Abby Day
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198739586
- eISBN:
- 9780191802546
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739586.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Religion and Society
The book draws on ethnographic fieldwork, cross-cultural comparisons, and theories exploring the beliefs, identities, and practices of ‘Generation A’—Anglican laywomen born in the 1920s and 1930s, ...
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The book draws on ethnographic fieldwork, cross-cultural comparisons, and theories exploring the beliefs, identities, and practices of ‘Generation A’—Anglican laywomen born in the 1920s and 1930s, often described as the ‘backbone’ of the Church and likely its final active generation. They attend the mainstream churches every Sunday, polish the brasses, organize fund-raisers, keep the church open on weekdays, bake cakes, and visit vulnerable people in their homes. Their labour not only populates the physical space of the church but helps ensure its continuity. Generation A laywomen have remained largely invisible in previous work on institutional religion in Euro-American countries, particularly as the focus on religion and gender has turned to youth, sexuality, and priesthood. This book is timely as the female Christian Generation A is on the cusp of a catastrophic decline in mainstream Christianity that accelerated during the ‘post-war’ age. The age profile of mainstream Christianity is increasingly ageing, with Generation A not being replaced by their children or grandchildren. A two-year project has produced an analysis, complemented by wider comparisons, that shows what it means to be a religious woman of Generation A. Findings challenge the stereotype of worthy, dutiful carers who just happen to raise a generation stereotyped as highly individualized, unchurched, and selfish. The study reveals more complex personalities, values, and behaviours. Generation A is characterized by certain habits and dispositions, particularly a desire for a relationship with a church-based spiritual authority that supports the sacred institutions of their day: church, nation, and family.Less
The book draws on ethnographic fieldwork, cross-cultural comparisons, and theories exploring the beliefs, identities, and practices of ‘Generation A’—Anglican laywomen born in the 1920s and 1930s, often described as the ‘backbone’ of the Church and likely its final active generation. They attend the mainstream churches every Sunday, polish the brasses, organize fund-raisers, keep the church open on weekdays, bake cakes, and visit vulnerable people in their homes. Their labour not only populates the physical space of the church but helps ensure its continuity. Generation A laywomen have remained largely invisible in previous work on institutional religion in Euro-American countries, particularly as the focus on religion and gender has turned to youth, sexuality, and priesthood. This book is timely as the female Christian Generation A is on the cusp of a catastrophic decline in mainstream Christianity that accelerated during the ‘post-war’ age. The age profile of mainstream Christianity is increasingly ageing, with Generation A not being replaced by their children or grandchildren. A two-year project has produced an analysis, complemented by wider comparisons, that shows what it means to be a religious woman of Generation A. Findings challenge the stereotype of worthy, dutiful carers who just happen to raise a generation stereotyped as highly individualized, unchurched, and selfish. The study reveals more complex personalities, values, and behaviours. Generation A is characterized by certain habits and dispositions, particularly a desire for a relationship with a church-based spiritual authority that supports the sacred institutions of their day: church, nation, and family.
Abby Day
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198739586
- eISBN:
- 9780191802546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739586.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Religion and Society
Several theories seek to make sense of women’s religiosity, usually to explain why women seem to be more religious than men. This chapter reviews common theses (biology, deprivation, risk profile, ...
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Several theories seek to make sense of women’s religiosity, usually to explain why women seem to be more religious than men. This chapter reviews common theses (biology, deprivation, risk profile, and socialization), and discusses their relevance. A particular theme is ‘generation’, which is difficult to generalize given the vast diversity of women studied. Not a homogeneous group, the majority have attended since childhood, but others joined later in life. Nevertheless, evidence about wartime, nation rebuilding, post-war austerity, domestication, and the consumerist boom help draw broad strokes to characterize qualities of Generation A and its influence on subsequent generations. There is a tension between the historic work of women missionaries, women priests, and laywomen. Women often performed dangerous and challenging work as missionaries, both working to spread the gospel and also, through organizations such as the Mothers’ Union, to inculcate an image of the civilized white woman in British colonies.Less
Several theories seek to make sense of women’s religiosity, usually to explain why women seem to be more religious than men. This chapter reviews common theses (biology, deprivation, risk profile, and socialization), and discusses their relevance. A particular theme is ‘generation’, which is difficult to generalize given the vast diversity of women studied. Not a homogeneous group, the majority have attended since childhood, but others joined later in life. Nevertheless, evidence about wartime, nation rebuilding, post-war austerity, domestication, and the consumerist boom help draw broad strokes to characterize qualities of Generation A and its influence on subsequent generations. There is a tension between the historic work of women missionaries, women priests, and laywomen. Women often performed dangerous and challenging work as missionaries, both working to spread the gospel and also, through organizations such as the Mothers’ Union, to inculcate an image of the civilized white woman in British colonies.
Melinda A. Mills
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781479802401
- eISBN:
- 9781479802432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479802401.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
In the concluding chapter of the book, the author poses the question, “Where do we go from here?” as a means of interrogating and exposing the (false) promises projected onto multiracial people. In ...
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In the concluding chapter of the book, the author poses the question, “Where do we go from here?” as a means of interrogating and exposing the (false) promises projected onto multiracial people. In constructing a narrative of racially mixed people as “bridge builders,” society conveyed its hopes for members of the “two or more races” population to do the work of an entire nation. Quite the imposition for “Generation E.A.,” the consequence of bearing such a burden was, arguably, some inevitable failure. To this point, the author reflects on how hopeful projections about demographic trends have all but dashed grand visions of a post-racial utopia in the United States. More often than not, multiracial people are reinforcing, rather than blurring, racial lines.Less
In the concluding chapter of the book, the author poses the question, “Where do we go from here?” as a means of interrogating and exposing the (false) promises projected onto multiracial people. In constructing a narrative of racially mixed people as “bridge builders,” society conveyed its hopes for members of the “two or more races” population to do the work of an entire nation. Quite the imposition for “Generation E.A.,” the consequence of bearing such a burden was, arguably, some inevitable failure. To this point, the author reflects on how hopeful projections about demographic trends have all but dashed grand visions of a post-racial utopia in the United States. More often than not, multiracial people are reinforcing, rather than blurring, racial lines.
