The Lived Religion of Two Daimista Women in the Context of the Transnationalization of Santo Daime: Notes about a Feminized Religion

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a well-written, interesting and relevant contribution to Santo Daime and "feminization of religion" research. You've articulated important context for institutional issues in Brazil and internationally, as well as theoretical developments in transnationalization. You deliver a nuanced description of intersectional dynamics in the two highlighted case studies. I have caught some awkward phrases, lack of capitalization, and need for italics. 

Beyond the parameters for this article, but relevant for future work could be Keller's work on women's instrumental agency and how that relates to leadership in Santo Daime.  The Hammer and the Flute (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002).

Review for English semantics: 

line 58 "better saying"

line 71 "due to the international war on drugs made illicit"

Line 92 brazilian

line 93 italicize ayahuasqueiro

 

line 140 "the mysteries of a numinous" 

line 156-157 "which is a way far"

line 159 "filed research"

line 169 "functioning as important part"

line 170 "Are they"

fn 8 "helping maintaining"

line 298 "Said that"

line 335 "told me of her little or no familiarity"

line 339 " and of other"

line 370 "something holly"

line 426 "do not restrict"

line 432 "GROSS"

Author Response

Dear,

First of all, thank you for reading my paper and for your careful notes about it. I am pleased to inform you that I have made the suggested corrections. My paper is attached to this message and it also includes the modifications suggested by the other reviewer. All modifications are highlighted throughout the text.

I remain available.  

Att,  

Paulina Valamiel

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

I have now had the opportunity to read through this article. I found it compelling and interesting, and I learned quite alot form it. The author seeks to explore the ways in which the expansion of local religions to foreign localities (what the author calls the transnationalization of the religion)  impacts what the author calls the feminization of religion - or what can be referred to as the place of women in religious practices - or the ability of women to exhibit agency in religion. I would recommend the article for publication, but strongly suggest that the author think about the following comments:

1. in the introduction to the article the author states: that the Santo Daime "is, a religion that offers forms of belonging mainly based on gender, " As a reader who has no background and prior knowledge of this religion, I found myself trying to understand the gender basis of the religion - and whether or not the different roles played by women and men within the religious practices were inherent to the religion or were reflective of the traditional south american societies from which the religion emerged. If indeed that is what the author is arguing (which he/she might be) - then that needs to made explicit. I think that in a study of gender and religion the article needs to make the gendered nature of the religion more accessible and clear to the reader. this is essential if one of the main arguments of the article is to demonstrate the changes in the gender roles during the process of transnationalization.  

2. the author needs to expand more about her/his positionality. as a member of the religion that is being researched - this is a critical point.

3. in terms of the argument regarding transnationalization: this is indeed the main argument and the core of the research. the author should present much more background on the context within the Netherlands and within Japan. starting from data: how popular is the religion there? when did it arrive? in what contexts? is there data on the gender breakdown of membership of the religion in those national contexts? and then more information in terms of gender and religion in those national contexts - this is information that would make the analysis of the interviews much more interesting and richer. 

3. I am not sure that two interviews are enough. however, if that is what the author has at this point - he/she should refer to the extent to which they think these interviews are representative of other members/leaders of the religion. in what ways do the Netherlands and Japan reflect common shared trends, or in what ways are they distinct?

4. i found the discussion of the interviews interesting and the attempts to connect to larger theoretical frameworks important. a question came up for me however: in what ways are we talking about the feminization of religion - which implies a structural shift in terms of the role of religion in society, and in ways are we talking about a shift in the agency role and status of women in society? i think that probably both. in this context, i think the article would benefit from  more discussion about the status of women in those societies and in ways does their participation in Santo Daime impact their status. this would be fascinating since it is my understanding that there are vast differences in this context between the Netherlands and Japan and Brazil - and hence making these difference explicit and part of the discussion is important in my opinion.

 I am attaching a copy of the article with some more comments for the author to look at.  

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear,

First of all, thank you for reading my paper and for your careful notes. I am pleased to inform you that I have made the suggested corrections. My paper is attached to this message and also includes the modifications suggested by the other reviewer. They are all highlighted throughout the text.

Regarding the corrections suggested by you, I added information about the traditional organization of gender in Santo Daime and dedicated myself in some paragraphs to bring more information about the countries discussed. From your notes it was possible to refine the analysis and I am very grateful to you for that.  I remain available.  

 

Att,

Paulina Valamiel

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf