Mysticism and gender

Lene Sjørup considers the somewhat problematic construct of women's religious experiences, more specifically, the mystical experience within women's lives. Mindful of womanist, mujerista, and Asian feminist theologies challenges to white feminists that feminist theology is often white and ethnocentric, she uses a qualitative sociological approach. Sjørup begins with the hypothesis that the interviewees' religious experiences would tend toward mystical experiences that she understands to be ineffable, noetic, transient, and passive. This is not intended to limit the possibility for other forms of mystical experience, however. Sjørup draws on the work of Charlene Spretnak, Carol Christ, and Hallie Iglehart lo help provide methodological and theoretical foundations for her study. She also explores the differences in the religious experiences of men and women and uses object relations theory as a way to understand how research on mysticism has been influenced by gender-specific attitudes. Finally, Sjørup questions the efficacy of continuing to follow traditional theological paradigms to understand the mystical and how it functions in the lives of women and men