Recently, I’ve started to examine gender dynamics inside my Meeting. As I began I started from the premise that every religious gathering reflects the particulars of the larger world outside it. I’ve contemplated many of these, but I haven’t examined one specific facet of this in much detail until recently. In participation, active membership, and consistent attendance, women significantly outnumber men. In the Young Adult Friend group which I help organize, the most consistently involved members are female. Men often seem reluctant to take the plunge, nervously circling and re-circling the outskirts, hanging back, anxiously sailing around the perifery. Male participation is often minimal and short-lived. There is no in-between here. The few who do come to stay often become fixtures of the group, but they are always in the minority.
Tag: church
Jan 22 2008
Of Race, Religion, Church and State
Race, religion and the intertwined aspects of freedom, justice and ethical prosecution of due process within a democratic framework seem to always evoke a variety of reactions among people — sometimes violent, sometimes vehement, and sometimes quite touching and sublime.
In addition to the regular interactive dance of race, religion and ethics that we see in everyday life and through our media filtes, we also have a new horizon to explore — the one afforded to us through the use of “new media” such as the blogosphere.
Two examples worthy of your attention and your help with dissemination are now posted over on ePluribus Media. Make the jump for more details.