Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Women's Studies

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Cultural expressions

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Women, Water And The Reclamation Of The Feminine, Colleen Kattau Jun 2006

Women, Water And The Reclamation Of The Feminine, Colleen Kattau

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper examines the relationship between water and women particularly in terms of representative cultural expressions that underlie women's recovery of water as a fundamental human right, and explores how deep knowledge and trust of earth's bounty sustains viable and effective social change campaigns such as the right to water movement. Drawing principally upon the sociocultural analysis of ecofeminist thinkers such as Vandana Shiva and Carolyn Merchant, as well as William Marks's work on water, I critique the nature-culture dichotomy underlying approaches to water as a 'resource', and try to undermine the accepted hierarchy of 'power over nature' which by …


The Ladies Of The Water: Iemanjá, Oxum, Oiá And A Living Faith, Cláudia Cerqueira Do Rosario Jun 2006

The Ladies Of The Water: Iemanjá, Oxum, Oiá And A Living Faith, Cláudia Cerqueira Do Rosario

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The orishas Iemanjá , Oxum and Oiá are related to the forces of salt and fresh waters, and to the storms, and are objects of living worship not only in Brazil but also in parts of Africa - where they came from - and Americas. Based on their archetypal representations, this paper will be a reflection on the archetypes of the relationship woman/water and its symbolic implications, both in “sacred” and “profane” ways, still alive in contemporary culture.