gender, this article situates the mosque as a socially constituted space that both enables and constrai...
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| Format: | Default Article |
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2019
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/37788 |
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| _version_ | 1818168268685312000 |
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| author | Line Nyhagen |
| author_facet | Line Nyhagen |
| author_sort | Line Nyhagen (1254288) |
| collection | Figshare |
| description | Women’s presence and role in contemporary mosques in Western Europe is debated within and outside Muslim communities, but research on this topic is scarce. Applying a feminist lens on religion and gender, this article situates the mosque as a socially constituted space that both enables and constrains Western European Muslim women’s religious formation, identity-making, participation, belonging, and activism. Informed by qualitative interviews with twenty Muslim women residing in Norway and the United Kingdom, the article argues that women’s reflexive engagement simultaneously expresses compliance with, and challenges to, male power and authority in the mosque. It contends that a complex practice of accommodation and resistance to “traditional” gender norms is rooted in the women’s discursive positioning of “authentic Islam” as gender equal. While men typically inhabit positions of religious and organizational power in mosques, the article also suggests the importance of male allies in women’s struggles for inclusion in the mosque. |
| format | Default Article |
| id | rr-article-9475022 |
| institution | Loughborough University |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| record_format | Figshare |
| spelling | rr-article-94750222019-05-14T00:00:00Z Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies Line Nyhagen (1254288) Other human society not elsewhere classified Other language, communication and culture not elsewhere classified Authentic Islam Imams Inclusion Mosque governance Mosques Muslim women Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified Women’s presence and role in contemporary mosques in Western Europe is debated within and outside Muslim communities, but research on this topic is scarce. Applying a feminist lens on religion and gender, this article situates the mosque as a socially constituted space that both enables and constrains Western European Muslim women’s religious formation, identity-making, participation, belonging, and activism. Informed by qualitative interviews with twenty Muslim women residing in Norway and the United Kingdom, the article argues that women’s reflexive engagement simultaneously expresses compliance with, and challenges to, male power and authority in the mosque. It contends that a complex practice of accommodation and resistance to “traditional” gender norms is rooted in the women’s discursive positioning of “authentic Islam” as gender equal. While men typically inhabit positions of religious and organizational power in mosques, the article also suggests the importance of male allies in women’s struggles for inclusion in the mosque. 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/37788 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Mosques_as_gendered_spaces_The_complexity_of_women_s_compliance_with_and_resistance_to_dominant_gender_norms_and_the_importance_of_male_allies/9475022 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Other human society not elsewhere classified Other language, communication and culture not elsewhere classified Authentic Islam Imams Inclusion Mosque governance Mosques Muslim women Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified Line Nyhagen Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title | Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title_full | Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title_fullStr | Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title_short | Mosques as gendered spaces: The complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| title_sort | mosques as gendered spaces: the complexity of women’s compliance with, and resistance to, dominant gender norms, and the importance of male allies |
| topic | Other human society not elsewhere classified Other language, communication and culture not elsewhere classified Authentic Islam Imams Inclusion Mosque governance Mosques Muslim women Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/37788 |