Customer Reviews

Blessed Anastacia: Women, Race and Popular Christianity in Brazil

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In a course on Afro-Brazilians, this book was by far the favourite of the class. It's pleasurable to read, no prior knowledge of Brazilian culture is necessary, and it provides insights even to scholars in the field. It brings to life the situation of black women in poverty in Brazil, describing the role of religion and Brazil's attitude towards race. Burdick illustrates the complexity of race and the effects on the women he interviewed, and ties it all to the curious figure of Anastácia, the blue-eyed slave.

And rather than being a lofty academic exercise, Burdick uses his research and involvement in the communities to help advance their social situation. One chapter describes his attempts to promote communication between groups which have radically different approaches to the same goal of ending racism. This is academia with its feet firmly planted in the ground.

John Burdick's examination of race and gender in Brazil is insightful and innovative. Blessed Anastacia looks at several different movements in Brazil, notably, the inculturated mass, evangelist religion, and the devotion to Anastacia, Brazil's slave saint. Burdick focuses his analysis of these movements through a lens of exclusion, talking to many different women who feel excluded from these movements which are supposed to benefit them. This multi-layered perspective provides an in-depth understanding of beauty standards, racism, and gender inequality in a very racially blended (if not racially equal) society.

Although I enjoyed Burdick's approach to analyzing these problems, I would have liked more discussion of why certain movements are excluding women who "don't fit". However, overall this book is a complex analysis of a complex problem, and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about race in Brazil.