Questioning the Conversion Paradox: Gender, Sexuality, and Belonging amongst Women Becoming Jewish, Christian, and Muslim in the Netherlands

What does it mean to join a religion as a woman in the Netherlands? How do female converts negotiate questions of gender and emancipation? This dissertation analyses the experiences of Dutch women who became Jewish, Christian, or Muslim. A persistent stereotype about these women is that by converting, they give up their emancipated status, and that religion mainly limits women’s freedom. This work criticizes and nuances this image based on thorough qualitative research into the experiences of female newcomers themselves. Instead of asking why they joined Judaism, Christianity or Islam, it stud... Mehr ...