Women Religious

In the book The Restructuring of American Religion, the author, Robert Wuthnow, reports some significant statistics with regard to women and religion. According to the author, when surveyed, 46% of women say they have attended a religious service in the past 7 days, compared to 35% of men. Two thirds of women say they have read their Bible in the past month, compared to two fifths of men. In addition, 57% of women report giving a lot of thought to developing their faith, whereas only 37% of men report doing so.

Some historians have suggested, perhaps rightly so, that these differences may be because of the roles women play—mother, housekeeper, and guardian of traditional values—and therefore their affinity for religion may simply reflect their attachment to ...