The Predominance of the Feminie Sexual Mode in Religion: Erikson's Contribution to the Sex and Gender Debate in Psychology of Religion

Abstract

Erik H. Erikson's theory of sexual modes is situated in recent gender research in the psychology of religion. Erikson distinguished two bodily modes of activity, called masculine and feminine because they are linked with male and female procreative organs. Yet both modes are available to men and women. As becomes clear in (especially) Young Man Luther (Erikson, 1958) and Gandhi's Truth (Erikson, 1969), these modes are of the utmost importance for understanding religious experience, behavior, and development. The feminine mode is the most fundamental one: It lies at the basis of religious experience, and it is important in communicating religious experience. After a discussion of different criticisms of Erikson's view-for example, the neglect of the role of socialization and the idealization of the feminine-it is concluded that his pheno- menologically colored theory of sexual modes is a useful tool in analyzing and under- standing the bodily dimension of religious experience and behavior.

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