The intersections of religion, gender and sexuality. The case of Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim women’s lived religion and agency
Author | Affiliation |
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Date | Start Page | End Page |
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2025 | 219 | 219 |
The presentation presents the results of PhD qualitative research (2021–2025) on the livedreligion and agency of practicing Lithuanian Catholic and Lutheran women as well as of thecomparable qualitative data on practising Lithuanian Muslim women from the ReliGen(“Religion and Gender Equality. Baltic and Nor dic Development”) project (2021–2024).They demonstrate how these women find the meaning of life and agency in traditionalreligion. The PhD research shows that for Lithuanian Lutheran women, as members of aunique historical religious minority, involvement in various activities in the church isextremely important, through which they perform their female and Lutheran identities, and so(additionally) give meaning to their lives and position themselves in Lithuanian society.Lithuanian Catholic women, as members of dominant reli gion, practise their faith andleadership more for themselves and self-improve ment. Islam provides Lithuanian Muslimwomen with an agency personally, through family and community, but rarely through acareer, which can serve more as an area of personal autonomy, despite of religion.Both studies reveal where the women stand on the axis of conservative and liberal values (asregards the issues related to gender and sexuality, i.e., abortion and LGBTQIA+ rights). Although many women, especially Muslims, tend to be more conservative, still their stanceon the issues can be complex in the country, which remains one of a very few in the EuropeanUnion, that has not ratified the Istanbul Convention on gender-based violence or adoptedLGBTQIA+ partnership or marriage law.