Reading Report

Griffin Gonzales
28 September 2017

The Promise of Greatness : Women and Power

In her excellent essay The Promise of Greatness, Paula Girshick Ben-

Amos explores the way that women access power in Benin, through the
Edo Spirit Possession. The religion facilitates access by women to fame,
prestige, and power otherwise inaccessible in the otherwise rigidly patriar-
chal Benin society. It does this through access to the priesthood.

Ben-Amos begins with an overview of the mythology of the Edo religion,

and discusses how women come to play an important role in practice, es-
pecially around the cult of Olokun, a deity heavily associated with water.
This is, essentially, a fertility cult. Its focus is on childbearing, she writes,
drawing many of its adherents from those wishing to increase the number
of their offspring, or those dealing with issues surrounding childrearing.
Priestesses are designated by birthindeed, before itby a calling in the
womb in which an unborn child is designated for future priesthood. Oth-
ers come to the priesthood later. These will experience calamity, as a con-
sequence of not realizing that they were a child of Olokun. In this way, a
calling to the priesthood is not a matter of choice. One is either designated
before birth, or called by undeniable suffering later on in life.

The priestess, once identified, acts in almost a free market of divines.

They will establish a shrine, which serves as the center of her personal fol-
lowing. It is usually located in her own home, where she lives with her
children. Importantly, this residence is usually separate from her husband,
if she has one.

This independence and religious license allows for three mediums of pow-
er to accrue with the priestesses, mediums of power not usually accessible
to women in Benin society. I will discuss these one at a time, then discuss
them in concert.

The first is fame. Ben-Amos writes that priestesses are often given media
outlets, such as television and radio, to spread their spiritual messages.
Ultimately, she writes, the size of her congregation will fluctuate with
her ability to attract people through successful cures and personal charis-
ma. She indicates a sort of free market of priestesses. That is, they pro-
vide a way for women to access the plane of meritocracy, where ones skill
and talent speak loudest. Many priestesses become quite famous, and car-
ry the cache which accompanies that fame. Over time, Ben-Amos writes,
the more successful priestesses begin to gain a wide reputation.

The second is prestige. This can accompany fame, but is also a separate
matter. Priestesses are conferred titles, traditionally reserved for men.
These are titles without office, but the titles themselves are enough to carry
weight. They are given access to the local king, among other leaders and
administrators.

The third is power. Power is, of course, conferred by both fame and pres-
tige, but the most tangible power is economic, and this too the priestesses
can gain, and in spectacular fashion. With a successful following comes
economic success, and priestesses begin to acquire considerable amounts
of money, which they commonly invest in real estate around Benin City.
Ben-Amos goes onto describe how the priestesses begin to act as land-
ladies over sometimes vast apartment complexes, where they both collect
rent, and resolve disputes between their tenants. With this economic con-
trol comes the financial resources to act as patrons, thus widening their
influence further.

Power is not only economic, however. The priestesses (naturally) possess

the power of healingand the occult knowledge therein. This expertise is
difficult to imagine, I think, in a society without a wide respect for reli-
gious healing. I imagine this power is similar to those a doctor in the Unit-
ed States might possess. Their learning, their erudition, is in itself a source
of prestige and power. So too, with a doctor as a priestess, society rewards
this expertise with a robust financial outlook. Together, these factors es-
tablish a robust station in society for the priestess, and thus, a robust sta-
tion in society for women.

But to what end? This combination and interplay of fame, prestige, and
power create a class where women may play an important role in society,
but Ben-Amos gives no indication that this class provides further access to
these things to women outside of the class. Whatever gender equality may
be striven for within an exclusive class, it is still an exclusive class. That
said, Ben-Amos makes a good point of showing that the existence of fame,
prestige, and power in the hands of women at all is an ideal which others
can look toward. Although not all priestesses do attain this success, it is
something which all can strive for.
Question 1 : What are the similarities / what are the differences between
the priestesses which Ben-Amos describes in her article, and the babala-
wos, one of whom we heard from the other week? Are any of the differ-
ences associated with gender?

Question 2 : The article emphasized the access by these women to financial

success? Is the priestesses independence and empowerment based on this
financial successes?

Question 3: Does empowerment for women, when it exists only within an

exclusive class, do anything toward the empowerment of all women?