Degree Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Chrisy Moutsatsos
Abstract
This research explores the relationships between religious experience and gender identity among contemporary Pagans in America. Personal experience, specifically spiritual experience, is fundamental in how Pagans described not only their spirituality but also their identities. In a social context where the mind is viewed as sacred and the body as profane, contemporary Pagans are challenging hegemonic beliefs. Through linguistic adaptation and linguistic appropriation, men and women in the Pagan community outline new identities for themselves. In the same way that Pagans understand their spirituality through bodily experience, gender and sexuality are also understood through personal experience. Because of the primacy of experience contemporary Pagans have created new frames for understanding, discussing and validating forms of gender and sexuality that are often framed as "alternative."
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31274/etd-180810-377
Copyright Owner
Holly R. Raabe
Copyright Date
2009
Language
en
Date Available
2012-04-06
File Format
application/pdf
File Size
139 pages
Recommended Citation
Raabe, Holly R., "Witches, heathens and shamans: Religious experience and gender identity among contemporary Pagans in the United States." (2009). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10129.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10129
