Religion

Women have been active in African-derived religions from the beginning; some of them are leaders. Women were at the fore-front of the establishment of Candomblé and in the early twenty-first century women have great responsibility in the estimated 2,000 terreíros in Bahia. Members of the Sisterhood of Our Lady of the Good Death (a group in the Barroquinha church) and Iyalusso Danadana and Iyalusso Akala (a woman of Yoruba background) played key roles in the formation of the religion. Gender equality remains an issue where traditions still give men ritual privileges exclusively. For example, in Regla Conga the title tata nganga is reserved for men. Women can attain it only in the postmenstrual years. In Regla de Ocha, or Santería, women do not have access to the divination system of the babalawo (priest). Patriarchy exists in the Rastafarian movement: women do not participate in reasoning sessions. There are resources in some ADR that offer opportunity for a reconstruction of gender relations. Female deities such as Yemaja and Oxun, and the androgyny of Oxala, could be explored as a basis for more egalitarian relationships in African-derived religions.