A simple difference of opinion? religious beliefs and gender gaps in public opinion in Canada

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Volumn 34, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 275-298

  O'Neill, Brenda ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035641123     PISSN: 00084239     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0008423901777906     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Ottawa, 1998. I thank Fred Cutler, Joanna Everitt, Richard Johnston, David Stewart and the anonymous JOURNAL reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.
2. For the purposes of this discussion, "liberal" refers to a general predisposition to support a strong government and welfare system, and to oppose a strong military superstructure and laissez-faire capitalism. "Conservative" refers to a predisposition to supporting military strength and the free market philosophy, a general distrust of authority and an overall opposition to strong government, except in its role in setting society's moral standards.
3. Joanna Everitt, "The Gender Gap in Canada: Now You See It, Now You Don't," Canadian Review of Anthropology and Sociology 35 (1998), 191-219.
4. Ibid.
5. Elisabeth Gidengil, "Economic Man-Social Woman? The Case of the Gender Gap in Support of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement," Comparative Political Studies 28 (1995), 384-408.
6. Women's educational attainment, however, is constantly improving. According to Statistics Canada, 12 per cent of all women aged 15 or over in 1996 held a university degree, up from 3 per cent in 1971. See Statistics Canada, "Women in Canada," The Daily, September 14, 2000 〈http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/ English/000914/d000914c.htm〉.
7. Everitt shows that from 1970 to 1991 gaps on these issues were weak and inconsistent ("The Gender Gap in Canada").
8. See, for example, Pamela Johnston Conover, "Feminists and the Gender Gap," Journal of Politics 46 (1984), 760-85.
9. Stanley Feldman, "Structure and Consistency in Public Opinion: The Role of Core Beliefs and Values," American Journal of Political Science 32 (1988), 418.
10. Joseph F. Fletcher and Marie-Christine Chalmers, "Attitudes of Canadians toward Affirmative Action: Opposition, Value Pluralism and Nonattitudes, Political Behavior 13 (1991), 67-95.
11. See, for example, Richard Johnston, Public Opinion and Public Policy in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986).
12. G. A. Rawlyk, Is Jesus Your Personal Saviour? In Search of Canadian Evangelicalism in the 1990s (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996), 113; emphasis in original.
13. For Canadian evidence, see Johnston, Public Opinion and Public Policy in Canada. For comparative evidence, see Bernadette Hayes, "The Impact of Religious Identification on Political Attitudes: An International Comparison," Sociology of Religion 56 (1995), 177-94.
14. For Canadian evidence, see Johnston, Public Opinion and Public Policy in Canada. For comparative evidence, see Bernadette Hayes, "The Impact of Religious Identification on Political Attitudes: An International Comparison," Sociology of Religion 56 (1995), 177-94.
15. Neil Nevitte, William P. Brandon and Lori Davis, "The American Abortion Controversy: Lessons from Cross-National Evidence," Politics and the Life Sciences 12 (1993), 19-30.
16. Reginald Bibby, Unknown Gods: The Ongoing Story of Religion in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1993), 23.
17. Reginald Bibby, Fragmented Gods: The Poverty and Potential of Religion in Canada (Toronto: Irwin, 1987), 100.
18. Jessie Bernard, The Female World (New York: The Free Press, 1981).
19. Jane Errington, "Pioneers and Suffragists," in Sandra Burt, Lorraine Code and Lindsay Dorney, eds., Changing Patterns: Women in Canada (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988), 67.
20. See Laurie A. Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," Gender and Society 10 (1996), 386-403; Pamela Johnston Conover and Virginia Sapiro, "Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War," American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993), 1079-99; Patricia Gurin, "Women's Gender Consciousness," Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (1985), 143-63; and Arthur H. Miller, Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin and Oksana Malanchuk, "Group Consciousness and Political Participation," American Journal of Political Science 25 (1981), 494-511.
21. See Laurie A. Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," Gender and Society 10 (1996), 386-403; Pamela Johnston Conover and Virginia Sapiro, "Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War," American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993), 1079-99; Patricia Gurin, "Women's Gender Consciousness," Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (1985), 143-63; and Arthur H. Miller, Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin and Oksana Malanchuk, "Group Consciousness and Political Participation," American Journal of Political Science 25 (1981), 494-511.
22. See Laurie A. Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," Gender and Society 10 (1996), 386-403; Pamela Johnston Conover and Virginia Sapiro, "Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War," American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993), 1079-99; Patricia Gurin, "Women's Gender Consciousness," Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (1985), 143-63; and Arthur H. Miller, Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin and Oksana Malanchuk, "Group Consciousness and Political Participation," American Journal of Political Science 25 (1981), 494-511.
23. See Laurie A. Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," Gender and Society 10 (1996), 386-403; Pamela Johnston Conover and Virginia Sapiro, "Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War," American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993), 1079-99; Patricia Gurin, "Women's Gender Consciousness," Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (1985), 143-63; and Arthur H. Miller, Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin and Oksana Malanchuk, "Group Consciousness and Political Participation," American Journal of Political Science 25 (1981), 494-511.
24. Joanna Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements," this JOURNAL, 31 (1998), 743-65.
25. Ibid.
26. Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," 399-400.
27. Ibid., 392.
28. Conover and Sapiro, "Gender, Feminist Consciousness, and War."
29. See Everitt, "The Gender Gap in Canada"; and Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements."
30. See Everitt, "The Gender Gap in Canada"; and Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements."
31. The 1993 Canadian Election Study was conducted by Richard Johnston, André Biais, Elisabeth Gidengil, Neil Nevitte and Henry Brady. The Institute for Social Research at York University carried out the fieldwork and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded the project. The original contributors of the data and the institutions involved bear no responsibility for the analysis and interpretations presented here.
32. A total of 18 respondents were eliminated from the original sample of 1,322 Canadians because of an inability to guarantee that the same respondent completed the three waves of the survey.
33. Women score higher than men on this measure in 9 of the 11 denomination categories recorded in the survey. None of the differences is statistically significant, however, due in part to the small sample sizes for some denominations.
34. Research suggests that the feeling thermometer provides a valid measure of feminist identity. See Rhodebeck, "The Structure of Men's and Women's Feminist Orientations," 390.
35. Cal Clark and Janet Clark, "The Gender Gap in 1988: Compassion, Pacifism, and Indirect Feminism," in Lois Lovelace Duke, ed., Women in Politics: Outsiders or Insiders? (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1993); and Cynthia Deitch, "Sex Differences in Support of Government Spending," in Carol M. Mueller, ed., The Politics of the Gender Gap (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1988). For Canada, see Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements."
36. Cal Clark and Janet Clark, "The Gender Gap in 1988: Compassion, Pacifism, and Indirect Feminism," in Lois Lovelace Duke, ed., Women in Politics: Outsiders or Insiders? (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1993); and Cynthia Deitch, "Sex Differences in Support of Government Spending," in Carol M. Mueller, ed., The Politics of the Gender Gap (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1988). For Canada, see Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements."
37. Cal Clark and Janet Clark, "The Gender Gap in 1988: Compassion, Pacifism, and Indirect Feminism," in Lois Lovelace Duke, ed., Women in Politics: Outsiders or Insiders? (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1993); and Cynthia Deitch, "Sex Differences in Support of Government Spending," in Carol M. Mueller, ed., The Politics of the Gender Gap (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1988). For Canada, see Everitt, "Public Opinion and Social Movements."
38. Specifically, 11 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men identified strongly with feminists; 21 per cent of women and 11 per cent of men agreed strongly to the existence of systemic discrimination in the job market; and 36 per cent of women and 21 per cent of men believed that feminists should have more influence.
39. c to p<.10.
40. Not all gays and lesbians desire the extension of legal marriage rights given concerns regarding an institution that is seen as patriarchal and heterosexual. The issue is nevertheless one of civil liberties in that it deals with the unequal access of homosexual couples to the legally denned and recognized status of "married" and the benefits and privileges that come with it.
41. See, for example, Conover, "Feminists and the Gender Gap"; and Sue Tolleson Rinehart, Gender Consciousness and Politics (New York: Routledge, 1992).
42. See, for example, Conover, "Feminists and the Gender Gap"; and Sue Tolleson Rinehart, Gender Consciousness and Politics (New York: Routledge, 1992).
43. Organized feminists in Canada have argued against the reinstatement of capital punishment, a position premised on a belief in the inviolability of human rights by individual governments. See Nandita Sharma, ed., The National Action Committee on the Status of Women's Voter's Guide: A Women's Agenda for Social Justice (Toronto: James Lorimer, 1997), 139.
44. See, for example, Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978). The measure employed here is a weak proxy for "mothering" per se, but one which allows us to compare the influence of parenting on women's and men's attitudes.
45. Vote is a valid, yet perhaps not perfect, measure of political ideology. At the very least, it provides a means of differentiating between respondents who voted for parties with differing positions on issues. An alternative proxy for political ideology - party identification - exists in the data set but the number of respondents claiming no party identification (28%) limits its usefulness as a measure of ideological position.
46. The omitted category includes the 52 respondents who answered "Other," "None" or "Don't Know" to the vote choice question. Including a separate dummy variable for these respondents did not significantly alter the results and the variable failed to enter significantly into any of the regressions. As a result, the respondents were included in the omitted Liberal voter category.