Creative Conformity: The Feminist Politics of U.S. Catholic and Iranian Shi'i Women

by Elizabeth M. Bucar

Much feminist scholarship has viewed Catholicism and Shi'i Islam as two religious traditions that, historically, have greeted feminist claims with skepticism or outright hostility. Creative Conformity demonstrates how certain liberal secular assumptions about these religious traditions are only partly correct and, more importantly, misleading. In this highly original study, Elizabeth Bucar compares the feminist politics of eleven US Catholic and Iranian Shi'i women and explores how these women contest and affirm clerical mandates in order to expand their roles within their religious communities and national politics.

Using scriptural analysis and personal interviews, Creative Conformity demonstrates how women contribute to the production of ethical knowledge within both religious communities in order to expand what counts as feminist action, and to explain how religious authority creates an unintended diversity of moral belief and action. Bucar finds that the practices of Catholic and Shi'a women are not only determined by but also contribute to the ethical and political landscape in their respective religious communities. She challenges the orthodoxies of liberal feminist politics and, ultimately, strengthens feminism as a scholarly endeavor.

Genres: Islam, Nonfiction, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2011

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where many of us assume that Islam and Christianity are created and defined by men, and that the most faithful women are the most obedient, Bucar shows seemingly traditionalist women taking ownership of religion, and demonstrating it to the world their way.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains excellent material and very respectful to its subjects, but is written in an extremely academic style that makes it borderline unreadable. Great source, but don't try to read it cover-to-cover unless you're realllllly into this subject.