description Ruth Landes Overview
Ruth Landes (1908–1991) was an American anthropologist whose pioneering fieldwork focused on issues of race, gender, and religion. She is best known for her 1947 ethnography "The City of Women," which documented the prominent roles of women in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion of Bahia, Brazil. Her emphasis on female gender dynamics and sexuality challenged prevailing patriarchal biases within mid-20th-century anthropology.
insights Ranking position
Ruth Landes ranks #164 of 304 in the Anthropologist ranking, behind Rayna Rapp, ahead of Charles Hirschkind.
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What is Ruth Landes best known for?
Ruth Landes is best known for her 1947 ethnography titled "The City of Women." This pioneering work documented the prominent roles of women in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion.
Where did Ruth Landes conduct her most famous fieldwork?
She conducted her groundbreaking fieldwork in Bahia, Brazil, during the late 1930s. Her research focused heavily on issues of race, gender, and the leadership of female priestesses in the Candomblé tradition.
How did Ruth Landes view gender roles in Candomblé?
Landes argued that Candomblé functioned almost as a matriarchal society, famously describing it as a "city of women." This perspective sparked significant controversy among her contemporaries in the field of anthropology.
Who were Ruth Landes' major academic influences?
She studied under the prominent anthropologist Ruth Benedict at Columbia University. She was also closely associated with other mid-20th-century cultural anthropologists who advocated for the study of marginalized groups.
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