Надежда Белякова 
кандидат исторических наук; старший научный сотрудник
Института всеобщей истории РАН; доцент НИЯУ МИФИ;
доцент кафедры истории и философии медицины Первого МГМУ им. И.М. Сеченова
(Сеченовский университет) (Москва, Россия).
beliacovana@gmail.com

Gender Strategies and Disciplinary Practices in Religious Communities. Introduction

Nadezhda Beliakova 
Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences;
National Nuclear Research University (Moscow, Russia).
beliacovana@gmail.com

Igor Mikeshin 
St. Petersburg Center for the History
of Ideas (St. Petersburg, Russia).

igor.mikeshin@anthro.ru

What is the mechanism of construction and implementation of masculinity and femininity, family and sexuality in various religious communities? Strategies and disciplinary practices, especially related to gender, play a paramount role in all religious cultures. Individual piety and sin are regarded through the prism of proper sexual behavior and precise definition of the role of every gender in a theological discourse. The images of a “real man” and “real woman,” the ideal modes of interrelations and family models are constructed on the basis of various norms, implicit precepts and prohibitions. Gender strategies are impacted with social and political conditions, ecclesiology, hermeneutics, and are changing under circumstances and social changes. This paper introduces the special issue dedicated to the practices of constructing, legitimization, reflection, and maintaining gender norms and values in religious communities.