‘Evangelical Gitanos are a good catch’: masculinity, churches, and roneos★

Abstract

This article explores Christian principles, imagery, and ideas shaping the (re)making of masculine ideals, behaviour, and identities among Pentecostal Gitanos in Spain. Scholarship on Pentecostal masculinities emphasizes that in cultural settings dominated by ‘macho’ and other chauvinistic principles, men find it challenging to comply with Pentecostal standards of manhood, and those who do convert often lose standing before non‐converted men as they are accorded an aura of effeminacy. Whereas many converted Gitanos struggle to meet Pentecostal moral standards too, Gitano believers attempt to reform their masculinity following dominant and highly valued ethnic ideals. The connection between masculine pathways of conversion, moral/spiritual commitment, and cultural prestige has significant implications for the ways in which Gitano male believers are perceived and appreciated as potential partners in Gitano cultural and communitarian milieus. The article argues that Pentecostal Christianity's gendered ideas about how men should behave defines ideals of masculinity, ethical expectations, and couple‐making practices among Gitano communities. The article also provides an ethnographic account of the mechanisms involved in generating, reproducing, and sustaining discursive, social, and communitarian frameworks and courting practices (known as roneos) in which Pentecostal Gitano ideals and aspirations about manhood become meaningful and appealing.