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This book compares shifting formulations of gender, interfaith, and ethnic relations in the Near East, Europe, the Americas, and Africa from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Contributors address three areas in pre-modern gender, religious, and cultural encounters: depictions of homosexual and transgendered behaviors, conceptualizations of femininity and masculinity, and the marriageability of ethnic and religious minorities.
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RELIGION, GENDER, AND CULTURE IN THE PRE-MODERN WORLD Religion/Culture/Critique Series editor: Elizabeth A. Castelli How Hysterical: Identification and Resistance in the Bible and Film By Erin Runions (2003) Connected Places: Region, Pilgrimage, and Geographical Imagination in India By Anne Feldhaus (2003) Representing Religion in World Cinema: Filmmaking, Mythmaking, Culture Making Edited by S. Brent Plate (2003) Derrida’s Bible (Reading a Page of Scripture with a Little Help from Derrida) Edited by Yvonne Sherwood (2004) Feminist New Testament Studies: Global and Future Perspectives Edited by Kathleen O’Brien Wicker, Althea Spencer Miller, and Musa W. Dube (2005) Women’s Renunciation in South Asia: Nuns, Yoginis, Saints, and Singers Edited by Meena Khandelwal, Sondra L. Hausner, and Ann Grodzins Gold (2006) Retheorizing Religion in Nepal By Gregory Price Grieve (2006) The Religious Dimensions of Advertising By Tricia Sheffield (2006) Religion, Gender, and Culture in the Pre-Modern World Edited by Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt (2007) RELIGION, GENDER, AND CULTURE IN THE PRE-MODERN WORLD EDITED BY ALEXANDRA CUFFEL AND BRIAN BRITT RELIGION, GENDER, AND CULTURE IN THE PRE-MODERN WORLD © Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt, 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7218–7 ISBN-10: 1–4039–7218–4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religion, gender, and culture in the pre-modern world / edited by Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt. p. cm.—(Religion / culture / critique) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–7218–4 (alk. paper) 1. Gender identity—History. 2. Sex differences—History. 3. Anthropology of religion. 4. Ethnic relations—History. I. Cuffel, Alexandra. II. Britt, Brian M., 1964– HQ2I.R427 2007 306.7089—dc22 2006049108 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: March 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt I 1 2 3 5 6 Ancient Cultures Ethnic Curses as “Last Resort of the Weak” in Genesis 9:18–28 and Joshua 9:22–27 Brian Britt 25 Promiscuous or Proper? Nymphs as Female Role Models in Ancient Greece Ann-Marie Knoblauch 47 Hercules in a Skirt, or the Feminization of Victory during the Roman Civil Wars and Early Empire Carlin Barton 63 II 4 1 Medieval Cultures “The Sweepings of Lamia”: Transformations of the Myths of Lilith and Lamia Irve