Authors:

Amara Grajewski

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Both Catholicism in Italy and Shinto in Japan use visual, gendered religious symbols to inform sacred practice and public life. In Rome, Italy, the figure of Mary attracts high levels of interaction from devout Catholics, interested art students, and curious tourists alike. Across Japan, symbols related to women's issues draw interaction from women and girls of all ages. Although the churches and shrines which house these gendered religious symbols are considered sacred spaces, they are public spaces as well. Meaning, anyone can enter during visiting hours to pray and admire art in a Catholic church, or to buy religious talisman and be one with nature in a Shinto shrine. The existence of gendered religious symbols in these "sacred publics" extends the scope of who can interact with them. The barrier of entry to enter a sacred space and view gendered religious symbols (which were already low, save visiting hours), do not exist with such rigidity outdoors. Strongly reinforced sacred publics are visible in Rome, as well as Hirakata City, Kyoto, and Osaka, Japan. The existence of gendered religious symbols in the sacred publics of Rome, Italy, and cities across Japan led to an inquiry on how the ever-fluctuating nature these cities and the people (specifically women) have changed the visual representation of gendered religious symbols over time. Comprehensive analysis of historical and contemporary sources on the representation of Mary in Roman Catholicism, female figures in Shinto, and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Rome and the cities of Hirakata City, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, Japan, shows that gendered religious symbols in Rome and across Japan demonstrate differing levels of visual change over time. Namely, a lack of visual change in Rome, Italy, and dynamic visual change in cities across Japan.

Source:

Loyola University Chicago

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Co-authors:

Amara Grajewski