Pentecostalidad

Max Weber observes that "the religion of the underprivileged classes is characterized by a tendency to allot equality to women," pointing out that salvation religion appeals to those classes and to women because it glorifies virtues close to their interests.1 Yet, women seem to constitute the majority in all Christian churches, not just in most religions of the poor.2 The greater proportion of women in Latin American Pentecostal churches does not, therefore, come as a surprise.

Pentecostalism does have a special appeal for the underprivileged. Writing of Brazil, Peter Fry and Gary Howe consider it a "cult of affliction" because it attracts mostly the poor, the sick, the unemployed, alcoholics, blacks, and women, who, in general, tend to face more material and emotional hardships.3 Pentecostalism's promise of solutions for everyday problems may be another strong appeal to the lower classes and to women.4 But, since the female churchgoing majority is not an exclusively Pentecostal phenomenon, our question is not why there are more women than men in Pentecostal churches but what Pentecostalism offers these women. We begin by briefly reviewing the broad assertions in the literature concerning the benefits that women receive from Pentecostal conversion. These assertions tend to focus on new roles for both women and men and the ways in which these changes benefit women. Then, drawing on our field research in Brazil, we describe the changes experienced by female Pentecostals in their basic conceptions of themselves as individuals and as believers. We argue that although female Pentecostal believers cannot be considered "feminists"– especially in the sense of mainstream North American feminism – the conversion experience does lead to a revaluing of the self in relation to God and others that increases women's autonomy and undermines traditional machismo.

"Domesticated" Men, Public Women, and Family Values

There are basically two interpretations of the role of Pentecostalism in the life of the oppressed. The first is that these churches offer marginalized people symbolic power that compensates for their lack of material power.5 According to this view, religion, like magic, in fact reinforces the inferior social position of those groups. Pentecostalism thus constitutes an alienation. Another interpretation is that, although not always capable of modifying the social position of these groups, Pentecostal religion is of some benefit to them, constituting a short-range defense mechanism for the oppressed. This view points out the benefits that women and the poor receive and emphasizes Pentecostalism's ability to reduce oppression.

This second interpretation has been the dominant one in the most recent studies of Pentecostal women in Latin American societies, such as those of Elizabeth Brusco, Cornelia Flora, Maria das Dores Machado, Hanneke Slootweg, David Smilde and Monica Tarducci.6 In general, these studies claim that the values of Pentecostalism supersede the machismo prevalent in those societies. Furthermore, they call attention to the fact that, although Pentecostalism reinforces many patriarchal values, it helps women defend their interests.7 Specifically, these researchers examine the different ways in which Pentecostalism can help female believers in their everyday lives. Most of them agree that Pentecostal churches, in addition to offering a support network for women, help increase women's self-confidence and bring their men back to home life.

Moreover, Pentecostalism appears to redefine the relationship between gender and public versus private spaces. All the studies are unanimous in identifying new values for men's behavior and considering the "domestication" of men to be the most important gain for Pentecostal women in Latin American societies. According to this line of interpretation, Pentecostalism helps women by creating a new model for men to follow. The renewing qualities of this Pentecostal model for men are greater and more perceptible in Latin societies where machismo is stronger. Salvatore Cucchiari underlines the differences between the notion of Latin masculinity and the image of God in Pentecostalism. For him Pentecostalism portrays God as having qualities that, according to a machista view of the world, would be considered feminine. He suggests that the new conception of God may affect the traditional relationship between the genders.8 The domestication of men occurs through the restriction of "male behavior detrimental to women, such as alcoholism or the irresponsible fathering of children," and through Pentecostal emphasis on family life and the household.9 Thus, Pentecostal preoccupation with the family seems advantageous for women.10

This domestication of men occurs concomitantly with women's increased participation in the public sphere. In Brazil we observed that the consequences of the transformation vary with social class. Machado suggests that the transformation will be greater for lower-class women.11 These women may become deeply involved in evangelizing, preaching in the streets, in prisons, and in other public places. One of our interviewees, a member of the Pentecostal Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (Universal Church of the Kingdom of God), L. R., thirty-five, married, and mother of a nine-year-old daughter, says that on weekends when her husband works she travels to cities near Rio de Janeiro to bring them "the word of God." Moreover, for lower-class women facing financial difficulties, Pentecostalism not only reinforces the family structure by encouraging men to spend less on drinking but also serves a strategic function in the struggle for survival of these poor women and their families.12

In addition to changes in men's and women's roles, Pentecostalism offers women comfort for their general family concerns. The literature shows that relationship problems play an important part in accounts of conversions. In fact, women seem to reinterpret and redefine any difficulties they face as family problems.13 In our interviews with Brazilian Pentecostal women,14 the main subjects mentioned by respondents were their families, particularly husbands who were unfaithful and/or alcohol abusers. One of our interviewees, now a member of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, reports that before her conversion she had put a macumba (Brazilian black magic) spell on her husband to force him to leave. She explains: "I put a seven-month spell on my husband that I had to renew within seven months.... This cost me a lot of money.... That's where my whole salary went." In addressing the family Pentecostalism is, in fact, closely concerned with the major everyday problems (usually related to the family) of women.

Although this emphasis on the family is a common characteristic of all religions, some writers consider the almost exclusive Pentecostal preoccupation with family and private life a symptom of political alienation and a hindrance to social transformation.15 In contrast, David Martin views this stronger emphasis on domestic life as a cultural innovation that fosters social change because it breaks with Hispanic (or Luso-Hispanic) militarism and machismo. Martin asserts that the notions that changes in people's private lives cannot affect social structure and that culture is primarily dependent on social structure are themselves reflections of machismo.16

Pentecostalism's "New Woman" and "New Man"

Rather than focus on the advantages of Pentecostalism for women, we will examine the way in which women redefine their gender roles on the basis of a concept of the individual that gives rise to the idea of a "new woman" or a "new man." The break with older concepts of the individual and individual liberty does not necessarily mean a transformation of the explicit values regarding the family, sexual codes, or the social functions of men and women. Although Pentecostal discourse does not question so-called patriarchal values, it does involve innovations in family relationships that threaten the machismo of Latin societies.

Pentecostalism is a process of individualization for both men and women. Believers see themselves as individuals free from the oppression of evil and consequently responsible for their own welfare as well as that of loved ones. In attributing greater autonomy and responsibility to the individual, Pentecostalism reaffirms the concept of the modern individual who creates his or her own destiny through choices and reflection. Despite being miraculous, Pentecostal deliverance from evil helps to create a rational individual.17 Thus, in its emphasis on individual choice for freedom, Pentecostalism to a certain degree implies a rationalization of the conscience.18 Pentecostal individualism stresses individual freedom in relation to natural passions and instincts but not to social or moral codes. Because it considers strict obedience to moral codes not as a source of oppression but rather as proof of the liberation of the individual, Pentecostalism
limits individualism by articulating it with holistic principles. The redeemed believer's interests must coincide with the plan of God, and therefore the idea of opposing feminine and masculine interests (typical of much of mainstream North American feminism) makes no sense in Pentecostal terms. Our aim in this chapter is therefore not to try to determine whether Pentecostalism caters to or satisfies particular male or female interests. Rather, we examine the discourse of Brazilian Pentecostal women to identify their conceptions of the individual and of freedom and attempt to understand the appeal of this discourse to women.

God Is More Important Than the Family

A predominant value held by the women we interviewed was their sense of duty regarding the care of family members, especially their husbands, children, and grandchildren. Although their joining the church did not challenge or change their traditional role, most of these women claimed that God was the most important issue in their lives; the family took second place. An example of this type of discourse can be found in our interview with M. J., fifty-four, a government worker who lives in a favela (shantytown) in Niteroi, a medium-sized city near Rio de Janeiro. M. J. suffered considerably when, as often happens to middle-aged women, her husband left her for another woman:

I struggled to keep the family together; I didn't want the separation. Even today I love him, except that now God is number one. He [the husband] is just another person.... I thank my God with all my heart because through this event, I recovered the heart I'd given my husband. Today I've changed in relation to him. It's not that I don't love him but that I love him the way I should have thirty years ago.... I see him as just another person.

Despite its emphasis on the family, the church helped M. J. to view herself as an autonomous individual. After she joined the Pentecostal church, she came to accept the idea of divorce. "I didn't agree with the separation, but today I agree because of the fact that I began to read the Holy Bible, and there I saw a passage that says that if a woman doesn't love a man she can surely separate.... Nobody belongs to anyone, it's written in the Bible."

Through church some women redefine their duties in relation to their children. D. S., sixty-three, a maid who lives with her adult children and grandchildren, said that one of her daughters had criticized her for joining the church. "My daughter thought that after I joined the church I'd changed and that I didn't like anyone anymore. She even said: `What kind of a church lets a mother not care about her daughter or about anything anymore?"' D. S. explained that her behavior at home and attitude in relation to her daughters had in fact changed. Although she was still concerned about them and the grandchildren, praying for them all the time, she did not do all her housework as she had before because she did not have the same amount of time. Besides working, she attended church every day. "Before I used to do [the housework]. I would cook, I'd clean up the house, but then I tried to get away from all that. I also hold a job, and I don't have time." The church helped this woman to free herself from the obligation of taking care of her adult children. Because they put into their families all the meaning for their own lives, many women continue to have little time or money for themselves. D. S.'s autonomy with regard to her children indicates that she had acquired a new conception of the individual. "We all have problems with our children, because a pastor's son isn't necessarily born a pastor too, and a believer's son isn't born a believer" Individuals do not inherit religion; they choose it.

By placing a duty on women that goes beyond their families and households, the church gives them goals outside the home. Their main duty is now the work of God, and this may account for the generally negative initial reaction of husbands and children. There are many reports of husbands' hostile reactions to their wives' conversion. For example, N. P., a black maid from a favela in Rio de Janeiro, reported that her husband performed macumba rituals to keep her from attending church. Like many others interviewed, she was proud of having confronted her spouse's resistance to her religious choice and even having eventually converted him. Conversion undoubtedly gives women a certain emotional independence from their families. We thus witnessed what others call an "institutional contradiction" between the religious community and the family-namely, the church contesting the dominant family model.19   Cont...