Domestic Violence In Mama Vodou By Karen Mccarthy Brown

Women and Vodou

In the United States, we look mainly at mainstream religion and don't even look much into other religions apart from our own. Vodou is occasionally depicted as very dark, so it's not given the light of day, to learn about the religion itself. But in Karen McCarthy Brown's book, Mama Lola, she talks about Vodou and the connectedness people have to the religion and the spirits in Vodou. In the excerpt of Mama Lola, Brown talks about how Vodou is a religion that empowers women, more frequently than other religions throughout the world; but there are still constraints on gender, social class, and race. Throughout the excerpt we learn about the ways spirits help the people who practice Vodou in their everyday lives, especially women.

They have very intriguing stories that trace back to segregation of social class, race, and gender; usually all three of these things intertwine with each other.
Vodou has very strong ties in Haiti.

And although it was said that Vodou is a religion that empowers women, Vodou still is influenced by Haitian culture which is very misogynistic. There frequently is domestic violence and high male supremacy throughout Haitian culture which seeps into the influence of Vodou. In the excerpt, Brown writes, "…oungan, for example, are notorious for mistreating, in various ways, the women who become ounsi (ritual assistants) in their temples" (220). Things are indeed changing for the women in Vodou though, especially the ones who live in urban areas versus rural areas. In rural areas women can earn respect in a few positions such as herbalists or midwives, and on some occasions priestess, "but nowhere do they challenge the religious hegemony of the rural male" (221). But in urban areas, women are thriving, and it's not similar to rural areas at all. For example, when Brown talks about urban areas she claims that the urban Vodou leaders are women by at least half. Also, there's a different type of feeling within temples ran by women, as well. Women play a big role within the Vodou community as women are the caretakers, mothers, cooks, etc. Due to the nature of nurture, when you are thinking about a woman's temple it's more home-like, whereas men's temples are more business-like. This comparison goes back to the roles of women in rural and urban areas. Continuing with how Vodou is empowering women, it has a lot to do with the

spirits.
There are many spirits throughout Vodou, but the three dominant spirits in Alourdes' (also known as Mama Lola) life are Lasyrenn, Ezili Dantỏ, and Ezili Freda.

Brown talks about how Vodou is something that is very adaptable, and that is due to the fact that Vodou doesn't have a pope or something similar, but instead it has spirits "and the intimate detail in which those spirits reflect the lives of the faithful- all these characteristics make women's lives visible within Vodou in ways they are not in other religious traditions" (221). The female spirits are very human-like, which causes women to feel like they can relate with these spirits. This is sometimes unusual among other religions and cultures. Lasyrenn is a spirit who is sometimes depicted as a mermaid and sometimes a whale, but she is half black and half white, sometimes with black hair and sometimes with blonde, she is a very elusive character. Lasyrenn is important when thinking about social class, race, and gender because Lasyrenn is thought have the roots to the trauma of slavery. Ezili Dantỏ, on the other hand is a black, single mother, who wasn't too proud to work, and loves and nurtures her children. And then there is Ezili Freda, she "concerns herself with love and romance. [Her] connection to romance, like her light skin and her jewelry, identifies her with upper-class Haitian women". (247) When you look at these three spirits you realize that they all have very dynamic stories and such stories

consequently, a wide range of women and even men can relate or feel like they can ask for guidance within these spirits. Throughout American culture and history in general, race, gender, and social class play big roles with determining the status of a person. Dantỏ is depicted as a single mother who is poor, and women who are in similar scenarios can relate to her and feel like they are connected that way. On the other hand, Freda is light skinned, married, very sensual and of higher class which is something many women want, and some women feel like they have and again they feel connected to her, if they are married, or of higher class.
Alourdes, or Mama Lola, feels as though she has a strong connection among the three spirits, but her life is very similar to Dantỏ. Alourdes is a single mother, just like Dantỏ. She works very hard for her children, since they moved from Haiti to New York. Alourdes is very similar in that aspect. But there was a time when Alourdes could also have a connection with Freda when she was married to a wealthier man named Kowalski. Alourdes is able to find herself among the very human like female spirits and she will throw birthday parties for the spirits. She very much accepts the guidance given to her from the Vodou spirits and she also helps share the word by being a priestess as well.
Vodou is a religion that just like any other type of religion has some form of segregation of race, or gender, or social class. As you can see throughout the Vodou spirits they even have different races, genders, and social classes, especially depicted by Freda and Dantỏ. Freda is a spirit who is of higher social status due to the light complexion, whereas Dantỏ is darker, single mother, who is willing to work and make sure her children are safe. But overall Vodou is empowering women more than many other known religions throughout the world. Although Vodou originates from a misogynistic culture in Haiti, and although the rural areas of Haiti still are not as "progressive" as Vodou practiced in urban areas, it is still empowering women. The three female spirits are also a big role within Vodou culture, because these spirits live human-like lives which is a lot of help for women as well, as they are trying to take care of their children, or find a husband, or just live life!