Revisiting the city of women by Ruth Landes

Abstract

This paper revisits The City of Women, a seminal work by anthropologist Ruth Landes, focusing on her contributions to gender and race studies in Brazil. The object of analysis is her 1938 ethnographic research in Salvador, Bahia, where she documented the central role of Black women and the presence of homosexual men within Candomblé religious communities. The main objective is to present the social and political impacts of Landes’ work and to reflect on the delegitimization she faced due to her gender, nationality, and innovative thematic choices for her time. The methodology is based on a critical analysis of Landes’ production in dialogue with contemporary scholars and the historical reception of her work. The study explores the tensions between Landes’ narrative and the dominant discourse of “racial democracy” promoted by intellectuals like Gilberto Freyre. The research also highlights the role of Edison Carneiro, a Black Brazilian intellectual who facilitated her integration into local communities. The conclusions indicate that The City of Women broke with Eurocentric paradigms by revealing the centrality of Black women in the political and economic life of Afro-Brazilian religious communities and by recognizing marginalized subjects such as homosexual men. Although Landes’ work was silenced and criticized, it is now regarded as a pioneering contribution to race, gender, and sexuality studies. The analysis underscores how her marginalization reflects structural sexism and racism in academia.