Abstract
Religion is a significant aspect of culture that informs or dismantles the construction of patriarchy. Studies have suggested that many middle-class Asian American women interpret religious teachings in ways that allow them to live out the freedom to be themselves. Additionally, engagement in religious communities allows some middle-class Asian American women to gain more power and autonomy in their marriages, resulting in rejection of the demands that traditional expectations might impose on them. However, there is little known about whether working-class Asian American women view religion the same way middle-class Asian American women do. This chapter presents research findings on the complex ways that working-class Korean immigrant women living in the United States navigate patriarchal marriages through the lens of evangelical Christianity. Clinically, it is critical for family therapists to be aware of class-specific strategies used by religiously devout working-class Korean American women with the aim of renegotiating patriarchal positioning of gender.
This is a revised version of Kim, S. (2010). Korean American women navigating marriage through evangelical Christianity. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 41(5), 735–748. This chapter is reprinted with permission of the Journal of Comparative Family Studies, all rights reserved. Do not copy or print in any format. Copyright Journal of Comparative Family Studies.”
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Kim, S. (2017). Through Religion: Working-Class Korean Immigrant Women Negotiate Patriarchy. In: Quek, KT., Fang, SR. (eds) Transition and Change in Collectivist Family Life. AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50679-1_3
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