Led by women, faith-based pregnancy centers constitute the largest segment of the movement to oppose abortion in the United States. These centers provide services for women but face criticism for offering assistance motivated and shaped by conservative religious views. In this article, I explore how evangelical staff at two faith-based centers in the western United States conceptualize their work as religious practice and reimagine “doing” evangelism. I draw upon observational, interview, and textual data to show how gender shapes the definition, (...) expression, and affective nature of evangelism. In “feminizing evangelism,” the centers challenge established evangelical practice to “share the gospel,” which necessitates spiritual regulation, a distinct form of emotional labor. In highlighting the emotional complexity of gendering religious practices, this article contributes to scholarly conversations at the intersection of gender, religion, and emotion. (shrink)

Scholars describe Global North feminisms as mostly ‘secular’ and often opposing religion. Contemporary feminist intersectional movements seem to offer different approaches able to overcome distances and articulate the role of religion in feminist emancipatory practice. This contribution explores the complex role of religion in intersectional feminist movements, drawing on the experiences of religious-feminist and secular-feminist women in Italy. The results highlight that religious women are increasingly part of feminist intersectional movements. Nonetheless, religious inequalities are often overlooked, and religion triggers ambivalent (...) reactions, often resulting in a process of othering minority women. (shrink)