Saint Anthony, make me marry now! Afro-brazilian readings on the saint anthony of lisbon’s marriage virtues and the moralization of women’s sexuality

Abstract: Saint Anthony’s marriage virtues continue complex remodeling forms of Central African Christianity in Brazil. They are based on cultural processes of syncretization between the Catholic saint and Exu, erotic Orixá belonging to the Afro-Brazilian cultural and religious universe, since the 16th century. An African sculpture of the saint, published in a work by Gilberto Freyre, in 1959, reinforces his association with Exu. Although in the underground of popular culture, the syncretism will be opposed by ecclesiastical narratives from the 19th century with the aim of making Saint Anthony's marriage attributes compatible with Christian sexual morality. Controlling sexuality, especially of women, through marriage, has always been one of the missionary pedagogical tasks since the beginning of colonization.

Keywords:
Syncretism; Exu; Saint Anthony; Marriage; Sexual morality; Pedagogy