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c h a p t e r 6 Gendered Patterns of Jewishness So far we have considered the Jewishness of the gendered patterns of family and labor force behavior and achievements by comparing American Jews with the broader population and, to some extent, examining the changes in this comparison (at least since 1990). In the second part of the book, we consider Jewishness in terms of the strength of various expressions of Jewish identity, and look at the relationships between Jewishness, family behavior, and labor force behavior and achievements. In this chapter we present our conceptualization of Jewishness and the gender differences in this respect. In order to consider the relationship between secular behavior and achievement and Jewishness, we need to devise a measure of “Jewishness ”—not a simple task. One can express one’s “Jewishness” in multiple ways—simply by being identified as a Jew (e.g., by being born to a Jewish mother and/or father, depending on who is doing the identifying), by identifying oneself as a Jew, by affiliating with other Jews in an organized setting (synagogue, voluntary organization, community center, youth group, etc.), by exhibiting ethnic and/or religious behaviors that are Jewish in nature (the identification of which is itself controversial), by holding beliefs or attitudes that are considered Jewish, or by any combination of these. The possible ways of defining “Jewishness” multiply and stimulate discussion and a variety of opinions. The 2000–01 National Jewish Population Survey attempted to incorporate a wide array of indicators of Jewish identity, so that multiple ways of defining or expressing “Jewishness” could be developed and examined. We used many of these indicators as we developed measures of Jewishness, which are presented in this chapter. This chapter also presents gender differences in Jewishness, as measured in a variety of ways. We begin the chapter with some background to our expectations of gender differences in Jewishness and then discuss our measures of Jewishness . We then present our findings of gender similarity and difference with 121 122 distinctive roles of women and men respect to Jewishness, and relate them to denominational preference and to formal Jewish educational background. gender differences in religious and ethnic identity Much attention has been given to the gender inequality of women in public religious positions of power, to their implied secondary status as expressed in theology, ideology, and language used in religion, and to their relegation to secondary domestic status in contemporary religions. All of these lead us to expect gender inequality in public expressions at least of religious identity . Nevertheless, women have traditionally been more strongly identified with religion than have men. This anomaly has sometimes been attributed to the fact that women are underprivileged (Weber’s, 1963 [1922], explanation , supported by Mueller and Johnson, 1975, and more recently by Hertel, 1995) or “socially vulnerable” (Walter and Davie, 1998) and thus, like other disadvantaged people, turn to religion as a compensation. Stark (2002) reviews how religious movements have historically recruited women more successfully than men, and how women outnumber men both in conventional and in new religious movements in the United States. (He suggests that risk aversion may be an explanation, although Schumm, 2004, debates this.) Rayburn (2004) confirms that women see themselves as more religious and more spiritual than men, and also as more spiritual even if they do not consider themselves religious. Ozorark (1996) suggests that women are more likely than men to belong to religions for social and emotional support , following their “ethic of connection” (Walter and Davie, 1998). Woolever, Bruce, Keith, and Smith-Williams (2006), analyzing data from 18 countries, found that women reported greater feelings of spiritual connection and faith than men, even when education was controlled for. Lefkovitz and Shapiro (2005) suggest that books and educational material that can be obtained on the Internet has increased their availability to groups previously denied access to them, reinforcing women’s involvement in religion. All of these studies support the expectation that American Jewish women will express stronger Jewish religious identities than men. It has also been suggested that because women are less immersed structurally in secular roles (such as careers) than are men, they maintain a connection to religion that men may lose (de Vaus and McAllister, 1987). This is reinforced by historical research, which suggests that Jewish women have played a greater role than men in the transmission of Jewish culture and identity, as men have focused their energy on acculturating themselves...

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