“Ser submissa é estar sob a mesma missão”: família, feminismo e mulheres evangélicas em Santa Maria - RS

Abstract

This is a research with an anthropological bias, whose objective is to understand more about the conception of family and the social role of evangelical women in the region of Santa Maria - RS. Nine semi-structured interviews were carried out, conducted in person and online, with women between 28 and 76 years old, belonging to different affiliations of the evangelical church. The interviews addressed issues related to religion, church, family and obedience, seeking to understand gender roles as expressed in their responses. The technique used is known as “snowball”, in which each participant indicates new participants to be interviewed. The results reveal that, despite receiving some influences from different feminisms, these women have as a reference for their lives the ideologies of Protestant religious groups that understand that women must follow a social role that cannot stand out from the role of men. Therefore, they have a strong idea of a traditional heterosexual family based on a man, woman and children. The influence of the social environment on religious people in their daily lives is very present, characterizing itself as the basis for their ways of living and thinking. These women's social network mainly includes their nuclear family and members of the church they attend. The interviews reveal a superficial and universal knowledge of feminisms, focusing on the most controversial and contradictory aspects. They highlight the reflexes of patriarchy in religion, demonstrating the interconnection between them.