Queer women and religious individualism / Melissa M. Wilcox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilcox, Melissa M., 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lesbians--California--Los Angeles.

Lesbians.

Lesbians--Religious life--United States.

Lesbians--United States--Social conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (292 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, IN : Indiana University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Melissa M. Wilcox explores the complex spiritual lives of queer women in the Los Angeles area. She takes the reader on a tour of a colorful array of religious and secular groups that serve as spiritual resources for these women -- from the well-known Metropolitan Community Churches to Wiccan covens, from the Gay and Lesbian Sierrans to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Arguing that these women's stories are exemplary cases of postmodern patterns of religious identity, belief, and practice, Wilcox offers a nuanced analysis of contemporary Western spirituality and selfhood, and a detailed exploration of the history of queer religious organizing in Los Angeles. Queer Women and Religious Individualism is important reading for scholars in religious studies, sociology, women's studies, and LGBT studies.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Map of Los Angeles

1 Beyond the Congregation

2 Setting the Stage: Historical Contexts

3 Queering the Spiritual Marketplace

4 Negotiating Religion: Continuity, Conversion, Innovation

5 Tiles in the Mosaic: Organizations as Resources

6 Building a Mosaic: The Sacred (and the) Self

7 Queer Women, Religion, and Postmodernity

Appendix A. Biographical Summaries

Appendix B. Methods and Methodological Considerations

Appendix C. Interview Schedules

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-266) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-53986-8

9786612539862

0-253-00402-0

OCLC:

647899477