Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks
Although many Hindu communities today foreground women as religious authorities, some lineages officially recognize only men as gurus and renouncers. If official models of religious authority are gendered masculine, what space do women have to embody holiness? This article investigates this question...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/6/786 |
| _version_ | 1797592883103006720 |
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| author | Claire Robison |
| author_facet | Claire Robison |
| author_sort | Claire Robison |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although many Hindu communities today foreground women as religious authorities, some lineages officially recognize only men as gurus and renouncers. If official models of religious authority are gendered masculine, what space do women have to embody holiness? This article investigates this question with reference to women in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a transnational religious organization that has developed prominent communities in India and abroad. Amidst an ongoing disagreement about whether women can be gurus in the organization, this article considers how devotee women are cultivating spaces of religious authority in their temple communities and online media forums through embodying Krishna bhakti as a form of vernacular holiness. This includes the development of personal websites and the use of YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to produce media content that ranges from overtly devout recordings of temple lectures to subtle signals towards Krishna bhakti in the aesthetic style of social media influencers. Case studies discuss women affiliated with ISKCON communities in India and the US. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:59:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f196fc9ce63546e885b26b6c05317ef2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:59:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-f196fc9ce63546e885b26b6c05317ef22023-11-18T12:23:49ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-06-0114678610.3390/rel14060786Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti NetworksClaire Robison0Department of Religion and Asian Studies, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, OH 04011, USAAlthough many Hindu communities today foreground women as religious authorities, some lineages officially recognize only men as gurus and renouncers. If official models of religious authority are gendered masculine, what space do women have to embody holiness? This article investigates this question with reference to women in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a transnational religious organization that has developed prominent communities in India and abroad. Amidst an ongoing disagreement about whether women can be gurus in the organization, this article considers how devotee women are cultivating spaces of religious authority in their temple communities and online media forums through embodying Krishna bhakti as a form of vernacular holiness. This includes the development of personal websites and the use of YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to produce media content that ranges from overtly devout recordings of temple lectures to subtle signals towards Krishna bhakti in the aesthetic style of social media influencers. Case studies discuss women affiliated with ISKCON communities in India and the US.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/6/786International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)bhaktiguruwomenHinduvernacular holiness |
| spellingShingle | Claire Robison Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks Religions International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) bhakti guru women Hindu vernacular holiness |
| title | Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks |
| title_full | Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks |
| title_fullStr | Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks |
| title_short | Urban Devis: Fashioning Lay Women’s Holiness in Krishna Bhakti Networks |
| title_sort | urban devis fashioning lay women s holiness in krishna bhakti networks |
| topic | International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) bhakti guru women Hindu vernacular holiness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/6/786 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clairerobison urbandevisfashioninglaywomensholinessinkrishnabhaktinetworks |