Page - 45 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 01/01

(Re)Making a Difference | 45www.jrfm.eu 2015, 1/1, 45–56 Mia Lövheim (Re)Making a Difference Religion, Mediatisation and Gender aBsTraCT This article presents and discusses how mediatisation as a theory can be used to analyse two commercial videos, one promoting the organisation Catholics Come home and the other Coca Cola. a core question in the current debate on mediatisation and religion concerns if and how mediatisation changes not only the social forms of communication about religion but also the meaning of religion in society. The issue in focus for the analy- sis is whether these videos mirror attributes and roles traditionally associated with men and women within religious institutions or offer an alternative to these. By using gender as a lens, we can see that mediatisation challenges religious institutions to adapt their narratives and symbols to commercial media culture, but that also within this new set- ting some traditional female gender norms seem to remain or even become reinforced. KeyWOrDs mediatisation, gender, commercial videos, religious media, banal religion, hybrid event BiOGraPhy Mia lövheim is professor of sociology of religion at the faculty of Theology, Uppsala University, sweden. her research has focused on religious and gender identity among youth, particularly in online discussion groups and blogs, and on religion in the lives of youth. More recently she has studied representations of religion in the swedish daily press, within the projects The Role of Religion in the Public Sphere: A Compara- tive Study of the Five Nordic Countries (NOrel), The Resurgence of Religion?! A Study of Religion and Modernity in Sweden with the Daily Press as Case and the comparative Scandinavian project Engaging with Conflicts in Mediatized Religious Environments (CoMrel). she is a steering group member of the linneaus Center of excellence and research programme The Impact of Religion: Challenges to Society, Law and Democracy at Uppsala University. she has been the coordinator of the Nordic Network for Media and religion and is currently Vice-President of the International Society for Media, Re- ligion and Culture (isMrC). her recent publications include Mediatization and Religion. Nordic Perspectives (edited with S. Hjarvard), 2012 and Media, Religion and Gender: Key Issues and New Challenges, editor, 2013.