Media and religion through the lens of feminist and gender theory

Abstract

Although gender comes out as a marginal theme when reviewing the mainstream publications in media, religion and gender so far, it would be wrong to say that research within the field has not been influenced by insights from and issues raised within feminist and gender theory. Nevertheless, this contribution to the narrative of the field largely remains to be revealed. Against this background, the aim of this chapter is to provide a review of research about media and religion that has focused on gender. As pointed out in the introduction an analysis of gender can be conducted in several ways. The next chapter by Lynn Schofield Clark and Grace Chiou will focus on feminist orientations in the methodologies of previous research. In this chapter, the focus will be on theoretical approaches to gender. Epistemology, or questions about the nature and production of knowledge,has been a core concern of feminist research since its beginnings. Starting from the experiences of women, feminists have argued that knowledge is not neutral but situated (Hartsock 1983). Knowledge is produced by individuals in particular personal, social and historical situations and in positions with more or less ability to act and make their voices heard. Furthermore, feminists argue that gender is one of the key factors shaping these situations and positions. Thus, knowledge is deeply connected to identity, social relations and to power and agency. This concern has shaped the ways in which feminist researchers approach theory, as theories are concerned with defining, structuring and explaining empirical phenomena or life as we experience it. Thus, theory shapes how we make sense of and explain the social world as well as perceive our position and ability to act in it. In line with this concern this chapter will highlight conceptions of genderand ways of accounting for gendered patterns in media representations and practices in previous studies. Following a feminist concern with analyzing enduring gender inequalities and the causes and consequences of these a key concern has been to look for studies that go beyond describing gender differences toward an analysis of relations between gender and power, value and agency (see Gill 2007: 8, 25). The review is based on a survey of books and articles from the mid 1990s until the completion of this volume.1 This periodparallels the establishment of media, religion and culture as a research field. The early 1990s also marks an important shift in feminist media studies through the introduction of new theoretical approaches following the enhanced diversity of representations of gender in the media (Gill 2007: 19, 38, Gauntlett 2002: 90). The chapter starts out with a short recollection of some key debates and concerns actualized by these developments, followed by a review of previous work on gender, media and religion focusing on how these issues have been addressed. The concluding part summarizes tendencies in theoretical approaches used for analyzing media, religion and gender so far, and points to some issues that are still in need of further consideration.