The Syllabus is a column that features student opinions on timely national and international topics. We aim to highlight how evangelical students in the US are thinking about important issues and how the Christian faith informs their worldview. Students should use this link to submit a response for June’s prompt: “The US will celebrate its 250th birthday this summer. Amid our national divisions, how can Christians model an honest and charitable way of assessing and celebrating the country?” Responses are due by June 19.
For this column, students were asked, “More young men are saying religion is ‘very important’ to them. At the same time, religiosity is dropping among young women. What do you think is driving this trend?” Here is what they said:
The Divide Might Just Be Talk
These two trends are a bit deceiving. It is true that more young men than young women are saying religion is very important to them (42% and 29%, respectively). But talk is cheap. According to the Gallup article that explains this data, actual religious attendance is not meaningfully different between young men and young women (40% and 39%, respectively).
What is interesting in this data is that the gap between claiming religion is important and attending services at least monthly is significantly narrower for young men than for young women. Significantly more young women, as evidenced by attendance data, act as if religion is important than are willing to say it is. Is it possible religion might have a PR problem among young women?
I suspect that as religion, and specifically Christianity, becomes perceived in some circles as a more obvious dog whistle for certain types of masculinity or politics, the religion gender gap will continue to grow.
Even though these issues may be new in our lifetimes, they are certainly not new. The co-opting of the language of Christianity to advance a certain view of masculinity or politics crops up about once a generation—most recently with figures like Mark Driscoll. We also have older examples of political influence in the church. The separation of the Church of England from Rome was not initially theological but instead was motivated by Henry VIII’s desire to divorce his first wife in an effort to produce a male heir.
Ryan Mueller, graduate student at Wheaton College, history of Christianity
Young Men Are Looking for Community and Stability
According to a survey from the American Institute for Boys and Men, around 25 percent of men aged 18 to 34 say they often feel lonely, compared to 18 percent of young women.
At the same time, men are seeing societal changes. In the past few decades, traditional notions of masculinity have been heavily scrutinized in our society. “Toxic masculinity” has become a catch phrase, and masculinity in general is seen as regressive. This scrutinization has caused many to either feel isolated or lost.
Religion, including Christianity, gives men the tools to combat loneliness. It also offers men a strict, traditional set of values with which they can navigate their lives. And it provides them with a community in which they can be vulnerable, make close friends without fear of judgement, and seek meaningful connections.
Critics may argue men are embracing religion to share their grievances about society. However, attendance at religious services has risen among young men, which shows they are bought in and flocking to traditional values that can guide their lives.
Jay Shin, senior at Baylor University, finance and management
Many Christians Are Driving Young Women Away
From my perspective, this trend is due to changing social values and the way the church has responded.
For many reasons, young people today lack the traditional pathway for career, marriage, parenthood, and homeownership compared to previous generations. I think many young men are turning to religion or religious affiliation to find a sense of meaning amid the destabilization. Women face the same struggles, but they have also achieved more social equality than their grandmothers or great-grandmothers and tend to have a more positive view of singleness and self-sufficiency.
Instead of celebrating modern advances in women’s rights and advocating for the God-given agency of Christian women in their midst, many Christians have focused only on the sin and brokenness of the sexual revolution and doubled down on preaching traditional gender roles as the will of God. This has led many women to see religion not as a beacon of freedom but as another source of coercion, control, and oppression.
Rather than desperately trying to return to “the good old days” or finding different ways to minimize women, we must work to understand what young women value and harness their skills and ambition to further the kingdom of God.
Emily Rudacille, graduate student at Lancaster Bible College, social work
We Need a Better Conversation About the Trend
I currently run a young adults ministry in Jackson, Michigan, and see a hunger in young men for something of substance in their lives. They want to be intellectually engaged and build better families than the ones they had. I’ve seen a dawning recognition among them that the world doesn’t have much to offer them.
I also think many cultural figures like Jordan Peterson or Mark Driscoll are directing them to the church. I am thankful for that, but I believe there are some distortions in the vision of faith that come along with those voices.
Some men intellectualize the very real issues women deal with, providing binary answers to complex issues that impact women. Some women also know they are being courted so they can provide men the families they desire, making them feel like a means to an end. Because of these and many other reasons, many women are looking beyond the church for answers.
Overall, I think many men are driving the conversation in a way that alienates women. The rhetoric of the political right has infiltrated what’s being presented as the biblical vision for communities. It’s a complex topic but can be resolved in intentional communities committed to Jesus and his church above all else.
Josiah Miles, junior at Okanagan Bible College, biblical studies
Social Media Influencers Are a Big Factor
I believe the church is benefitting from a culture shift created by online health influencers who command billions of views across various social media platforms. Creators popular among young men, such as Andrew Huberman and Brendan Ruh, are preaching self-discipline, physical optimization, and purposeful living. They are creating an appetite for structure and sacrifice, and religiosity fits seamlessly into this lifestyle.
Before many young men ever go to church, they have already heard about discipline and living for something greater than yourself from these same influencers.
But social media looks very different for many—if not most—young women. Some of the biggest female influencers have built online communities with a big emphasis on therapy talk, the individual, overly sexualized imagery, and other ideas that are against biblical values. These communities are not all bad, but I do believe some of the messages are increasingly pulling young women away from the church.
So overall, I think the church is finding itself winning among young men through a cultural movement it did not create, while losing ground with young women through one it does not support.
Koy Hancock, senior at Baylor University, sales strategy in sports
The post What’s Widening The Religion Gender Gap? appeared first on Christianity Today.