The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud.
Profound paradoxes motivate Lilith Mahmud’s singular ethnography of Italian Freemason women: although the Enlightenment’s core democratic values of liberty, equality, and fraternity in many ways originated within Euro-American Freemasonry, most Italians suspect present-day Freemasons of involvement...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
2015
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96010 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 |
| _version_ | 1826207761719885824 |
|---|---|
| author | Jones, Graham M. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program Jones, Graham M. |
| author_sort | Jones, Graham M. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Profound paradoxes motivate Lilith Mahmud’s singular ethnography of Italian Freemason women: although the Enlightenment’s core democratic values of liberty, equality, and fraternity in many ways originated within Euro-American Freemasonry, most Italians suspect present-day Freemasons of involvement in nefarious antidemocratic conspiracies. Moreover, Freemasons’ marginalization of women betrays how deep-rooted exclusivity compromises their guiding principle of universal
brotherhood. It is among the social networks of women who nevertheless gravitate to Freemasonry’s official auxiliary societies and to mixed-gender or women-only lodges not sanctioned by Freemasonry’s paramount governing body that Mahmud conducts a form of ethnography she terms “profane”—mostly (but not always) outside sacred ritual spaces. In describing how these women style themselves as “brothers” and aspire to enact fraternity as a genderless value, Mahmud casts light on the broader tradition of European liberal humanism and its limitations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:54:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/96010 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:54:33Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | John Wiley & Sons, Inc |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/960102022-10-01T17:54:46Z The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. Jones, Graham M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program Jones, Graham M. Profound paradoxes motivate Lilith Mahmud’s singular ethnography of Italian Freemason women: although the Enlightenment’s core democratic values of liberty, equality, and fraternity in many ways originated within Euro-American Freemasonry, most Italians suspect present-day Freemasons of involvement in nefarious antidemocratic conspiracies. Moreover, Freemasons’ marginalization of women betrays how deep-rooted exclusivity compromises their guiding principle of universal brotherhood. It is among the social networks of women who nevertheless gravitate to Freemasonry’s official auxiliary societies and to mixed-gender or women-only lodges not sanctioned by Freemasonry’s paramount governing body that Mahmud conducts a form of ethnography she terms “profane”—mostly (but not always) outside sacred ritual spaces. In describing how these women style themselves as “brothers” and aspire to enact fraternity as a genderless value, Mahmud casts light on the broader tradition of European liberal humanism and its limitations. 2015-03-13T14:22:15Z 2015-03-13T14:22:15Z 2014-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/BookReview 00027294 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96010 Jones, Graham M. Review of “The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud.” American Anthropologist 116, no. 4 (November 26, 2014): 879–880. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aman.12162_16 American Anthropologist Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf John Wiley & Sons, Inc American Anthropological Association |
| spellingShingle | Jones, Graham M. The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title_full | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title_fullStr | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title_short | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges by Lilith Mahmud. |
| title_sort | brotherhood of freemason sisters gender secrecy and fraternity in italian masonic lodges by lilith mahmud |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96010 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonesgrahamm thebrotherhoodoffreemasonsistersgendersecrecyandfraternityinitalianmasoniclodgesbylilithmahmud AT jonesgrahamm brotherhoodoffreemasonsistersgendersecrecyandfraternityinitalianmasoniclodgesbylilithmahmud |