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

Yip, Andrew Kam-Tuck; Page, Sarah-Jane

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 uestionnaires, 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.

Citation

Yip, A. K.-T., & Page, S.-J. (2014). Religious faith and heterosexuality: a multi-faith exploration of young adults. In R. L. Piedmont, & A. Village (Eds.), Research in the social scientific study of religion, Volume 25. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004272385

• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: May 12, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Book Title: Research in the social scientific study of religion, Volume 25
• ISBN: 9789004272255
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004272385
• Keywords: Heterosexuality, multi-faith, sexuality, religious faith, heteronormativity, marriage.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/727962
• Publisher URL: http://www.brill.com/products/book/research-social-scientific-study-religion
• Contract Date: May 12, 2016