One of the presuppositions of the present research is that readers and their contexts play a significant role in the interpretation of biblical texts. The key text of this thesis is Proverbs 31: 10-31 and the main readers are African women in a kyriarchal South African (Northern Sotho) context. Given their context of a multiplicity of oppressive forces ( racism, sexism, classism and African culture), how can these women read Proverbs 31: 10-31 appropriately with a view to their liberation? The researcher proposes a new woman's liberationist perspective, a Bosadi perspective, a perspective committed amongst others, to the African-ness of the African woman in South Africa. The question is: If Proverbs 31:10-31 is read from a Bosadi (Womanhood) perspective, how will the Northern Sotho women in a South African context find the text - a text emerging from a kyriarchal Hebraic culture? Will they find it to be oppressive or liberative or will it be found to be containing both elements? The present researcher, like many reformist women liberation biblical scholars (cf some feminists and womanists ), argues that though the Bible emerged from patriarchal cultures, and contains elements oppressive to women, it also has liberative elements. Through the use of socio-critical hermeneutics, reception criticism and historical-criticism, evidence supporting this came to light as the present researcher re-read Proverbs 31:10-31 from a Bosadi critical perspective. It is therefore argued that when the Bible was used by the previous proponents of apartheid to subordinate people of other races, Black Theologians re-read the Bible from a Black perspective and used it for the racial liberation of Black South Africans. Likewise, an average South African woman, particularly an African woman, is basically a victim of male interpreters who use the Bible to subordinate women. It is the task of all African women to take the responsibility upon themselves to use appropriate tools in re-reading the Bible in order to discover that the Bible does not only alienate them, it is also the liberating word; the word which makes more sense to them because of their relationship with the Word which became flesh (Jn 1:1). / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study investigates the social and religious roles of women in Ancient Israel. The thesis comprises of four parts. Chapter 1 focuses on the role of women in an anthropological perspective. We take a look at how women were perceived within the pre-industrial communities. Israel did not live in a vacuum but was part and parcel of the ancient Near Eastern cultural world. Chapter 2 therefore focuses on the role of women in Egyptian and Assyrio-Babylonian cultures. Her social, economic, political and religious roles are under investigation. In Chapter 3 the focus shifts to the role of women within the social organisation. A short overview with a few examples demonstrates where the role of women expands beyond that of social organisation. This role, which could be described as a "political function", was only allocated to a few privileged women. Chapter 4 deals with the religious role of the Israelite women. This chapter forms the other focus point of the study. The religious activities of women within the official, popular and familiy religious spheres are examined. Chapter 5 presents a brief summary of the main conclusions of the study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word ondersoek ingestel na die sosiale en religieuse rol van die vrou in Oud-Israel. Die tesis bestaan uit vier dele: In Hoofstuk I word aandag gegee aan die rol van die vrou in antropologiese perspektief. Hier word nagegaan hoe die vrou gesien is in pre-industriële gemeenskappe. Omdat Israel nie in 'n vakuum geleef het nie, maar 'n integrale deel van die ou Nabye Oosterse kultuurwêreld was, word daar in Hoofstuk 2 op 'n oorsigtelike wyse op die plek van die vrou in die kulture van Egipte en Assirië- Babilonië gekonsentreer. In Hoofstuk 3 verskuif die fokus na Israel en word nagegaan watter rol die vrou in die sosiale organisasie gehad het. Daar word ook kortliks gekyk na voorbeelde waar die rol van die vrou wyer gestrek het as die engere familie kring. Hierdie rol, wat getipeer sou kon word as 'n tipe "politieke funksie", was egter net vir 'n paar vroue beskore. Hoofstuk 4 handel oor die religieuse rol van die vrou in Israel. Hierdie hoofstuk vorm die ander fokuspunt van die studie. Daar word gekyk na die aandeel van die vrou in die offisiële religie, die populêre religie en die familie-religie. In Hoofstuk 5 word die belangrikste bevindinge van die ondersoek kortliks saamgevat.

This thesis will examine the issues of women's spirituality, suffering, their survival in the midst of suffering. These issues will be examined in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa within a Christian framework looking at issues of faith and spirituality. More particularly the Methodist church will be examined, looking at key aspects of its spirituality and how that might have contributed and provided for its women. Two of the Methodist Women's organisations, the Women's Manyano and the Women's Auxiliary will be looked at; their history and significant aspects of their programmes and structures that have led them to be important places for the women who are part of them. The thesis will seek to determine how the Methodist Women's organisations have impacted the spirituality of two women especially when they have gone through difficult times. The lives of these two women are examined through conversations the author has with them. In particular the author will examine particular circumstances of these women and seek to set them against a background of their spirituality and in particular whether their particular Methodist organisation played any role during this time. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This descriptive study investigates the link between religion, (institutional and private) identity (ethnic and personal) and the community (Portuguese and South African) in the context of religious and cultural pluralism. It analyses sixteen Portuguese women in Durban - nine Roman Catholics, five Protestants and two agnostic and it is executed within the framework of the theory of conditionalism or 'radical relationality', as expounded by J.S. Kruger. The religious practice, experience and identity of the participants are explored, and their social integration as well as famiIy and marital relationships (with special reference to submissiveness) are examined in the light of Catholic Feminist theology. The influence of their experiences on their religion and vice-versa, as well as the fluidity of their identities are analysed. The. results of the study highlight the paradoxical role of religion, as well as a decline in ethnic identity and Catholicism. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. Th. (Religious Studies)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:21:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria de Lourdes dos Santos.pdf: 22200619 bytes, checksum: 8be9d8dfc461204769bbf220c43ca901 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work aims to introduce the Soka Gakkai International Brazil (BSGI) Women´s Division, a lay organization constituted by followers of Nichiren Buddhism, which promotes a movement for peace through culture and education under the leadership of Daisaku Ikeda. The Women´s Division, formed by adult women, is the association s biggest division, and its members, the majority being non-Japanese descendant, dedicate great part of their time to the spreading of Buddhism and the socialization in the BSGI activities. This research intended to answer the following questions: Who are these BSGI women members, who dedicate in the front of these activities even though not holding leading functions? How much has the Japanese culture influenced these women in their performance and status inside the organization? What makes these women keep going? The result of this work was based on an evaluation of the organization since its founding in Japan, in 1930, up to the present date. As a transplanted organization, the focus of this analysis was both the influence the Japanese had on the running of the organization and on the status held by its women members. Questionnaires, interviews and field research were employed for this purpose. The conclusion revealed that the denomination queen of happiness encourages these women to improve their self-esteem and to reach a world beyond their ordinary daily lives in the outskirts. Moreover, the principle of the oneness of mentor and disciple also encourages them to cope with any prejudice and stereotyping that may emerge in the organization itself / Este trabalho busca apresentar a Divisão Feminina da Associação Brasil Soka Gakkai Internacional (BSGI), uma organização formada por leigos que professam a fé no Budismo de Nitiren e promove um movimento pela paz por meio da cultura e da educação, sob a liderança de Daisaku Ikeda. A Divisão Feminina, formada por mulheres adultas, é a maior da entidade, e suas integrantes, em sua maioria mulheres comuns sem ascendência japonesa, dedicam boa parte de seu tempo no movimento de propagação e social da BSGI. Nossa pesquisa pretendeu responder às questões: quem são as mulheres que compõem a BSGI que, mesmo não estando na liderança, se dedicam em suas atividades como principais promotoras? Até que ponto a cultura japonesa tem influenciado essas mulheres em sua atuação e posicionamento na organização? O que move essas mulheres? Apresentamos o resultado da pesquisa que analisou desde sua formação, em 1930 no Japão até os dias atuais. Como uma organização transplantada, verificamos a proporção da influência japonesa na posição que as mulheres ocupam na entidade. Para tanto, distribuímos questionários às integrantes e realizamos entrevistas, além de pesquisa participativa. Percebemos que ser rainha da felicidade ajuda essas mulheres a elevar a autoestima e transitar num mundo além de seu cotidiano na periferia das cidades. E a unicidade de mestre e discípulo as faz sobrepor qualquer tipo de preconceito e discriminação existente na entidade

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-12-05T13:18:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elise G. B. M. Rivas.pdf: 3552936 bytes, checksum: f7b8bcdf7f4a70bdd8671da3133040c6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-05T13:18:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elise G. B. M. Rivas.pdf: 3552936 bytes, checksum: f7b8bcdf7f4a70bdd8671da3133040c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This paper adresses black women in the macumbas of Rio de Janeiro, in the newspapers of such city, from 1870 to 1930, aiming to analyse their presence or absence in the macumbas. There are two hypothesis here considered: to verify if the presence of black women found in the researched material (that is, the newspapers of Rio de Janeiro) equals their importance in the macumbas, and to verify how much do the papers performed by man and women in the terreiros influence or not the musical macumba regarding aesthetics. The research uses a feminist perspective, so the theoretical reference privileges gender. I recollect Fiorenza’s hermeneutics of suspicion (1992) in order to find women in the newspaper, a historical look that aims to find them as characters of day by day in Perrot (2005), and a anthropologic approach of black women in the Candomblés in Bernardo (2005-2005). Also, we refer to Pollak (1989) and the underground memory, and to Weber (2013) and the separation of the issues in order to understand better the division of macumba into religious and musical. The empirical field is formed by 19 newspapers that were active in the city of Rio de Janeiro through the chosen period. Such newspapers are available in the Hemeroteca Digital of Rio de Janeiro, so the analyzed material is a primary source. Methodology used to analyze the newspapers is the approach given by Zicman (1985). It is worth mentioning that too much effort has been needed so we could find black women in both macumbas: they were there / Esta pesquisa tem como objeto as mulheres negras nas macumbas cariocas, nos jornais do Rio de Janeiro, entre os anos de 1870 a 1930, tendo como objetivo analisar a presença ou ausência das mesmas nas macumbas. As duas hipóteses elencadas são as seguintes: verificar se a presença das mulheres negras no material encontrado (os jornais cariocas) corresponde à importância delas nas macumbas, e verificar em que medida a configuração dos papéis desempenhados por homens e mulheres nos terreiros influenciaram ou não a macumba musical na esfera estética. A pesquisa é realizada sob uma perspectiva feminista, de modo que o horizonte teórico privilegia as questões de gênero. Faço uso da hermenêutica da suspeita de Fiorenza (1992) para encontrar as mulheres nos jornais, um olhar histórico que busca encontrar as mulheres como personagens do cotidiano em Perrot (2005) e uma abordagem antropológica das mulheres negras nos candomblés em Bernardo (2003-2005). Mas, também trago Pollak (1989) com o referêncial memória subterrânea e Weber (2013) com a separação das esferas para melhor entender a “separação” da macumba em religiosa e musical. O campo empírico são 19 jornais que circularam na cidade carioca no período pesquisado disponibilizados na Hemeroteca Digital do Rio de Janeiro, ou seja, o material analisado é uma fonte primária. A metodologia utilizada para análise dos jornais é a abordagem dada por Zicman (1985). Vale ressaltar que foi necessário muito esforço para podermos encontrar as mulheres negras em ambas as macumbas, mas elas estavam lá

This thesis will examine the issues of women's spirituality, suffering, their survival in the midst of suffering. These issues will be examined in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa within a Christian framework looking at issues of faith and spirituality. More particularly the Methodist church will be examined, looking at key aspects of its spirituality and how that might have contributed and provided for its women. Two of the Methodist Women's organisations, the Women's Manyano and the Women's Auxiliary will be looked at; their history and significant aspects of their programmes and structures that have led them to be important places for the women who are part of them. The thesis will seek to determine how the Methodist Women's organisations have impacted the spirituality of two women especially when they have gone through difficult times. The lives of these two women are examined through conversations the author has with them. In particular the author will examine particular circumstances of these women and seek to set them against a background of their spirituality and in particular whether their particular Methodist organisation played any role during this time. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This descriptive study investigates the link between religion, (institutional and private) identity (ethnic and personal) and the community (Portuguese and South African) in the context of religious and cultural pluralism. It analyses sixteen Portuguese women in Durban - nine Roman Catholics, five Protestants and two agnostic and it is executed within the framework of the theory of conditionalism or 'radical relationality', as expounded by J.S. Kruger. The religious practice, experience and identity of the participants are explored, and their social integration as well as famiIy and marital relationships (with special reference to submissiveness) are examined in the light of Catholic Feminist theology. The influence of their experiences on their religion and vice-versa, as well as the fluidity of their identities are analysed. The. results of the study highlight the paradoxical role of religion, as well as a decline in ethnic identity and Catholicism. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. Th. (Religious Studies)

A história narra as peculiaridades do papel atribuído à mulher na sociedade. Ao longo dos séculos este foi sendo transformado a partir das novas formas de se pensar e representar o mundo e as relações de gênero. Por muito tempo a representação dominante era a religiosa mais precisamente, na cultura ocidental, a judaico-cristã. Continuamos atualmente recebendo influências dessa visão de mundo, porém de maneira muito particular, modificada pelo contexto socioeconômico da pós-modernidade. Por sermos constituídos enquanto sujeitos dentro de um contexto sociocultural, do qual a religião faz parte, surge o questionamento: como pensar a identidade feminina a partir da ótica da experiência religiosa. Desta forma, a presente pesquisa procurou apreender a representação da Identidade Feminina apresentada por mulheres evangélicas, residentes na cidade do Recife, analisando a forma como entendem o lugar da mulher na família, no espaço público e as influências dos códigos religiosos cristãos protestantes sobre essa representação. Para isso, participaram deste estudo quinze mulheres, pertencentes à camada sociocultural média, com idade entre 20 e 35 anos, criadas em um lar cristão protestante e que, atualmente, congregam em Igrejas Históricas (Batista; Presbiteriana e Episcopal). Os indicadores sociais levados em consideração para definir a camada social foram: grau de instrução, profissão, local de residência e renda mensal. Realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas, no horário e local de conveniência das participantes, partindo de uma questão disparadora, a saber: O que significa, para você, ser mulher?. Para analisar o material fornecido, transcrevemos a fala das participantes, e orientados pelos objetivos da pesquisa, fizemos uso da Análise do Conteúdo. Identificamos dois núcleos de sentido: Relações de Gênero: na família, no trabalho e na igreja e Mulheres de antigamente e de hoje em dia. Tomamos emprestado da Teoria do Cinema o termo modos de endereçamento a fim de explanar o que são as representações sociais a partir de uma perspectiva pós-estruturalista, e, em seguida, compreender a interpretação dessas mulheres sobre o que significa ser mulher. Em relação ao atravessamento dessas identidades pelo discurso religioso, vimos que a transmissão e o investimento em tais posicionamentos requerem a crença no conteúdo revelado de escrituras como sendo da ordem do sagrado. Logo, fora dos sistemas de significação religiosos, essas posições receberiam outras valorações. Nesse contexto, as participantes utilizam-se do mito criacional de Adão e Eva a fim de explicar as relações de Gênero estabelecidas dentro dos espaços que ocupam. Por acreditarem que a mulher foi feita para o homem, visando complementá-lo, esta é representada como sendo sua auxiliadora. Nessa relação, o homem é apontado enquanto líder do casal nomeadamente cabeça do lar devendo a mulher submeter-se à sua liderança. Não obstante, a temática da submissão está diretamente ligada ao tipo de relação de gênero estabelecida dentro de um espaço social (seja este privado ou público).Concomitantemente, estas mesmas mulheres recebem endereçamentos outros, de discursos mais variados, que influenciam na releitura e redirecionamento das posições recebidas pelo discurso religioso cristão protestante. Releituras estas identificadas através das variações de significação apresentadas. / The history tells the peculiarity of the roll attributed to women in society. Through out the centuries this roll has been transformed along with the new ways of thinking and representing the world and the gender relations. For a long period of time the dominant representation was the religious one to be more precise, in the western culture, the Jewish and Christian. We continue to receive influences from this specific view of world, but in a very particular way considering the changes and the new social, economical and cultural context of post-modernity. As we become subjects in a cultural and social context of which religion is part, the following question arises: What is the possibility of thinking about the feminine identity having the religious experience as a starting point. Therefore, the present study searched to apprehend the representation of Feminine Identity presented by evangelical women, living in the metropolitan area of Recife, by analyzing how they comprehend the roll of woman in family, public space and the influences of the religious Christian protestant code. For this, fifteen women pertaining to the average sociocultural layer, with age between 20 and 35 years, created in a protestant Christian home and that has been currently congregating in Historical Churches (Baptist; Presbyterian and Episcopal) participated in this study. The social pointers taken in consideration to define the social class were: instruction degree, profession, place of residence and monthly income. We carried out half-structuralized interviews, in the schedule and place of convenience of the participants, by asking the following starting question: What it means, for you, to be woman?. To analyze the supplied material, we transcribed the participants speeches, and guided by the objectives of the research, we made use of the Analysis of the Content. We identified two main groups: Gender relations: in the family, at work and at church and Women of other times and of nowadays. We loaned from the Theory of the Cinema the term addressing ways in order to explain what are the social representations from a post-structuralism perspective, and after that, to understand the interpretation of these women on what it means to be woman. In relation to these identities crossed by the religious speech, we saw that the transmission and the investment in such positionings require the belief in the disclosed content as Holy. So, out of the religious significance systems, these positions would receive other valuations. In this context, the participants make use of Adam and Eve criacional myth in order to explain the established gender relations inside the spaces they occupy. For believing that the woman was made for the man, aiming at to complement it, they are represented as being its helper. In this relation, the man is pointed out to be the couple1s leader - nominated head of the home - having the woman to submit to his leadership. Nevertheless, the thematic of submission is directly related with the kind of gender relation established inside a social space (either private or public). Concomitantly, these same women receive other addressings, from varied speeches, influencing the reading and redirection of the positions received from the Christian protestant religious speech. Reading and redirection identified through the presented variations of significations.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:09:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thalita Cavalcanti.PDF: 988553 bytes, checksum: 4a70202b2c7980685599723f66b92993 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-15 / The history tells the peculiarity of the roll attributed to women in society. Through out the centuries this roll has been transformed along with the new ways of thinking and representing the world and the gender relations. For a long period of time the dominant representation was the religious one to be more precise, in the western culture, the Jewish and Christian. We continue to receive influences from this specific view of world, but in a very particular way considering the changes and the new social, economical and cultural context of post-modernity. As we become subjects in a cultural and social context of which religion is part, the following question arises: What is the possibility of thinking about the feminine identity having the religious experience as a starting point. Therefore, the present study searched to apprehend the representation of Feminine Identity presented by evangelical women, living in the metropolitan area of Recife, by analyzing how they comprehend the roll of woman in family, public space and the influences of the religious Christian protestant code. For this, fifteen women pertaining to the average sociocultural layer, with age between 20 and 35 years, created in a protestant Christian home and that has been currently congregating in Historical Churches (Baptist; Presbyterian and Episcopal) participated in this study. The social pointers taken in consideration to define the social class were: instruction degree, profession, place of residence and monthly income. We carried out half-structuralized interviews, in the schedule and place of convenience of the participants, by asking the following starting question: What it means, for you, to be woman? . To analyze the supplied material, we transcribed the participant s speeches, and guided by the objectives of the research, we made use of the Analysis of the Content. We identified two main groups: Gender relations: in the family, at work and at church and Women of other times and of nowadays . We loaned from the Theory of the Cinema the term addressing ways in order to explain what are the social representations from a post-structuralism perspective, and after that, to understand the interpretation of these women on what it means to be woman. In relation to these identities crossed by the religious speech, we saw that the transmission and the investment in such positionings require the belief in the disclosed content as Holy. So, out of the religious significance systems, these positions would receive other valuations. In this context, the participants make use of Adam and Eve criacional myth in order to explain the established gender relations inside the spaces they occupy. For believing that the woman was made for the man, aiming at to complement it, they are represented as being its helper. In this relation, the man is pointed out to be the couple1 s leader - nominated head of the home - having the woman to submit to his leadership. Nevertheless, the thematic of submission is directly related with the kind of gender relation established inside a social space (either private or public). Concomitantly, these same women receive other addressings, from varied speeches, influencing the reading and redirection of the positions received from the Christian protestant religious speech. Reading and redirection identified through the presented variations of significations. / A história narra as peculiaridades do papel atribuído à mulher na sociedade. Ao longo dos séculos este foi sendo transformado a partir das novas formas de se pensar e representar o mundo e as relações de gênero. Por muito tempo a representação dominante era a religiosa mais precisamente, na cultura ocidental, a judaico-cristã. Continuamos atualmente recebendo influências dessa visão de mundo, porém de maneira muito particular, modificada pelo contexto socioeconômico da pós-modernidade. Por sermos constituídos enquanto sujeitos dentro de um contexto sociocultural, do qual a religião faz parte, surge o questionamento: como pensar a identidade feminina a partir da ótica da experiência religiosa. Desta forma, a presente pesquisa procurou apreender a representação da Identidade Feminina apresentada por mulheres evangélicas, residentes na cidade do Recife, analisando a forma como entendem o lugar da mulher na família, no espaço público e as influências dos códigos religiosos cristãos protestantes sobre essa representação. Para isso, participaram deste estudo quinze mulheres, pertencentes à camada sociocultural média, com idade entre 20 e 35 anos, criadas em um lar cristão protestante e que, atualmente, congregam em Igrejas Históricas (Batista; Presbiteriana e Episcopal). Os indicadores sociais levados em consideração para definir a camada social foram: grau de instrução, profissão, local de residência e renda mensal. Realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas, no horário e local de conveniência das participantes, partindo de uma questão disparadora, a saber: O que significa, para você, ser mulher? . Para analisar o material fornecido, transcrevemos a fala das participantes, e orientados pelos objetivos da pesquisa, fizemos uso da Análise do Conteúdo. Identificamos dois núcleos de sentido: Relações de Gênero: na família, no trabalho e na igreja e Mulheres de antigamente e de hoje em dia . Tomamos emprestado da Teoria do Cinema o termo modos de endereçamento a fim de explanar o que são as representações sociais a partir de uma perspectiva pós-estruturalista, e, em seguida, compreender a interpretação dessas mulheres sobre o que significa ser mulher. Em relação ao atravessamento dessas identidades pelo discurso religioso, vimos que a transmissão e o investimento em tais posicionamentos requerem a crença no conteúdo revelado de escrituras como sendo da ordem do sagrado. Logo, fora dos sistemas de significação religiosos, essas posições receberiam outras valorações. Nesse contexto, as participantes utilizam-se do mito criacional de Adão e Eva a fim de explicar as relações de Gênero estabelecidas dentro dos espaços que ocupam. Por acreditarem que a mulher foi feita para o homem, visando complementá-lo, esta é representada como sendo sua auxiliadora. Nessa relação, o homem é apontado enquanto líder do casal nomeadamente cabeça do lar devendo a mulher submeter-se à sua liderança. Não obstante, a temática da submissão está diretamente ligada ao tipo de relação de gênero estabelecida dentro de um espaço social (seja este privado ou público).Concomitantemente, estas mesmas mulheres recebem endereçamentos outros, de discursos mais variados, que influenciam na releitura e redirecionamento das posições recebidas pelo discurso religioso cristão protestante. Releituras estas identificadas através das variações de significação apresentadas.