The larger empirical record offers little support for sweeping claims of harm and substantial evidence that religious participation is linked to women’s flourishing. Indeed, devotedly religious women tend to enjoy better mental health, better physical health, live significantly longer lives and enjoy better social and relational health.
In response to a recent article by Susan R. Madsen's in the Salt Lake Tribune raising concerns about the way women experience gender and authority in religion, Wheatley Fellows Shima Baughman and Loren Marks contributed an op-ed to the Salt Lake Tribune emphasizing the positive impacts of religion—as increased religious involvement is linked to significantly better mental, physical, and social health for attendees, independent from gender and authority structure.