From “Marias” and Luizes”: devotional and gender experiences in religious feasts

Abstract

This article is based on research done between 1998 and 2000 at the celebration of the Virgin of Itatí in Corrientes, Argentina. Using two cases, I propose to analyze the way in which religious and gender experiences are related and mutually constituted through certain devotional practices. These practices, transmitted and reproduced through family ties also marked by differentials in gender, are processed in terms of a commitment to the Virgin, as well as a commitment to local traditions and one's own familial ties. Thus, through certain devotional practices, we will see how one learns, simultaneously and from the birth, to be female and devout, male and devout. Keywords: Gender; Catolicism; Devotion; Argentina