The centrality of the female body in Brazilian culture: Evangelical and Muslim responses

This article aims to analyse how both Evangelical and Islamic religions deal with a central aspect of the construction of the Brazilian national identity: the body. The Brazilian religious field is exposed to this cultural value and reacts to it in different ways. While Islam preaches female modesty...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of contemporary religion 2019-05, Vol.34 (2), p.275-290
Main Authors: Maria de Castro, Cristina, Rosas, Nina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Appreciation
Baptist churches
Brazil
Brazilian culture
Culture
Evangelicals
Islam
Moderation
Modesty
National identity
Religion
Religious leaders
Rhetoric
the body
women
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Summary:This article aims to analyse how both Evangelical and Islamic religions deal with a central aspect of the construction of the Brazilian national identity: the body. The Brazilian religious field is exposed to this cultural value and reacts to it in different ways. While Islam preaches female modesty, involving the 'concealment' of the body and its forms, Evangelicals reinforce part of the Brazilian culture of appreciation and care for physical attributes, albeit using the rhetoric of doing so with moderation and modesty. The data presented here were collected through interviews with religious leaders and through participant observation in the Baptist Church of Lagoinha, in Belo Horizonte, and the Islamic Youth League, in São Paulo, Brazil.
ISSN:1353-7903
1469-9419
DOI:10.1080/13537903.2019.1621546