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Friday, January 01, 1999

Women Are Becoming Both More Religious & More Conservative

NEW YORK — As conservative religious organizations step up their involvement in political debates, a new national survey finds that women, while strongly committed to the principles of gender equality, are becoming increasingly religious and increasingly conservative on a number of social issues.

The survey of 1,000 women was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of the Center for Gender Equality, a research, education and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting women’s equality. The survey finds a high level of acceptance among women of religious involvement in national policy debates, and documents conservative attitudes among women on issues such as the appropriate roles of men and women at work and home, affirmative action, birth control, and abortion.

Women in the survey report that their religious involvement provides them with ethical standards, help with personal problems, and the feeling of being part of a supportive community. However, the same survey also illustrates that many women maintain a “shopping cart” approach to religion, accepting many of their denomination’s teachings, but discarding others that do not fit with their personal needs and experiences. For example, the survey clearly indicates that majorities of women make their own choices on personal issues including marriage, birth control and whether or when to have children, even if their decisions are in conflict with the teachings of their denominations.

Women in the survey voiced overwhelming support for equality between men and women, and sixty-eight percent of women surveyed said they believe more effort needs to be made to improve the status of women, highlighting the significance of the work of the Center for Gender Equality.

Commenting on the survey results, Faye Wattleton, a long-time advocate for women’s rights and president of the Center for Gender Equality said, “Much of what we see in this survey is disturbing. While support for gender equality remains strong, and while women say they receive many benefits from their religious involvement, it is also clear that women are becoming more conservative on a number of social issues as they become more involved with religion, and as conservative religious political activism increases.”

“The divide between religion and politics is drifting, if not crumbling,” Ms. Wattleton continued, “and the rights of women and the cause of gender equality is seriously affected by this shift in the political landscape. In recent years, many high profile public figures and commentators, including representatives of conservative religions, have campaigned to reverse the social advances made by women. In some cases, hard won gains in areas such as support for affirmative action programs and equal opportunity outside the home have been eroded.”

The telephone survey of 1,000 women across the U.S. was undertaken with the generous support of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Huber Foundation, and was designed with the guidance of an advisory group of national religious leaders, including John Buchanan, Pastor of Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church, Joan Brown Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Forrest Church, Senior Minister of New York’s Unitarian Church of All Souls, and Barbara Wheeler, President of Auburn Theological Seminary. The survey, the first in a series of studies to be commissioned by the Center for Gender Equality, will form part of the Centers new National Data Center on Women that will collect and disseminate information on the attitudes and opinions of women on a range of important issues.