'Gezegend onder de vrouwen': rituele genezeressen in katholiek Minas Gerais, Brazilië

Samenvatting

Most studies of women in Roman Catholicism emphasize sexual repression, subordination, & passivity. In contrast, attention is given here to women's active participation in healing rituals, their creative role as symbolizers, & their deftness in maneuvering to gain access to sources of ideological power. A special relationship to the supernatural is one of the few roads to power & prestige open to women in a small town in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Following orthodox precepts by verbal acquiescence, & exemplary behavior, some women during the last decades have achieved a legitimation of traditional healing practices formerly condemned by the clergy. Overt or radical changes in the balance of power between the sexes are not advocated, or even tolerated, & in many ways F healers often confirm & underpin the status quo. Yet, within given constraints, they enhance the prestige of women by demonstrating a way to convert powerlessness into power. For individual F clients they often achieve practical advantages. 37 References. Modified HA