In the wake of the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, a great deal of attention has been given to her private life, exposing crass stereotypes held by some secular Americans about their devout compatriots. Prominent among these is the notion that religious women tend to be subservient to their husbands. Naomi Schaefer Riley and Hal Boyd point to research that suggests the opposite:
According to a report by the Wheatley Institution, . . . highly religious couples are more likely to say they make “major decisions” together. Survey data from eleven countries, including the United States, found a particularly strong correlation between shared decision-making and home-centered religious practices.
Couples who worship at home report fewer disagreements about finances. . . . And women in these relationships were also much more likely to say their partners were “forgiving,” “kind” and “responsible.” This doesn’t sound too dissimilar from, say, Amy Coney Barrett extolling her husband’s cooking in the Rose Garden.
Religious, home-worshipping couples also report greater relationship quality and stability, and they are three times more likely than less-religious peers to report a sexually satisfying relationship. The women don’t appear to be repressed; in fact, they’re generally more likely to say they’re happy and that their life has meaning and purpose.
In America, [at least], women still tend to be more religious than men, and they also tend to run the household more often than men. At home, they typically play a larger role in determining how and when holidays are celebrated, ritual meals served, and religious displays set up. . . . Indeed, it probably means that the men in these relationships are following their lead. Measured this way, then, a family’s religiosity may actually be a sign of a woman’s power, not her submissiveness.
More about: American Religion, Family, Supreme Court
