Gender, Catholicism, and Morality in Brazil: Virtuous Husbands, Powerful Wives (Contemporary Anthropology of Religion)

225 Pages·2010·1.54 MB·English

by  Maya Mayblin

CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION
A series published with the Society for the
Anthropology of Religion
Robert Hefner, Series Editor
Boston University
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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Gender, Catholicism, and Morality in Brazil: Virtuous Husbands,
Powerful Wives
Maya Mayblin
Gender, Catholicism, and
Morality in Brazil
Virtuous Husbands, Powerful Wives
Maya Mayblin
GENDER, CATHOLICISM, AND MORALITY IN BRAZIL
Copyright © Maya Mayblin, 2010.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–62312–5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mayblin, Maya.
Gender, Catholicism, and morality in Brazil : virtuous husbands, powerful
wives / Maya Mayblin.
p. cm.—(Contemporary anthropology of religion)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978–0–230–62312–5 (alk. paper)
1. Christian sociology—Brazil—Pernambuco. 2. Catholic Church—
Brazil—Pernambuco. 3. Marriage—Brazil—Pernambuco. 4. Sex
role—Brazil—Pernambuco. 5. Christian sociology—Catholic Church.
6. Marriage—Religious aspects—Catholic Church. 7. Sex role—Religious
aspects—Catholic Church. 8. Pernambuco (Brazil)—Religious life and
customs. I. Title.
BX1467.P4M39 2010
306.6'34165098134—dc22 2009035740
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: March 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
For Magnus, my virtuous husband.
To marry without love is not a sin, but to die without having
learnt to love is.
—Seu Luis, fifty-four years old, Santa Lucia
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 The Land and the People 17
2 Marriage in Santa Lucia 41
3 T he Bearing of Burdens: Suffering, Containment, and
Healing 67
4 Working to Sweat: Labor, Narrative, and Redemption 95
5 V irtuous Husbands, Powerful Wives: Marriage and
the Dangers of Power 121
6 From Innocence to Knowledge 147
Conclusion 177
Notes 183
Bibliography 193
Index 207
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Figures
1.1 Map of region 18
1.2 Trabalhador lifting hay 26
1.3 Santa Lucian woman 40
3.1 Rezadeira measuring patient’s chest 81
3.2 Rezadeira weeping 82
6.1 Casamento de matuto 167