Religious faith and heterosexuality:a multi-faith exploration of young adults

Abstract

This paper examines the understandings and practices of 515 heterosexual religious young adults living in the UK in terms of their religious faith and sexuality. It presents qualitative and quantitative data drawn from questionnaires, interviews, and video diaries. Four themes are explored. First, participants generally understood sexuality in relation to sacred discourses. Second, regardless of gender and religious identification, the participants drew from religious (e.g. religious community) and social (i.e. friends) influences to construct their sexual values and attitudes. Third, the religious and familial spaces within which the participants inhabited were structured by heteronormative assumptions. Thus, the participants must negotiate dominant norms, particularly those pertaining to marriage and sex within it. Finally, the paper focuses on married participants, offering insights into their motivations for, and experiences of, marriage. Overall, the paper demonstrates that, like their lesbian and gay counterparts, heterosexual religious young adults also had to manage various competing and mutually-reinforcing sexual and religious norms in constructing a meaningful life.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004272385_007
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Sociology and Policy
Uncontrolled Keywords: Heterosexuality,multi-faith,sexuality,religious faith,heteronormativity,marriage
ISBN: 978-90-04-27225-5, 978-90-04-27238-5
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2024 08:07
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2014 12:30
Full Text Link: http://booksand ... 89004272385s007
Related URLs:
PURE Output Type: Chapter (peer-reviewed)
Published Date: 2014-06
Authors: Yip, Andrew Kam-Tuck
Page, Sarah-Jane (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-6879-536X)

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