Women in the Presence

Women in the Presenceis a study of the religious lives of middle-class laywomen. Focusing on the ways in which the members of one Bible study group for women at a suburban Presbyterian church articulate their beliefs and define their communicative boundaries, the book reveals a style of managing privacy, diversity, and fellowship that displays distinct strengths and poignant prohibitions. Based on eighteen months of participant-observation fieldwork, complemented by extensive individual interviews, Jody Shapiro Davie shows that often the deepest beliefs of group members are voiced only indirectly and that crucial elements of their personal beliefs are not discussed at all among the group.

Jody Shapiro Davie is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Drew University and recently was Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of American Religion at Princeton University.