gender, appropriation, and the afterlife of essentialism
- Categories
- Book/Boek
- Creator
- Crowley, Karlyn
- Publish Year
- 2011
- Shelfmark
- VS 8 2011 - B
- Thesaurus
- new age beweging, spiritualiteit, godinnenbewegingen, occultisme, feminisme, witte vrouwen, etniciteit, Verenigde Staten
- Description
- Why do New Age tokens and practices like Reiki, Tarot, goddess worship capture the imagination of so many women? How has New Age culture become even more appealing than feminism? And are the two mutually exclusive? By examining New Age practices from macrobiotics to goddess worship to Native rituals, the author seeks to answer these questions by examining white women's participation in this hugely popular spiritual movement. While most feminist approaches to the New Age phenomenon have simply dismissed its adherents for their politically problematic racial appropriation practices, Karlyn Crowley looks at the political shortcomings of New Age beliefs and practices while reckoning with the political and cultural motivations which have prompted New Age women's individual and collective spiritualities. New Age spirituality is in fact the dynamic outgrowth of a long-standing tradition of women's social and political power expressed through religious writings, art, and public discourse, and is key to understanding contemporary women's history and religion's role in modern American culture alike.