Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles

Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles PDF

Author: Anita Spring

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1468424009

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This volume of essays grew out of a symposium organized by Judith Hoch-Smith and Anita Spring for the 1974 American Anthropological Association meetings in Mexico City. The two-part symposium was enti tled "Women in Ritual and Symbolic Systems: I. Midwives, Madonnas, and Mediums; ll. Prostitutes, Witches, and Androgynes. " The sym posium participants were asked to explore theological, ritual, and sym bolic aspects-both positive and negative-of the feminine cultural do main, using ethnographic materials with which they were familiar. The resulting papers have been revised, edited, and gathered together in Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles. The theoretical importance of these papers for the study of women's participation in culture and society rests on the assumption that reli gious ideas are paramount forces in social life, that relationships be tween the sexes, the nature of female sexuality, and the social and cul tural roles of women are in large part defined by religious ideas. That this proposition remains valid long after religion itself has ceased to be a living truth in the lives of many people can be seen from the tenacious ness of Judeo-Christian ideas about women in the contemporary West ern world. Both the expansion of life options for women and the creation of more positive cultural images of the female are intimately related to changes in the my tho-symbolic portraits that people carry around in their heads. These portraits are almost exclusively constructed from mythological and religious conceptions inherent in all facets of culture.

Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles

Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles PDF

Author: Anita Spring

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-12-12

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781468424027

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This volume of essays grew out of a symposium organized by Judith Hoch-Smith and Anita Spring for the 1974 American Anthropological Association meetings in Mexico City. The two-part symposium was enti tled "Women in Ritual and Symbolic Systems: I. Midwives, Madonnas, and Mediums; ll. Prostitutes, Witches, and Androgynes. " The sym posium participants were asked to explore theological, ritual, and sym bolic aspects-both positive and negative-of the feminine cultural do main, using ethnographic materials with which they were familiar. The resulting papers have been revised, edited, and gathered together in Women in Ritual and Symbolic Roles. The theoretical importance of these papers for the study of women's participation in culture and society rests on the assumption that reli gious ideas are paramount forces in social life, that relationships be tween the sexes, the nature of female sexuality, and the social and cul tural roles of women are in large part defined by religious ideas. That this proposition remains valid long after religion itself has ceased to be a living truth in the lives of many people can be seen from the tenacious ness of Judeo-Christian ideas about women in the contemporary West ern world. Both the expansion of life options for women and the creation of more positive cultural images of the female are intimately related to changes in the my tho-symbolic portraits that people carry around in their heads. These portraits are almost exclusively constructed from mythological and religious conceptions inherent in all facets of culture.

Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women

Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women PDF

Author: Julia Leslie

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9788120810365

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The considerable interest currently being expressed in women and religion has thrown down an important challenge; the need to see women not merely as the passive victims of an oppressive ideology but also perhaps primarily as the active agents of their own positive constructs. This book therefore aims to fill a notable gap in the literature. Twelve contributors study the role of women in Hindu religion by examining textual studies of the part played by women in a variety of religion rituals, both past and present, by exploring the socio-religious context of their various communites; and by using specialist material to draw on cross-cultural conclusions.

Women, Pain and Death

Women, Pain and Death PDF

Author: Evy Johanne Håland

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2009-10-02

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1443815179

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“Women, Pain and Death: Rituals and Everyday-Life on the Margins of Europe and Beyond” is a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary collection of articles representing different perspectives and topics related to the general theme Women and Death from different periods and parts of Europe, as well as the Middle East and Asia, i.e. areas where, through the ages, there have been a constant interaction and discourse between a variety of people, often with different ethnic backgrounds. The studies illustrate many parallels between the various societies and religious groupings, despite of many differences, both in time and space. The theme, death, is mostly seen from what have been regarded as the geographical margins of society as well as concerning the people involved: women. Thus, the articles, most of them presenting original material from areas which are not very known for English readers, offer new perspectives on the processes of cultural changes. The collection has important ramification for current research surrounding the shaping of a “European identity”, the marketing of regional and national heritages. In connection with the present-day aim of connecting the various European heritages, and developing a vision of Europe and its constituent elements that is both global and rooted, the work has great relevance. One may also mention the new international initiative on intangible heritage, spearheaded by UNESCO.

Religion

Religion PDF

Author: Meredith B. McGuire

Publisher: Waveland Press

Published: 2008-04-10

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 147860963X

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In this insightful examination of religions in their local and global context, the author shows how analyzing religions social context helps us understand individuals lives, social movements, national and ethnic politics, and widespread social changes. Well-researched and theory-based, the text is filled with intriguing anecdotes, empirical data, thought-provoking discussions of both mainstream and nonofficial religions, and historical and contemporary examples that illustrate the interplay between religion and society across cultures. This volume takes an integrated approach to examining religion and includes cross-cultural, historical, and methodological viewpoints. Readers will learn to identify the complex interactions between religion and societal contexts, as well as the ways in which these interactions shape individuals, communities, national politics, and the world.

Human Rights, Race, and Resistance in Africa and the African Diaspora

Human Rights, Race, and Resistance in Africa and the African Diaspora PDF

Author: Toyin Falola

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-10-04

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1134849478

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Africans and their descendants have long been faced with abuse of their human rights, most frequently due to racism or racialized issues. Consequently, understanding shifting conceptualizations of race and identity is essential to understanding how people of color confronted these encounters. This book addresses these issues and their connections to social justice, discrimination, and equality movements. From colonial abuses or their legacies, black people around the world have historically encountered discrimination, and yet they do not experience injustice opaquely. The chapters in this book explore and clarify how Africans, and their descendants, struggled to achieve agency despite long histories of discrimination. Contributors draw upon a range of case studies related to resistance, and examine these in conjunction with human rights and the concept of race to provide a thorough exploration of the diasporic experience. Human Rights, Race, and Resistance in Africa and the African Diaspora will appeal to students and scholars of Ethnic and Racial Studies, African History, and Diaspora Studies.

Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God

Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God PDF

Author: Leslie C. Orr

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0195099621

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Through the use of epigraphical evidence, Leslie C. Orr brings into focus the activities and identities of the temple women (devadasis) of medieval South India, and suggests new ways of understanding the character of the temple woman -- and of the role of women in Indian religion and society.

Birthing Justice

Birthing Justice PDF

Author: Julia Chinyere Oparah

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-12-22

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1317277201

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There is a global crisis in maternal health care for black women. In the United States, black women are over three times more likely to perish from pregnancy-related complications than white women; their babies are half as likely to survive the first year. Many black women experience policing, coercion, and disempowerment during pregnancy and childbirth and are disconnected from alternative birthing traditions. This book places black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternity system and foregrounds black women's agency in the emerging birth justice movement. Mixing scholarly, activist, and personal perspectives, the book shows readers how they too can change lives, one birth at a time.

Number Our Days

Number Our Days PDF

Author: Barbara Myerhoff

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1980-05-09

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 0671254308

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Anthropologist Myerhoff's penetrating exploration of the aging process is brilliant sociology--as well as living history--that tells readers about the importance of ritual, the agonies of aging, and the indomitable human spirit. "(The book) shines with the luminous wit of old age".--Robert Bly.

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