What Gender Values Do Muslims Resist? How Religiosity and Acculturation Over Time Shape Muslims’ Public-Sphere Equality, Family Role Divisions, and Sexual Liberalization Values Differently

Abstract

Populist voices argue that Muslim migrants’ religion would cause them to denounce all aspects of women’s equality and sexual liberalization, no matter how long migrants have lived in Western Europe. Previous quantitative studies have refuted claims that Islamic religiosity necessarily begets gender traditionalism and that migrants would not become more progressive over time. However, existing studies have not yet addressed the assumption of uniformity in “gender egalitarianism.” The present study argues that individuals’ religiosity and acculturation over time shape support for public-sphere equality, progressive family role divisions, and sexual liberalization in different ways. EURISLAM data on 4,000 Muslim migrants show that different gender values are indeed driven by varying mechanisms and develop differently. Over time and generations, Muslim migrants’ support for public-sphere equality and sexual liberalization swell, but their support for progressive family roles dwindles. Religiosity hardly reduces support for public-sphere equality, more strongly curbs progressive family roles, and most strongly stifles sexual liberalization. These differences magnify over the years after migration; religiosity’s already weak and inconsistent obstruction to public-sphere equality further dulls, while its stronger opposition to sexual liberalization intensifies. Altogether, varying gender values differ to such an extent that any conclusion on “the gender traditionalism” of Muslim migrants should be viewed suspiciously.