The Work of Ruth Landes in The City of Women Viewed from the Perspective of Women's Studies
The Work of Ruth Landes in The City of Women Viewed from the Perspective of Women's Studies
By: Nathan Peter-Grzeszczak Buhr
Contemporary feminist scholars seek to remind us that women and men experience and interact within in the social world in many different ways. Something so basic and rudimentary seems to be self-evident but in the recent past academic disciplines had little interest in acknowledging these differences. In focusing on the perspective and experiences of women, scholars are offered a new lens in which to view topics of study. The female perspective has often been downplayed or ignored in history and even more so in the practices of most religions. By acknowledging that the all encompassing male perspective is not necessarily that of women, scholars can begin to dissect where the thoughts, views, beliefs, and practices of the sexes converge and where they diverge. This is an important step towards unbiased inclusion of the perspectives of women in the academic conversation.
In the book The City of Women, Ruth Landes explores the culture, customs, and “religion” of African descendants in Brazil. She was originally sent to study the life of the “free negro” in Brazil but her interest and writings seems to focus more on the ritual and spiritual practices of Candomblé, a religion practiced in the region of Bahia, Brazil. Because she was a Caucasian woman, her experiences in Brazil were quite different than those of the traditional practitioner in her field at that time, Caucasian men. She challenged the status quo by immersing herself in the customs and culture of the people at a time when most anthropologists chose to study “other” peoples from a safe and objective distance. She however chose to side step the conventional model and techniques of study, used by most in her field and forged ahead with her own agenda. It took the academic community years to accept and appreciate her contribution to the field of anthropology.
During the time of the late 1930's in Brazil there were numerous social and cultural norms which Landes needed to navigate in order to be as respectful, safe, and unobtrusive as possible. One example of this can be found in her use of a male escort. During this time in Brazil for women to leave the home in a dignified and acceptable way and step out into public it was customary for them to have a male escort. Most of the women that did not follow this social rule were women of pleasure, and to do so was to be interpenetrated as such. Landes teamed up with Dr. Edison who assisted her as an interpreter, escort, colleague, local guide, and companion. This alliance between sexes helped her circumnavigate social barricades that would have otherwise prohibited her.
While in some situations Landes gender was problematic in accomplishing the goals of her study, in other situations it offered her an advantage. Landes was granted access to certain areas and able to witness rituals that were traditionally only for women to partake in and off limits to men. This allowed her to witness the traditions and rituals of Candomblé women that were not only ignored by her male counterparts, but also closed off to their sex. She is able to gain a deeper understanding of both Candomblé and the people who practiced the religion by being allowed into their community.
In her book “Feminism and Religion”, Rita Gross brings up the point that in academia feminist scholarship is usually considered “biased” because of what is seen to be a slant towards the views of women. In defending feminist scholarship Gross argues, “feminist scholars usually make their methodological values explicit, whereas conventional androcentric scholars usually do not, thereby fostering the illusion that they are without any specific agenda”(Gross 1996, 15). This situation unfairly places the burden to correct the unstated bias of the supposedly “neutral”, but actually male centered view on the feminists. Some in the academic community are able to accept that the male view does not speak for all, but until the majority of academics are willing to entertain the idea feminists will continue to be viewed as biased. At that time, when more people have acknowledged the differing views of the sexes then a truer and more honest dialog may commence.
Martiniano was one of the many people that Landes interacts with during her time in Bahia, Brazil. Martiniano was a practitioner of magic which at the time was somewhat forbidden in the area so he was forced to practice in secret. I was struck by Landes first interview with Martiniano, she took the time to describe the fleeting encounter with his wife Dona Elena. While they were talking Martiniano calls for his wife to bring some drinks and then Landes recalls, “they introduced her to me then, and she acknowledged the presentation with a painfully shy glance. Always afterwards I was struck by her great shyness, which walled her off from others as though she were sorrowing from some profound hurt, and which acted like hands pushing other people away”(Landes 1947, 33). A male anthropologist would have been more likely to have passed over these details and not included this commentary about the wife of the subject in his study. Landes continues with her assessment with “I came to feel sorry for her in her marriage with a man who was twice her age or more, because apparently she had accepted her husband's opinion that she was unworthy of him and lucky to have him, and she served him hand and foot”(Landes 1947, 33). A male observer during this time period would be far less likely to empathize with Dona Elena and would have been more likely to see Martiniano's young and attractive wife as a sign of his status and position without considering her feelings about their relationship. This is one example of how Landes sex factors into the work she has produced.
At the end of her book Landes restates the objective of her study with “I was sent to Bahia to learn how people behave when the Negroes among them are not oppressed. I found that they were oppressed by political and economic tyrannies, although not by racial ones”(Landes 1947, 248). By studying the African descendants in Brazil Landes was seeking to better understand the African descendants in America and compare and contrast the culture, lives, and society of these two groups. The predominant perception of the time was that the African descendants in Brazil were more free and equal with the rest of the society they lived in than African descendants in America. Landes found that while this was true in theory they were still disadvantaged in other ways. Landes states, “in that sense they were free, at liberty to cultivate their African heritage. But they were sick, undernourished, illiterate, and uninformed, just like other poor people among them of different racial origins”(Landes 1947, 248). Landes reveals that there are many forces, which can keep an individual or group of people down and in a subjugated state. Addressing one or two of theses forces will help to bring equality and justice but until all injustice in all areas social, political, gender and economic are addressed there will still be inequality and discrimination.
Gross, Rita M. Feminism and Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997
Landes, Ruth. The City of Women. 1947. Reprint, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994
