Project (D. Min.)--Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, 1988. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-120).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, May 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Orientador: Leonardo Lemos de Souza / Banca: Wiliam Siqueira Peres / Banca: Luis Felipe Rios do Nascimento / Resumo: A pesquisa aqui apresentada consiste no desdobramento da investigação de iniciação científica realizada durante o ano de 2016, cujo o propósito foi mapear os papéis de poder desempenhados por mulheres afro-religiosas de uma determinada família espiritual. Referente ao percurso atual, nosso objetivo prioritário foi cartografar atravessamentos de gêneros e sexualidades que compõem os processos de subjetivação de mulheres consagradas a Iemanjá. Tivemos, ainda, a pretensão de averiguar questões pertinentes às práticas corporais vivenciadas nas festas e demais liturgias do grupo. Ao total, foram entrevistadas quatro mulheres candomblecistas consagradas a divindade acima citada. As entrevistas foram organizadas por um roteiro composto por cinco grandes eixos temáticos. Como ferramenta ética e metodológica, utilizamos a cartografia aplicada à psicologia social. As entrevistas foram gravadas e, posteriormente, transcritas. Assim sendo, foi possível realizar o manejo cartográfico com o material coletado, de maneira a propor diálogos entre a teoria e as experiências relatadas pelas mulheres. Nossa bibliografia básica contemplou, principalmente, estudos que versam sobre o culto às/aos orixás no Brasil e questões de gêneros e sexualidades. Ademais, nos propomos a experimentar conceitos trabalhados por Michael Foucault, na fase de sua obra conhecida como Genealogia da Ética. Sobre as discussões resultantes dessa trajetória, apontamos para o fato de que deusa fornece modelos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The following research consists of the unfolding of the undergraduate research, carried out in 2016, that had as purpose the mapping of the power roles played by Afro-religious women from a particular spiritual family. Regarding the current route, our priority goal was to map crossings of gender and sexuality that make up the subjectivation processes of women consecrated to Iemanjá. We also had the intention of investigating pertinent issues related to the body practices experienced in the parties and other liturgies of the group. In total, it was interviewed four consecrated candomblecist women to the aforementioned divinity. The interviews were organized by a script composed of five major thematic axis. As an ethical and methodological tool, we use cartography applied to social psychology. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed. Thus, it was possible to perform the cartographic management with the collected material, to propose dialogues between the theory and the experiences reported by the women. Our basilar bibliography included mainly studies on the worship of orishas in Brazil and issues of gender and sexuality. Besides, we propose to experiment concepts worked by Michael Foucault, in the phase of his work known as Genealogy of Ethics. About the discussions resulted from this trajectory, we point to the fact that Goddess provides models of identification, especially regarding the performances of femininity. The research participants take divinity... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

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Protestant nuns, Stiftsdamen, fulfilled a unique role in early modern Lutheran society. This papers focuses on the implied social roles and expected virtues of Protestant nuns [Stiftsdamen] in the works of male Lutheran pastors who supported Protestant theological positions that promoted marriage as the proper place for women, and yet who also praised unmarried female monastics in funeral sermons [Leichenpredigten]. Lutheran pastors wrote funeral sermons for both Stiftsdamen and married women, funeral sermons display similarities or differences between what virtues, characteristics, and displays of piety for women. A comparison will also be made between funeral sermons for Stiftsdamen and those written for Catholic nuns by Catholic clergy. Convent necrologies, written by Catholic abbesses will also be used to compare what virtues were expected of female religious. Also included is an examination of nuns’ writings about theology, their doctrinal reasons for remaining Catholic, leaving the cloister, and adapting their convent life to fit Lutheran teachings. Damenstiften preserved access for women to positions of authority and self empowerment. These women were, however, different from earlier female religious communities and from Catholic nuns living in other Lutheran areas. Protestant Stiftsdamen had more contact with outside society than cloistered Catholic nuns due to the desire of Lutherans to incorporate these women into their communities. An analysis of the perception of Stiftsdamen by Lutheran pastors and the nuns' consciousness of their own position, duties, and piety is the cornerstone of this new research on gender and religion in early modern Germany. The perpetuation of Protestant convents into the seventeenth century is only briefly documented by historians who focus instead on the religious experience of women in Germany during and directly following the Reformation. Catholic examples of female piety will contribute to the understanding of female religious and their role in society at large. In conclusion, this research displays how Stiftsdamen were praised for the same virtues as early modern married Protestant women and Catholic nuns in funeral sermons, but were not specifically praised as female religious by male Lutheran pastors.

In the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, the character of Morgan le Fay was transformed dramatically from her Welsh original, the goddess Modron. The effect was to vilify the enchantress so that medieval Christians would not be sympathetic to her character. This study consults the oldest available Welsh mythological and historical texts as well as the medieval romances surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Also consulted are some of the top contemporary Arthurian scholars. By unraveling Morgan’s transformation and the reasons for such change, it is revealed that medieval demonizing of old pagan deities was not limited to male deities. Instead, the most ancient deity of all, the Great Mother Goddess slowly became one of the most infamous characters in literature, Morgan le Fay.

The main premise of this study is that while gender justice is enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa and in the declared statements of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), in practice gender justice receives minimal attention in this church. The existing ‘gender policy’ of the MCSA, which is a mere recommendation, endorses an equitable representation of women, youth and men at every level of Church governance. Since this ‘policy’ is couched in the language of ‘recommendation’, this study argues that a gap continues to exist between policy and practice in the MCSA. Using Letty Russell’s (1993) ‘Table Fellowship’ analogy in her book Church in the Round – Feminist Interpretation of the Church, and Musimbi Kanyoro’s subsequent (1997) In Search of a Round Table: Gender Theology and Church Leadership, the discussions in this thesis focus on ‘the Table’ of the Church. The research question this study seeks to address is: Why does the MCSA continue to marginalise and exclude women, even though its mission is to be a church of healing and transformation and its gender policy is meant to prevent such marginalisation and exclusion? Hence, the objectives of this study are firstly, to demonstrate the ways in which the MCSA continues to be patriarchal in its ecclesiological practices and secondly, to analyse the reasons why the MCSA remains steeped in patriarchy. In order to respond to the research question this study utilises a feminist ecclesiological theoretical framework, which examines and analyses the MCSA’s source documents, its liturgies and its hymns. The theoretical framework is also used to consider the stories of five Methodist women from a narrative perspective. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Sacred Scripture, Church Tradition, Human Reason and Personal Experience – was engaged in this research, when deemed relevant. Transformative models of being church, that will enhance and enable the healing and transformation that the MCSA has declared to be its mission, are proposed in the conclusion, thus fulfilling the third objective of this study. It is here where the hope for gender-healing in the MCSA is expressed, along with a dream that this study will be ‘one more voice’ that is heard. Key Terms: African Feminist Theology; African Feminist Ecclesiology; Gender Justice; Gender Policy; Women in Ministry; Church Women’s Organisations Community; Healing and Transformation; Women’s Narratives; Feminist Leadership Principles; Ecclesiological Practices; Alternative Models of Being Church; Circle Leadership Styles; The Methodist Church of Southern Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.