Course information

In recent years, probably every media outlet has run a story about “tradwives” such as Nara Smith or @ballarinafarm, who share advice on homemaking, ridiculously elaborate recipes, and their thoughts on faith and gender roles to millions of followers. In the fall of 2025, the German-speaking internet erupted over a podcast appearance of model and influencer Millane, who argued that Christian women needed to submit to their husbands. Meanwhile, conservative and right-wing influencers from various religious traditions build an audience by negatively commenting on queer-friendly initiatives in churches. Gender and religion, already highly charged and controversial subjects, seem to be even more explosive on social media.

In the seminar, we will read foundational social-scientific texts on gender, along with relevant literature from the field of religion and gender. We will then discuss these texts with regard to examples of religious social media influencers – hijabi fashion influencers, Mormon tradwives, evangelical feminists, trans and non-binary pastors… Paying particular attention to aspects of authority, authenticity, and identity, we will examine the specifics of performing gender and religion on social media while exploring social media influencing in a historical context of media usage and authority structures in religion. We will look into historic precedents of “tradwives,” analyze how women have long used media to gain authority in patriarchal religious contexts, and observe how the topic of gender often works as a “symbolic glue” between conservative religious milieus and the political right. In the process, we will also touch on methodological aspects of social media research and try out some strategies for conducting social media research.

The seminar will therefore equip you not only with basic knowledge on the area of religion and gender and insights into the religious social media influencer landscape, but also with an overview of methods for researching social media and the ability to carry out small research projects during your studies. In the seminar, we will mostly discuss Christian and Muslim influencers as examples, but students can of course bring their own ideas and interests.