Revista Estudos Feministas
Print version ISSN 0104-026X
BIRMAN, Patricia. "Transas" and trances: sex and gender in afro-brazilian cults, an overview. Rev. Estud. Fem. [online]. 2005, vol.13, n.2, pp. 403-414. ISSN 0104-026X. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-026X2005000200014.
Looking through the literature concerning Afro-Brazilian cults, this paper deals with the issue of gender in some recent anthropological studies. Mostly, it raises questions for women in terms of the conflicts between family life and the integration of supernatural entities in their lives. There is also a discussion concerning the way an "objectivistic" anthropology could hamper the recognition of a religious construct which might elucidate some gender relations.
Keywords : Possession; gender; family; trajectories; theories of representation.