The Worship of the Mother Goddess and Queer Mediums in Vietnamese Society
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Abstract
The purposes of this study were: 1) to explore the status of knowledge about the worship of the mother goddess and queer mediums in Vietnamese society, 2) to analyze the relationship of the human-ghost-mother goddess in Vietnam by using Schema Theory. Data were collected and analyzed using documentary research, reviewing both written documents and online video media from AnthroSource, ASSIA, Wilson Web, CSA, and Sociological Abstracts.
The results of the study were as follows: 1) the status of knowledge about worshiping the mother goddess has been hidden in the oral literature of the daily lives of people in Vietnamese society a long time ago. Although faced with war and laws prohibiting beliefs and rituals, the worship of the mother goddess has continued and is present in the current cultural revival of beliefs. The emergence of a cultural renaissance along with the international movement of gender equity has encouraged government policy to propose the worship of the mother goddess and queer mediums. 2) The presence of queer mediums in the ceremony of the mother goddess is related to a human-mother goddess-ghost, gender bias, and social inequality Schemas or frame of references. This will lead to the establishment of a new social space of hope in terms of Séance Ceremony and the maintenance of the rituals of worshiping the mother goddess to continue. This pathway provides a way for demanding LGBTQs rights and sexual freedom and allowing voices of vulnerable Vietnamese to be heard as well as providing a ceremony helping to address a policy gap.
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