CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
THE MEANINGS OF RAPE
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in
Anthropology
by
Robin Anne O'Brian
May, 1983
The Thesis of Robin Anne O'Brian is approved:
California State University, Northridge
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Samuel H. Sandt of L.A. Valley College, and to
Robert B. Edgerton of UCLA for the revelation of anthropology;
To my thesis supervisor, Dr. Evalyn Michaelson, for
faith and encouragement, and to my committee members,
Dr. Keith Morton, and Dr. Dorothy Meier for patience
and advice;
To my family, Shirley D. O'Brian, Janet O'Brian and
Richard O'Brian, for steadfast emotional support;
To my friends, Jan Berinstein, Chris Cunningham,
Glen Gordon, and Lauren Virshup, for comments, conversation, and observations that enriched my work.
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Michelle
Zirnnalist Rosaldo.
In 1976, in a course on women and
anthropology, I was introduced to the work of Michelle
Rosaldo.
Her work crystallized for me some of the ways
we might explain the place of women in the world.
thesis is a contribution to that effort.
iii
This
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements.
.iii.
Abstract ...••
.vii.
Chapter One:
Introduction.
. .1.
.14.
Notes to Chapter One •..
Chapter Two:
Literature Review ......••.•.•.....•.... l5.
In traduction .•
.15.
The Status of Women •.....
.17.
The Division of Labor by Sex . •.•...•.••...
. 21.
Socialization and Development.
.24.
Symbolism and Women •.
.30.
Notes to Chapter Two • ••••
.35.
Chapter Three:
Analysis and Discussion •.••..•..•.•.. 36.
Introduction.
.36.
Ethnographic Sketches.
.42.
The Aranda.
.42.
The Mbuti .•
.46.
The Cuna •. . . . . .
• . 49.
The Jivaro ....
. 51.
The Mundurucu.
.54.
The Pokot.
.57.
The Gusii..
.59.
The Kikuyu.
.62.
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4.
Notes to Chapter Three .•..•.......•...........•. 78.
iv
Chapter Four:
Summary and Conclusions .....•.•..•.•.. BO.
Notes to Chapter Four .•..•..
;.~
•....•..••...•.•. 83.
Bibliography .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.
v
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:
Eight Cultures Categorized by Subsistence
and Incidence of Rape •••..•.•...•.•...•.... 38.
Table 2:
Eight Cultures Categorized by Major
and Minor Factors for Male Control of
Female Sexuality •...•.......•••.....•••.•.. 6 6.
vi
ABSTRACT
THE MEANINGS OF RAPE
by
Robin Anne O'Brian
Master of Arts in Anthropology
This thesis explores the incidence and meaning of
rape from a comparative perspective.
A brief survey of
the ethnographic literature indicates limited information on the incidence of rape and little systematic
theoretical research on this topic.
A survey of the
literature on gender indicates numerous factors which
might be implicated in the incidence of rape.
A model is presented which may provide a partial
explanation of why rape occurs.
This model relates rape
to male control of female sexuality.
Examination of
eight cultures with respect to this model is presented.
vii
The cultures are analyzed on three major points: 1) male
initiation of sexual encounters; 2) female avoidance/
resistance .to sexual activity;
3)
lack of formal female
avenues to redress grievances; and two minor points:
1) male control of female initiation rites; and 2) denial
of female fertility.
Those cultures which feature all
major and any number of minor points show a high incidence of rape, and those that do not show the three major
factors show a low incidence or absence of rape.
Those
cultures with all major and minor factors show an extremely high level of male control of female sexuality
and a high incidence of rape.
However, it is critical
that a society have the three major factors to exhibit
male control of female sexuality.
The possible reasons
for the high or low degree of male control of female
sexuality and for the presence or absence of rape are
then presented.
It is then suggested that the model is
also applicable to complex societies and a preliminary
application to nineteenth-century America is presented.
Last, further areas of research, which will add to the
available anthropological research on rape, are suggested.
viii
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
This research examines forcible rape from a comparative prespective.
Forcible rape, defined here as
sexual intercourse in which the woman is forced by
physical threat or coercion to participate against her
will, is reported spottily in the anthropological literature.
Mead (1950) noted that the Arapesh knew nothing
of rape, save that it was a practice of other tribes
(104).
On the other hand, the presence of rape·has been
noted for the Cheyenne(Hoebel 1954); for numerous South
American Indian groups including the Mandurucu (Murphy
and Murphy 1974), the Sharanahua (Siskind 1973), and the
Yanomamo (Chagnon 1968).
Rape has also been reported
for the Gusii of East Africa (LeVine 1959), for Samoa
(Mead 1949: 61; Shore 1981: 214n) and for New Guinea
(Langness 1979: 257; Strathern 1972: 187).
The threat
of rape has been reported for the Hadza (Woodburn 1972)
and for the !Kung (Lee, cited in Collier and Rosaldo
1981: 323), in spite of the relatively pacific and
egalitarian reputation that gatherer-hunter groups have
acquired.
However, systematic considerations of rape have
been rare.
In 1952, Brown studied the incidence of rape,
1
2
as well as other forms of sexual deviance, in 154 different cultures drawn from the Human Relations Area Files.
Her study found rape to be among the three most highly
sanctioned behaviors in a majority of the cultures she
examined.
(The others were incest and kidnapping for
sexual purposes.)
In 1976, Chappell discussed the in-
cidence of rape from a cross-cultural perspective.
Al-
though his work cited many of the cases mentioned above,
it did not add in any meaningful way to an explanation
of the incidence of rape in Nonwestern cultures.
Carroll (1976) discussed the absence of rape among
the Nukuoro of Polynesia.
His findings suggest that the
absence of rape on Nukuoro is linked to the attitudes
that the Nukuoro hold about sexuality (Carroll 1976:
136-138).
Sexual activity is enjoyed for its own sake
and is not necessarily considered an expression of love,
or·of power and dominance.
Women are not perceived as
using sexual activity as a bargaining tool and the
thought of forcing sexual activity upon an unwilling
party is an extremely difficult concept for the Nukuoro
to imagine.
LeVine (1959) has presented a model which attempts
to explain high or rising rates of rape in traditional
societies.
Although his model is based upon his field-
work among the Gusii, he intends it as explanatory for
most traditional societies.
According to his model, the
3
incidence of rape may rise when (1) there are severe
formal sanctions against female non-marital sexual
activity;
(2) there are strong formal inhibitions upon
female sexuality;
(3) marriage is delayed until the late
twenties, especially for young men, due to economic or
other factors; and (4) there is an absence of physical
sexual segregation.
LeVine's model appears to be based
upon a "sexual-frustration" theory of rape.
He suggests
that in societies where men lack socially sanctioned
releases for sexual expression (i.e. marriage, permissive
sexuality), and where women are easily available (lack
of physical sexual segregation) rape will follow, presumably as the result of uncontrollable male need.
'\
LeVine does not address other possible factors, such as
ideology (either of male dominance or female inferiority),
or high interpersonal violence in general.
Chappe~l
Thus,
(1976: 299) can observe that the four factors
in LeVine's model generally hold true for traditional
Catholic communities where rape incidence is, in fact,
low 1 .
More recently, Sanday (198lb) has examined the
patterns of rape in a sample of 156 societies.
Sanday
found that a high incidence of rape was, in fact, strongly correlated with an ideology of male dominance (198lb:
24) and with high· rates of interpersonal violence (198lb:
23-25).
Her work suggests that quite different factors
4
than those suggested by LeVine are at work in rape-prone
societies.
In a society where violence and male domin-
ance are viewed as positive values, it is likely that
these behaviors will appear in many human interactions,
including sexual ones.
Further,.it is also
lik~ly
that
sexual activity can develop into an arena of conquest,
providing another opportunity for a man to underscore his
social dominance.
Webster (1977) has discussed the role of rape in
band and tribal societies.
She asserts that women in
non-state societies occupy a fundamentally unequal
social position in comparison to men (1977: 99), and suggests that many anthropologists overlook rape as a behavior because they ignore the basic differences in
status among men and women.
She contends that the right
to control one's body should be incorporated into a
definition of equality between the sexes (1977: 100).
She suggests that researchers examine the cross-cultural
incidence and frequency of rape, the cultural and social
contexts in which rape occurs, and the perceived differences between extra-legal rape and rape which occurs
in a ritual context (Webster 1977: 101).
However, little
research in these areas has followed.
Recent anthropological writings on the status of
women and on the nature of gender·have also avoided,
ignored or slighted the issue of forcible rape
2
Collier
5
and Rosaldo allude to the presence or threat of rape
among gatherer-hunters (1981: 322-323).
Ortner (1981)
discusses rape in her analysis of the sex/gender system
in Polynesia (377-378).
Yet again the systematic con-
sideration of rape is absent.
In spite of this sketchy material, it is reasonable
to assume that rape will be viewed differently in different cultures.
The incidence, perceptions about rape,
and the situations in which rape could occur will differ
depending upon a variety of factors, including male and
female status, attitudes toward sexuality and fertility,
notions of romantic love, and control of access to
bridewealth.
For example, a number of
cu~tures
(the
Mandurucu (Murphy and Murphy 1974), the Gusii (LeVine
1959) and the Mangaians (Marshall 1971: 152) among them)
view gang rape as an appropriate means of punishing
or controlling women who are inappropriately uppity or
independent.
This inquiry has been suggested by the rise of
feminism in recent years.
The numerous scholarly works
on women's status (Quinn 1977; Reiter 1975; Rogers 1978;
Rosaldo and Lamphere 1974) led me to believe that an
anthropological inquiry into the role and meaning of
rape would prove fruitful and useful.
Further, my read-
ing of the feminist literature showed that cross-cultural
information on the topic was conspicuously absent.
This
6
work has focused primarily on urban, Western experience,
and often assumes that women in different societies share
like responses to given situations.
The leading spokeswoman of the feminist perspective
is Brownmiller (1975), whose social history of rape
generated much of the current feminist interest in this
issue.
However, Brownmiller's perspective does contain
certain assumptions which are problematic.
Sanday (l98lb)
has noted that Brownmiller suggests a biological explanation for rape.
11
Brownmiller has suggested that rape is
a conscious process by which all
in a state of fear.
11
(1975: 15.
~
keep all women
Italics in orig.)
Brownmiller believes that rape arose specifically out of
the anatomy of the human male and female, an anatomy in
which_rape is a possibility simply because men can force
themselves on women (1975: 13-14).
rape is unclear.
But why men began to
Brownmiller states that
11
(w)hen men
discovered they could rape, they proceeded to do it 11
(1975: 14).
This merely appeals to a deterministic
theory of a biologically based violent male nature and
is no more explanatory than such explanations of women's
nature. 3
Although Brownmiller mentions Nonwestern
culture briefly, there is also a pronounced Western bias
to her work.
It is unlikely that the presence or absence
of rape in a given society is due to some single, universal cause.
These factors limit the cross-cultural
7
validity of Brownmiller's work.
Other feminist studies of rape have taken different
approaches, in spite of Sanday's incorrect assumption that
Brownmiller's biological reductionism is typical of
feminist theory in this area (see Sanday 198lb: 5-6).
Russell (1975) has conducted a study of rape victims
using a feminist viewpoint and interviews.
Her work,
while not contributing to advances in theory, provides
valuable information on victim attitudes, and upon rape
as a radicalizing experience.
Medea and Thompson (1974)
discuss rape as part of male/female relations in the
U.S., and in the west generally.
Their work presents
the feminist perspective of rape, their analysis of the
dominant society's perception of rape, and measures
women can take to avoid rape.
A consistent deficiency in feminist theory is its
lack of cross-cultural perspective.
A dominant theme is
what could be called the "global male conspiracy" theory.
Another is the common perception that women the world
over react to rape in precisely the same way 4 .
This
work, then, will present a more systematic and comparative examination of forcible rape than has previously
been seen.
Chapter Two will present a review of the anthropological literature on women's status.
The status of
women, the manner in which marriage·s are arranged, and
8
the kinship pattern are only some of the factors which
contribute in some way to the presence of rape in a
society, to its frequency,. and to the social role it
plays (LeVine 1959; Ortner 1981).
The second chapter
will review and analyze that literature which focuses
on theories· of female status and theories of gender
relations.
Chapter Three presents the methodology and analysis
of this thesis.
Drawing from the discussion presented
in the previous chapters, this chapter will describe,
analyze, and discuss eight pre-state cultures which have
dtfferent patterns and frequencies of rape.
I compare
three sets of groups, matched for ethnographic area
and/or social organization.
In each set, both low-rape
and high-rape groups are included.
In my analysis, I
will assert that one variable which affects the incidence
of rape is male control of female sexuality.
This
control will be manifest in different aspects of the
culture, including ideology, beliefs about sexuality,
and female sexuality in particular, and female access
to the formal redress of wrongs against them.
I have chosen one pair of band societies and two
sets (of three) of tribal societies.
My reasons for
choosing a pair of foraging societies are as follows:
much has been written in recent years about the relatively egalitarian and peaceful nature of foragers
(see for
9
instance Draper 1975i Thomas 1959).
On the other hand,
recent critiques, including Webster's 1977 paper discussed above, assert that this egalitarianism is not
necessarily so (see also Begler 1978i Ember 1978 for
this view).
A comparison of two representative groups
might help explain the discrepancy of views currently
seen in the literature.
It is my contention that the
incidence and frequency of rape will not be explained
by different subsistence strategies or technological
levels.
Rather, I maintain that different incidences
of rape and differing levels of male control of female
sexuality will be present at all levels of social organization.
The comparison of band and tribal societies will
show this.
I have chosen to compair the Mbuti of central
Africa and the Aranda of Australia as my foraging groups.
An examination of the literature suggests that the hunter/
gatherer groups of Africa have a low to non-existent
incidence of rape.
Lee (1979: 454) has reported a
negligible incidence of rape among the !Kung San.
Rape
has never been reported for the Mbuti (Turnbull 1961) .
My decision to use the Mbuti rests on the complete lack
of evidence for rape among this group.
By contrast,
women among the Aranda of Australia are subjected to a
form of institutionalized rape in female initiation
ceremonies (Spencer and Gillen 1927).
Such a profound
10
behavioral difference suggests that each group has very
different perceptions of women and sexuality, despite
superficially similar subsistence strategies.
Hy remaining two sets are drawn from different horticultural groups.
The Mundurucu (Murphy and Murphy 1974)
are noted in the literature for their great intersexual
hostility
(~1urphy
1959).
Rape is a corrunon occurrence.
There are high rates of both gang rape, used as punishment, and of coercive intercourse, achieved either by
physical force or its threat.
The Jivaro (Harner 1972),
however, in spite of some cultural similarities to the
Mundurucu, particularly in the areas of myth, ideology
of rape;
in fact, rape is not reported for this society
(Sanday 198lb).
The third group in this set is the
Cuna, also a South American group, who fish and farm.
The Cuna contrast sharply with both the previous groups.
The Cuna value female fertility and have an egalitarian
culture with complementarity of gender roles (Kelly 1966:
114, 117) .
My last set of groups is drawn from East Africa.
The
Gu~ii
are a horticultural and cattle-herding people
occupying the southwestern border of Kenya.
As has been
noted by LeVine (1959) and others (Edgerton 1976),
relations between Gusii men and women are hostile and
strained at best.
is a test of wills.
The consummation of a Gusii marriage
The man will attempt to take his
11
bride by force;
in turn, the woman will resist her new
husband's advances by numerous means, both magical and
physical.
It is a point of honor for the young man to
consummate his marriage;
at the same time, it is of
equal importance to the young woman to prevent the consummation for as long as possible and thus to humiliate
the man (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 47-49).
Rape also has
a very high incidence.
By contrast, the Pokot 5 (Edgerton 1971; 1976), who
are noted for similar hostile and tense intersexual
relations, and who include in their experience wifebeating, marital infidelity, women's shaming parties
directed at negligent husbands (kilapat) , numerous runaway brides, and a high incidence of suicide among
unhappy wives, do not include rape in their various
intersexual relations.
In spite of these tense and
highly charged gender relations, sex, sexuality and
fertility are highly and positively valued among the
Pokot (Edgerton 1976: 47-48).
The Kikuyu, another East African farming and herding
society, do not have a high incidence of illicit rape,
nor is rape used as a punishment.
But they do incorpor-
ate rape into initiation rites for boys.
When boys are
initiated into warrior age grades, they must rape a
Kikuyu woman from a hostile settlement or village, preferably married, to rid themselves of the contagion of
their initiation.
Thus, the contagion is passed on to
12
he woman (Lambert 1956: 53-54).
However, a similar
rite is required of girl initiates, whereby they must
have intercourse prior to menarche, usually by seduction
on the part of the girl.
This fulfills the same purpose--
that of ritually purifying the initiate (Lambert 1956:
55-56).
Thus, though the Kikuyu are similar in many
ways to the Gusii and the Pokot, sexuality and gender
relations are managed in a very different way, one which
more strongly emphasizes egalitarian and autonomous
relations between the sexes.
I will present brief ethnographic descriptions of
the eight groups and then compare them on various points
which indicate male control of female sexuality.
I shall
examine in particular attitudes toward sexuality and
fertility, female active or passive participation in
sex, female access to formal redress of wrongs, and
puberty rites.
I suggest that the presence or absence
of certain of these factors indicates the level of male
control of female sexuality in a given culture.
I then
suggest some possible reasons why the cultures in
question manage female sexuality in the ways that they
do, that is, what factors lead a given culture to consider male control of female sexuality necessary.
I
will then discuss the interrelationship of male control
of female sexuality and the high incidence of rape.
I will close Chapter Three with remarks about the relevance of this model to the nineteenth-century United
13
States.
In Chapter Four, I present a summary of findings and
suggest further
inquiry.
aven~es
of research for this area of
14
NOTES
1.
It is not unreasonable to suppose that rape in
such communities is underreported rather than
uncommon.
2.
It is interesting to note here that research by
anthropologists interested in women's studies has
not addressed abortion in a systematic manner
either.
3.
Biological explanations of women's nature and
role abound. One of the most familiar is Tiger's
male bonding theory (1969). This tendency in
anthropology has been critiqued by Fee (1973,
1981), Haraway (1978, 1981) and Low (1978), to
name only a few.
4.
Rosaldo (1980) has critiqued this tendency in
feminist theory, and in other disciplines, in an
insightful paper.
5.
The Pokot have also been referred to in the literature as the Suk.
I will follow recent practice
and refer to them as the Pokot for the remainder
of this paper.
4~-
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
An act of rape is the result of many causes.
Anthropologists have focused little on the causality
of rape, instead tending only toward description of field
data.
In an early work, LeVine (1959) suggested that the
incidence of rape would rise when coupled with four
factors:
1) sanctions against female non-marital
sexuality; 2) a negative perception of female sexuality
in general; 3) delayed marriage; and 4) the absence of
sexual segregation.
In his work among the Gusii, LeVine
found that this complex of factors was predictive of
raising rape rates.
However, research by Murphy and
Murphy (1974) among the Mundurucu suggests otherwise.
For the Mundurucu, rape and gang rape are frequent occurrences.
However, Mundurucu marriages occur early and
sexual segregation is pronounced.
Although it is inter-
esting, LeVine's research is inconclusive.
It does not
pass the test of comparison.
More recently, Webster (1977) has suggested that the
presence of rape in a given society can be determined by
the interrelationship of gender, power and authority,
and physical force (1977: 99).
15
She suggests that scholars
16
must reevaluate the accepted traditional definitions of
familiar terms and concepts:
are band societies as
egalitarian and pacific as some recent research would
have us believe?
(Thomas 1959;
representative of this trend.)
and Turnbull 1962 are
Is gang rape really an
occasion for social hilarity and amusement as reported
for the Mundurucu?
(I,lurphy and Nurphy 19 7 4: 94) •
Webster contends that researchers, particularly those
with an interest in gender or in women's studies, may be
indulging in an unconscious and optimistic revisionism
of the ethnographic record.
Such practices lead to a
kind of theoretical blindness which stands in the way
of research 1 •
Most recently, Sanday (198lb) has presented a crosscultural analysis of 156 cultures, drawn from the World
Ethnographic Sample, in which rape has been reported.
She placed these societies on a continuum from rapeprone to rape-free, based upon the presence, incidence
and type of rape, i.e., gang rape, ritual rape, criminal
rape, found in a given society.
According to her find-
ings, rape-prone societies are more typified by male
.{---
domination, interpersonal violence and sexual segregation
than are those that are rape-free.
Rape-free societies
are typified by sexual equality and complementarity
between the sexes.
While the sexes may each have
different rights and responsibilities, the activities
of both are indispensable to the functioning of society,
17
and women's contributions are particularly valued
(Sanday 198lb: 18).
It is obvious that numerous different factors
affect the presence and incidence of rape.
research into the origins of women's
stat~s,
Much recent
into women's
role in production and the economy, into psychology,
childrearing, and symbolism, has implications for the
study at hand.
The position of women is strongly impli-
cated in rates and patterns of rape, and the status of
women, too, is due to many causes.
Thus, as we examine
the literature with an eye to the presence of rape, we
will also discover some of those factors which are implicated in women's statuses and roles.
The Status of Women
Numerous researchers have inquired into the origin
of women's status.
These works have ranged over a
variety of approaches, methodologies and sub-disciplines.
Sanday (1974) discussed the interrelationship of the status of women and women's role in the economy.
In those
cultures where women's contribution to production equaled
or nearly equaled men's, women were most nearly equal to
men in status.
In cases where women performed most of
the labor, or almost none, their status was significantly
lower.
animals;
In the first instance, women were merely draft
in the second, economic liabilities.
Rosaldo (1974) has suggested a model of the public/
18
domestic opposition.
Men, Rosaldo suggests, govern the
public life of society and control and public economy,
the polity, religion and law.
Women, on the other hand,
control the domestic domain, the household, children and
the family.
Such a split involves men's greater remove
from, and women's greater involvement in, the messy stuff
of family and domesticity: birth, death, cooking, childcare.
men.
This distance can be, and often is, formalized by
They sleep in separate quarters, conduct business
with other men in public settings, and perform rituals
that reinforce their separateness and importance
(Rosaldo 1974: 27).
Rosaldo further suggests that women's
status will be lowest in those cultures where the separation of public and domestic spheres is most pronounced,
and most nearly egalitarian in societies where differentiation between the domestic and public spheres is
slight and both sexes participate in the life of the
horne (Rosaldo 1974: 36).
Schlegel (1977) presents a model of sexual stratification as a means of typing and operationalizing the
study of female status.
Sexual stratification is der-
ived from three kinds of social relations:
the relations
of reward, the relations of prestige, and the relations
of power.
In this model, one sex
or the other is
treated preferentially within these relations.
There
is a consistent pattern of one sex being favored over
~
19
the other for certain kinds of special treatment 1 even
when that treatment is inappropriate 1 for instance 1
when a man receives excess material goods in spite of his
poor hunting abilities.
of goods and/or prestige
In the first instance 1 rewards
2
consistently accrue to one
sex rather than the other (Schlegel 1977: 6-7).
In the
second instance 1 prestige is granted to a social role
rather than an exceptional individual 1 and the recipient
of this prestige may also bestow prestige (Schlegel 1977:
8).
In the last instance 1 the individual possesses
power 1 here defined as the ability to control one's
persona and activities and at the same time control the
activities of others (Schlegel 1977: 9).
The freedom to
come and go at will while lacking the authority to direct
others is not completely consistent with high social
rank.
Rubin (1975) has attempted to formulate a political
economy of sex by separating the relations of biological.
reproduction from the social relations of production and
expanding the former beyond the merely biological.
What
she calls the sex/gender system is the cultural ordering
and codifying of sex and procreation (Rubin 1975:
165-166~
Rubin begins her work with a critique of Levi-Strauss.
Because his model of kinship is 1 in essence 1 defined as
the exchange of women by men 1 she suggests that he has 1
in fact/ constructed a theory of sexual oppression
20
(1975: 171).
In particular, Rubin cites his notion of
the gift as problematic.
In the act of gift giving,
social realations are recognized, created or affirmed
(1975: 172).
The giving of gifts may be representative
of reciprocity and solidarity in an exchange relationship, or it may be indicative of intense competition and
rivalry, as among New Guinea big-men.
In the exchange
or giving of women, a relationship beyond reciprocity
is established.
Kinship relations are established, and
the incest taboo is the social and cultural imperative
to marry outside the tribal group and extend such relations.
But, says Rubin, such an-explanation leaves the
role women play aside.
Women as gifts, as items of ex-
change, form the links or conduits of male social organization rather than functioning as participants themselves.
Friedl (1975) has suggested that rights to distribution of goods and control of those channels through
which goods flow will be critical in determining female
status (1975: 9, 19).
meat as a scarce good
Among band societies, men control
3
and can, therefore, engage in ex-
changes through which they derive power and prestige.
Because women are denied access to control of meat, they
are unable to participate in the exchange network and are
unable to accrue publicly recognized power and/or prestige.
Whyte (1978), using another approach, has studies
the status of women using the cross-cultural method.
21
His study suggests that male dominance is not universal
but rather that it varies from total to minimal, crossculturally.
He further suggests that there is no univer-
sal explanation for this variation in female status
(Whyte 1978: 168).
Rather than there being a discrete
"women's status", which is the product of a complex of
interrelated variables, there in fact seems to be little
relationship between those variables which would be
expected to indicate differences in women's status. Thus
the presence of one variable does not necessarily predict the presence of another.
political
~ower
For example, female
does not in any way predict female
sexual freedom (Whyte 1978: 169).
There is, then, no
key variable that satisfactorily explains women's status.
However, he suggests that this lack of a single key
variable is potentially positive for those desiring a
change in female status;
that is, no single inherent
barrier stands in the way of change (Whyte 1978: 180).
The Division of Labor by Sex
The sexual division of labor has been another area
that anthropologists working on gender and sex roles
have examined.
Most societies assign tasks on the basis
of gender, even though these tasks will vary from
culture to culture.
The sexual division of labor has long intrigued
social scientists.
Durkheim, writing in the last
22
century, asserted that the sexual division of labor
evolved through time, producing the modern Parisian
woman as the flower of civilization.
Where, in places
long ago and far away, the sexes more nearly resembled
each other, they had brittle, temporary marriages.
The
Western world, with its profound sexual division of labor,
led to that hallmark of Victorian civility, the modern
marriage.
It was this pronounced difference which led
to the evolution of biological sex differences, including
reduction of the female cranium to minuscule proportions
(Durkheim 1933: 59-60).
Brown (1970) attempts an explanation of the division
of labor by sex.
Brown criticizes many theories of
sexual division of labor for their reliance on biological
or physiological explanations.
Brown asserts instead
that because women generally have sole or primary care
for children, their work will be that which is most
easily combined with childcare.
It will be typified by
its relative routineness and lack of danger (Brown 1970:
1074).
Brown ·is careful to point out, however,
that
such activities are performed by women not out of biological or psychological need, but rather because they
are easily combined with childcare (1970: 1077).
Burton, Brudner and White (1977) have studied the
division of labor by sex from a cross-cultural viewpoint.
It is their contention that a key variable in the
23
division of labor is not sex specifically, but rather the
location of the task, that is, its distance from home.
A given activity will be performed by women when it is
near home, or a home base, and by men when it is far
afield and perceived to be more dangerous.
For example,
among the Maasai, women milk and butcher cattle when
they are on the safer grasslands, while men perform these
tasks when the cattle wander into the more dangerous
forests
(Burton, Brudner and White 1977: 229-230).
Burton, Brudner and White (1977: 228-229) also point
out that while men are more often found working great
distances from horne, and are more often involved in the
production of raw materials, women are more apt to
perform a wider variety of tasks in production.
When
women do participate in production, especially when
their participation begins early in the sequence, they
are more apt also to participate in subsequent related
activities.
When women clear land, for example, they
will also participate in planting, weeding, harvesting·
and cooking the crop (Burton, Brudner and White 1977:
246).
4
Sacks (1974), in her re-examination of Engels, sug-
gests that political power deriving from participation
in the exchange of goods determines female status.
Sacks redefines "social labor" to include all work done
either alone or in a group, that is for use by the
24
members of another household (1974: 212).
She notes
that female participation in social labor confers social
adulthood on the participants.
are involved in decisionmaking.
Women who participate
For women who partici-
pate minimally in social labor, access to power is constricted and women are less likely to be defined as
social adults (1974: 213).
In Western society, this
cultural or capitalist dichotomy between social and
domestic labor defines women as less than adult because
their domestic labor, labor for use only, is considered
less important than labor for exchange.
It is not
"real" work (Sacks 1974: 221-222).
Socialization and Development
The discussion thus far has dealt with theories
about the evolution of the status of women and with
the variable roles
women play in production. Psycholog-
ical variables also play a part in the development of
sex roles.
Much recent work in this field has focused
on childrearing practices and the role of the family
constellation in the creation of sex roles.
Several works by Chodorow (1971, 1974, 1978), and a
work by Dinnerstein (1977) have had a profound influence
on work by anthropologists.
Each work tries to grapple
with the influence of psychology on gender.
In an early
paper, Chodorow (1971) suggests a model of gender development based on the opposition of being to doing.
In
25
much of the world, writes Chodorow, the girl's future
role is narrow and limited to her biological function.
All around her, the young girl sees women fulfilling
this destiny and she learns that she too will one day
have children.
(1971: 188, 190)
The boy, on the other
hand, learns that he must do something;
hunt, farm,
become a fireman·or a stockbroker, when he attains
adulthood.
Often, his father is away a part of the time,
further complicating the boy's process of maturation.
Where the girl may mature simply by identifying with
the mother, the boy must differentiate between his father
and his mother, identify with the absent father, and learn
that he must pursue a specific activity to achieve adulthood.
In a second paper (1974), Chodorow investigates
the development of female personality and the feminine
role.
It is her contention that because women are
responsible for the care and socialization of children
of both sexes, psychological personality structures
will be developed in a relationship between a child of
either sex and an adult woman.
In this situation, a
woman will experience her children differently depending
on their gender, and they in turn will experience her
differently.
When a woman mothers a daughter, she
experiences a double identification, identifying both
with her own mother and with her infant daughter, through
26
whom she re-experiences herself as a daughter (Chodorow
1974: 46-47).
In raising a son, she is more apt to
emphasize his differences from her; to push him into an
appropriate masculine role.
The children develop their
gender roles within this arrangement, although they
develop differently, and in different ways.
The girl
learns her identity through ongoing daily contact with
her mother.
She learns her role within an ongoing,
affective relationship.
She identifies with her mother--
a real, living person--and learns an identity based
on a continuous personal relationship.
with the boy.
It is different
He must begin to identify with his
father, who is often absent from the home, and/or uninvolved with childcare.
Because of this, the boy may
begin to identify with a "position" definition of male
gender, based not upon a personal relationship with
his father, but rather upon a narrowly delineated set
of behaviors and traits that represent "maleness."
The
male role is a fantasied one which does not grow out of
a concrete relationship, and because of its ephemeral
nature generates anxiety in the boy about his success in
fulfilling it.
Often, to further·solidify his masculine
identity the boy may identify i t dialectically, that is,
as "not female."
He represses those of his own behaviors
which he feels to be feminine, and he denigrates femaleness in his social world.
27
In a recent work (1978), Chodorow has moved to trying to discover why many women wish to become mothers,
even at some personal cost.
She investigates what
reproduces mothering from generation to generation.
Once again, it is not enough to simply root this activity
in the biology and physiology of women.
actively seek to have children.
which Chodorow is interested.
Most women
It is this fact in
Chodorow first notes
that earlier theories of mothering are inadequate.
A
number of theorists suggest that mothering stems from
biological or physiological factors
(1978: 19-20).
Others have suggested functional reasons drawn from
data on gathering/hunting societies.
Psychologists
posit the presence of a "mothering instinct" which
causes women to want to mother.
to extremes, as when
i~
This is often carried
is suggested that women need
to become mothers, or that biological mothers are
somehow more fit parents than
adoptive mothers or
fathers of any stripe (1978: 22).
On the other hand, Chodorow also suggests that certain feminist arguments are inadequate explanations of
why women mother.
One of the most common of these is
the role-training argument which suggests that little
girls learn to want to be mothers because they are
socialized to be nurturant, and taught to achieve and
expect less success in endeavors other than motherhood
28
(Chodorow 1978: 31).
Rather, Chodorow suggests that
women who want to mother wish to do so because they
perceive themselves, consciously or unconsciously, as
maternal enough to carry out such a task
33).
(Chodorow 1978:
Drawing from her earlier work, Chodorow suggests
a psychoanalytic theory based upon child-rearing practices.
She suggests that the wish to mother is often
reproduced in women because they do identify with both
their mother and their infant;
a woman re-experiences
the gratification of the mother/child relationship when
she herself mothers a child (Chodorow 1978: 204).
A
man is less apt to seek such a relationship because his
sense of self is less defined by relationships with
others.
His masculine identification is more positional
and is unlikely to be reproduced in a father/child
relationship (Chodorow 1978: 207).
A related but quite different argument is presented
by Dinnerstein (1977).
Whereas Chodorow wants to know
what makes women want to mother, Dinnerstein investigates·
why, given current technology that would permit a variety
of child-rearing arrangements to occur, women continue
to have major child-rearing responsibilities.
What per-
petuates this social arrangement?
Ill-ease between the sexes arises out of the traditional arrangement in which women retain sole or major
child-care responsibilities.
Because nearly all children
29
are raised exclusively or nearly exclusively by women,
children of both sexes experience women as their first
care-giver, their first authority, the power against
whom they must struggle for individuation (Dinnerstein
1977: 164).
Such a struggle creates a climate in which
woman, perceived as an omnipotent power, is devalued as
a symbol of nature, and man becomes symbolic of culture
and pure humanness (Dinnerstein 1977: 124 et passim).
It is Dinnerstein's assertion that such an arrangement
arises out of the projection of the mortality of the
flesh and the loathing of the body specifically onto women
. (Dinnerstein 1977: 131).
Both men and women believe this
because children of both sexes are mothered by women.
Gender relations are perpetuated because women grow up
to mother, while men, in an attempt to achieve control
over the reality of death (an attempt which must inevitably fail) differentiate between themselves and women.
This is an interesting argument, although perhaps
overly reliant on a single-factor explanation of female
status and gender relations, and upon Western concepts
of the flesh, death and mortality.
While it is quite
likely, as we have seen from the previous discussion,
that motherhood and childcare play some part in the status
and social perception of women, this alone cannot completely explain the differential status women in a given
culture might have.
It is also interesting that Dinner-
30
stein relies upon a nature-culture duality in formulating
her theory or gender relations.
This model has provoked
much discussion and debate in women's studies and anthropology.
It is to this literature that I now turn.
Symbolism and Women
Much recent work on gender by symbolic anthropologists deals with the nature/culture duality.
In a
widely read and influential paper, Ortner (1974) suggests
that societies generate symbolic systems in which nature
and culture are opposed and in which culture is the more
highly valued. (1974: 71).
Women are equated with nature,
while men are equated with culture.
This equation of
women with an inferior category leads to the perception
of women as inferior (Ortner 1974: 73).
Women are seen
as closer to nature, Ortner maintains, because of their
bodily functions--childbirth, lactation, and childrearing--which tie them more directly to the natural.
Those
functions of course link them directly to infants and
children, a category of persons who are not yet under
the control of culture, reinforcing the perception of
women as closer to nature.
This association with children
also relegates ·1.-wmen to the lower, less prestigious
domestic sphere, while men are associated with the public
sphere and the expressly cultural: religion, ritual,
politics, etc.
(Ortner 1974: 78).
This relegation to
the natural inf·luences female psychological organization,
31
completing her di·fferentness (Ortner 1974: 74).
A slightly different view is presented by Ardener
(1975).
He too begins with the assumption of a univer-
sal nature/culture dualism (1975: 4).
However, he dif-
fers from Ortner by suggesting that men and women each
possess a separate worldview:
Hen's view opposes them
<-----
to nature, while women's includes both nature and
culture (1975: 4-5).
He suggests that men often per-
ceive women as being part of the natural due to their
childbearing function (an activity beyond cultural,
or male, control), and also because they go beyond
village or camp boundaries into the natural world to do
their work (1975.• 7). 5
Of course, such activities do
not seem problematic to women themselves, but only a
part of shared female experience.
This nature/culture duality model has been criticized by a number of workers.
The primary area of crit-
icism has concerned the universality of the duality.
This has been critiqued in a collection of papers (McCormack and Strathern 1980).
These papers discuss the
absence of the duality among the Mount Hagen (Strathern
1980), the development of nature/culture duality in
Western though (Bloch and Bloch 1980), and the essential
culture-boundness of the model (Jordanova 1980).
In a separate paper, Rogers (1978) has critiqued
this model on several points.
First, she notes that
32
there is no evidence for the universality of the duality
model.
Even within Western thought the duality can be
expressed in numerous ways, e .·g., nature as morally
superior, or nature as transcendent.
Second, Rogers
notes that in some cases where a nature/culture duality
exists, it may not be equated with gender in the same
way as the model under discussion here.
In nineteenth-
century America, women were seen as the morally superior
bearers of culture, rather than being equated with the
natural.
In fact, it was their duty to civilize "wild"
men (Rogers 1978: 134). 6
In another recent paper, Llywelyn-Davies (1981)
notes that the Maasai conceive of the realms of nature
and culture quite differently.
Among the Maasai, the
male age-grades (moran) are noted for their wildness
and flagrant anti-social behavior.
These young warriors
are much more strongly identified with nature, while
women, with their male-controlled fertility, are not
associated with nature at all (1981: 353).
The issues presented in the preceding pages have
implications for the presence or absence of rape.
The
roles women play in a given society, the ways in which
they care for children, the ways in which they are perceived by the society as a whole, all contribute to
the sort of environment in which rape could occur.
example, at least one discussion of rape in another
For
33
culture (LeVine 1959) has rooted the high incidence
of rape in the family constellation and child-rearing
practices.
While it would be simplistic to suggest that
psychological variables (or any other variable, for that
matter) can completely explain the presence or absence
of rape in a given society, they do play an important
role in its incidence.
Bearing this caveat in mind, I now turn to an
examination of eight cultures selected on the bases of
subsistence strategy, geographical location and incidence of rape.
Cultures are drawn from Sanday (198lb).
Sanday's study coded 18 cultures drawn from the Human
Relations Area files for presence or absence of rape.
These societies were chosen on the basis of rape incidence and an attempt to hold variables such as subsistence constant was not made (Sanday 1981: 7).
I have
drawn eight cultures from Sanday's sample, and matched
them for subsistence strategy, geographical location and
rape incidence.
This is not a random sample, a con-
straint imposed by the limitations of the data currently
available.
Rather, I intend a preliminary examination of
one factor in the presence or absence of rape in a given
society.
A future application of this model to a larger
sample is
planned~
but is beyond the scope of this paper.
Chapter Three will briefly describe the cultures
selected, present the analysis, and make some remarks
34
regarding the application of this model to the nineteenthcentury United States.
35
NOTES
1.
Besides the numerous works dealing with the theoretical "blindness" of scholars to women as an
area of inquiry (see for example, Rosaldo 1974,
Reiter 1975, Slocum 1975), see also Sacks (1976)
regarding pro-Western State bias, and Rapp
(1978) regarding pro-nuclear family bias. Perhaps the force of research in women's studies can
be measured by these allegations of revisionism.
2.
This recalls the "image of limited good" (Foster
1965) which suggests that any good, prestige, love,
etc., is finite and the possession of more by one
individual diminishes the amount available for
others.
3.
This idea has been developed, perhaps to Byzantine
proportions, by Siskind (1973) and !1urphy (1976).
4.
This approach suggests implications for the theoripts
discussed here.
It recalls Rosaldo's observation
that where the public domestic split is more intense,
women's status is lower and \vhere domains are blurred, men and women have a more nearly equal status
(Rosaldo 1974).
It also recalls Sanday's assertion
that women who perform the majority of chores
occupy a low, slave-like status (1974).
Because
this study focused primarily upon division of labor
by sex rather than related factors, further research
would be necessary to resolve what appears to me to
be a.bit of a contradlction.
5.
It is interesting to contrast Ardener's (1975: 7)
linkage of women with the natural environment of the
forest of Burton, Brudner and White's (1977: 229)
observation that among the I•laasai men go further from
home and into the more dangerious forests.
However,
it is also pertinent to point out here that Maasai
gender ideology views men as wild and inherently
linked with ~ature (Llewelyn-Davies 1981: 353).
6.
This perception has recently been revived in the
work of the neoconservative ideologue, George
Gilder (1981).
Chapter 3
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
This chapter will examine the incidence of rape in
eight cultural groups, as it relates to the degree of
male control of female sexuality.
It is my contention
that one critical variable in the occurrence of rape is
such control.
The reason for the presence of this con-
trol may differ from society to society;
one might per-
ceive female sexuality as dangerous (for example, the
Mundurucu), another might regard it as the property of
men (as do the Gusii), but all will require that female
sexuality be managed by men.
This model is not intended
to be a complete explanation of all rape for all time,
but rather, it is suggested as one of the necessary components of a society in which rape is common and/or
tacitly approved.
Rape appears more frequently in those cultures where
women's sexuality is in some way controlled by men, and
less frequently in those where women are in charge or
control of their own sexuality.
That is, female sexual-
ity may be neutrally perceived, or even
valued, but men will control it.
pos~tively
Thus the exercise of
rape becomes merely the exercise of male property rights.
36
37
A secondary variable implicated in the occurrence of
rape is male violence.
According to Sanday (198lb:
14-15), violent cultures in which female sexuality is
male controlled(for example the Azande, or Yanomamo)
have a higher icidence of rape where there is a higher
level of general interpersonal violence.
But factors which might indicate some degree of
female autonomy are not implicated in predicting the
occurrence of rape.
For example, subsistence pattern
could be suggested as a possible factor in the incidence
of rape.
Several anthropologists (Gough 1971; Leacock
1978; Sacks 1974) have suggested that bands are essentially egalitarian societies in which women· are not subjected to nefarious forms of subjugation by men.
How-
ever, rape does occur in band societies, a fact which
suggests that women in some foraging societies may not
necessarily control their own sexuality to the degree
that some anthropologists might wish.
societies to be considered
In the two band
below, the .Ivlbuti fit an
egalitarian profile, but the Aranda exhibit strong male
control of female sexuality.
The effect, or rather non-
effect, of subsistence on the occurrence of rape is seen
in the six remaining societies I plan to examine.
societies are horticulturalists and hunters;
one group has a high incidence of rape.
are horticulturists and pastoralists.
Three
of these
Three societies
Of these, one
group has practically no rape, one has ritual rape, and
38
one has a high incidence or rape in all contexts (See
Table One).
Table One
Subs.&
Aranda Ivibuti Jivaro Mund. Cuna Pokot Gusii Kik.
+/-Ra e
Band
X
X
Hort.
Hunt/
Fish
X
X
X
Hort.
Past.
High
Rape
Low
Rape
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Eight Cultures Categorized by Subsistence and
Incidence of Rape
Likewise, there is no correlation between rape and
the division of labor by sex.
In the groups to be stud-
ied, the sexual division of labor ranges from slight
among the .Hbuti (low-rape), to extreme among the Cuna
(low-rape) and Mundurucu (high-rape) .
The division of
labor by sex obviously does not in any meaningful way
correspond to male control of female sexuality.
Rather
the division of labor by sex and women's possible attendant role in production organize different aspects of
society, aspects which may have minimal bearing on the
sex/gender system.
It might be valuable to point out
39
here that the I'iundurucu (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 67) and
the Gusii (S. LeVine 1979: 6-7), both societies with
dramatically high patterns of rape, give women relative
autonomy in economic matters and production.
Last, ownership, property rights and inheritance
do not correlate with rape or male ·control of female
sexuality.
The issue of ownership varies throughout
the eight groups in question, but in every case women
have some property rights.
Among both band societies
women own their own apparel and tools (Spencer and
Gillen 1927: 23-24; Turnbull 1965a: 1976).
Among the
Mundurucu ownership in general is more fluid.
The
.Dtlundurucu speak of "those who are in charge" of something rather than ownership;
women as well as men own
houses, rights to land, tools and trade goods.
Last,
ownership is a matter of which individual is asked in this
deeply sexually segregated society.
Mundurucu men main-
tain that they own houses, property, etc.;
women just
as stoutly maintain that they do (1•1urphy and Murphy 1974:
67).
Among the Cuna houses are inherited through the
female line (Stout 1963: 261).
Jivaro women inherit
through the female line, with"their eldest daughter having first priority (Harner 1972: 179).
However, it is
not only matrilineal societies that have a low incidence
of rape, as the Pokot, who are strongly patrilineal
(Edgerton 1971: 83), have a negligible incidence of rape.
40
Thus, the explanation for rape, in non-stratified
societies at least, is not likely to be found in superficial economic analysis.
It is more apt to be answered
by an examination of the intersection of gender, sexuality
and power, and the meanings that they have in different
cultural contexts.
Degree of male control of female sexuality is
determined by the presence of the following three factors:
l) male initiation of sexual encounters; 2) female avoidance/resistance to sex; 3) lack of formal avenues for
women to protect or avenge their treatment.
The first
of these three major factors is self-explanatory: men
initiate sexual encounters.
It is considered inappro-
priate for women to actively seek such encounters. The
second factor is more complex.
Women either avoid or
actively resist, as in the case·of the Gusii (LeVine
1959: 970), sexual contact.
While it could be argued
that this avoidance or resistance gives women control
of their sexuality, I argue that in avoiding sexual
activity, women are merely reactive, that is, they react
to male desires with either compliance or avoidance/
resistance.
They are not autonomous and cannot act upon
their own desires.
The third major factor, lack of
formal avenues of redress for women, is present when
women have no formal means of presenting their greivance to the group, or of punishing the offender. Women
41
in these cultures will attempt to rectify their situations through such individual solutions as sorcery.
In addition, one or both of the following minor factors may be present: 1) male control of female initiation rites; 2) denial of female fertility.
However,
these minor factors indicate only extreme male control of
female sexuality.
Both may be absent in a society which
exhibits high levels of male control of female sexuality.
Of course, in some societies all major and minor factors
are present, indicating extreme or complete male control
of female sexuality.
In others, only one or two major
factors may be present.
For these groups, historical
analysis may reveal an earlier period in which the locus
of control for female sexuality was the men.
It might be noted here that various factors which
indicate male dominance, for example, the presence of
a men's secret cult (Sanday 198la: 253-255), are not at
issue here.
The presence or absence of these factors
may indicate a general cultural pattern of overall male
dominance, but, like the presence of interpersonal
violence, male dominance alone is not enough to explain
the presence or absence of rape.
Rather, in some in-
stances, sexuality is perceived in such a way that it
does not become an arena of conquest. In those cultures
where women own, so to speak, their own sexuality, it is
specious to anticipate that it could be permanently
42
wrested from them through rape.
In those other cultures
where male control of female sexuality is particularly
high, whether or not men continuously fear the loss of
this control, rape in its formal and informal aspects
will be present as a reminder to women that their sexuality is not their own.
I plan now to examine eight cultural groups in which
male control of female sexuality forms a continuum from
high to low, and in which rape is either very much present, or nearly entirely absent.
It is my contention
that the presence of rape will positively correlate with
male control of female sexuality.
Below I provide
brief ethnographic sketches of the eight groups;
I then
discuss the critical factors that indicate male control
of female sexuality and suggest what rape might mean
for each group under examination.
ble anomalies in the data.
I then address possi-
I conclude this chapter with
some preliminary remarks about the incidence of rape in
the United States.
Ethnographic Sketches
1
The Aranda
The Aranda, also known in the literature as the
Arunta, occupy the Central Australian desert and the surrounding steppes.
They are a foraging culture with a
highly elaborated and complex religious life based upon
totemism and the observation of numerous taboos which
43
must not be violated for fear of sickness or death (Strehlow 1970: 133).
The Aranda are classified as a high-
rape society due to their practice of gang rape as an
integral part of girls' puberty rites.
There is also
some evidence that g.ang rape as a means of punishment
was practiced by the Aranda, but these reports are
sketchy.
(Spencer and Gillen 1968:
).
This may be
due to the reticence of the 19th Century era fieldworkers who gathered data on the Aranda.
The Aranda are completely dependent upon foraging.
Men hunt, using the spear, spear-thrower and boomerang
(Spencer and Gillen 1927: 6-7).
Game includes kangaroo,
wallaby, emu, snakes and frogs (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
14).
Desert dwelling Aranda hunt smaller lizards and
rodents by firing bush and driving game into an enclosure
(Spencer and Gillen 1927: 6).
Aranda women gather a
variety of vegetal foods, including acacia seeds, lily
roots, yams and tubers, grubs and insects of all sorts,
and honey.
In addition, women catch small lizards and
rodents when these are found (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
14) •
The Aranda are strongly patrilineal.
Each tribe is
divided into two major exogamous intermarrying moieties,
each of which is then divided into two sections.
Some
Aranda groups have a further division at the section
level, creating eight subsections.
Moiety members refer
44
to themselves and each other as Nakrakia and to the
members of the other moiety as Mulyanuka.
These terms
are reciprocal (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 41-42).
In
consecutive generations each section is related by
marriage to a different section in the opposite moiety.
Descent is patrilineal but indirect:
a child passes
into its father's moiety but into a different section,
and into a different subsection if the moiety is so
divided (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 43-44).
The Aranda maintain a men's cult which focuses on
the sacred bullroarers, or churinga.
Churinga are cus-
tomarily made from stone or wood and can range in size
from only a few inches to several feet.
Sight of the
churinga is forbidden to women and uninitiated men on
pain of torture or death (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 99).
While the sound of the whirled churinga is said to represent the voice of a god, this is a minor feature
of the Aranda churinga cult.
The Aranda cult focuses
upon the relationship that a given churinga has with a
single individual and upon conducting various ceremonies
by which the churinga and different totemic groups are
related (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 100).
Aranda boys have lengthy and elaborate initiation
rites (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 175), while girls' are
much reduced (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 222).
Boys begin
their cycle with a ritual of being tossed in the air and
45
ritually painted (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 177-178).
In
their second ceremony they are circumcised and taught
various tribal secrets (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 179-180;
203-206) .
Shortly thereafter boys undergo subincision
and are considered adults (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
212-213).
The final ceremony is undergone by young men
and involves trials by fire (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
293-298).
Girls' ceremonies occur approximately around the
menarche and begin with the breast growing ceremony,
in which men ritually paint the young girl's breasts
to make them grow (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 480-481).
At menarche, the girl is secluded from the main camp
for about a week (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 481).
The
last rite of the cycle is the vulva-cutting ceremony.
The girl is taken into the bush by a group of men,
from which her future husband is barred.
A male sec-
tion-mate cuts the lips of the vulva and then the girl
is raped in sequence by all the men in the group
(Spencer and Gillen 1927: 473).
Aranda women have no socially recognized rights
of appeal should they attempt to redress a wrong.
The
structure of Aranda society is one in which elderly men
hold all positions of power and authority (Strehlow 1970:
116-117) through religious offices.
Women are barred
from holding such offices and have no public power.
46
They, and young men as well, are subject to the whims of
these elderly tribal leaders, which carry with them the
force of religious obligation.
Women must resort to
forms of sorcery and magic instead of appealing to public
authority when they wish to seek revenge upon a man
(Spencer and Gillen 1968: 547).
Gender relations among the Aranda are typified by an
extreme imbalance of power and high male dominance.
Men
control all forms of power, exercise dominance by functioning as law-givers, and organize and conduct all
rituals, including those which relate to female sexually
.·
and fertility (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 4 73-481).
Women
are excluded from public decision making and from direct
participation in religious affairs.
While women may
gain the right to perform ritual tasks (usually because
they are thought to be reincarnations of earlier, male
ritual specialists), they do not, in fact, practice
them;
male proxies perform them and the women in ques-
tion remain ignorant of their power (Strehlow 1968: 9394).
And while all Aranda acquire sec-ret names given in
connection with the totem (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
112), women never learn of theirs (Spencer and Gillen
1927: 582).
The Mbuti
The Mbuti are a band society inhabiting the forests
of Zaire.
They exhibit a complete absence of rape.
47
They hunt, gather food, and trade with the local Bantu
villagers.
Hunting is a primarily male activity, though
women participate in net hunts (Turnbull 1965a: 153154).
Hen more frequently hunt with dogs, bows and
arrows.
They take antelope, monkeys and chimpanzees,
and birds (Turnbull 1965b: 172-·173).
Women are the
primary gatherers, gathering grubs, inse·cts, roots,
nuts, mushrooms and fruit (Turnbull 1965b: 174).
The Mbuti have a truncated patrilineal kinship
system which is invoked only during the arrangement of
marriages.
A clan system may have existed earlier
(Turnbull 1965a: 108).
Persons with
a direct biological
relationship traced from either Mother or Father's Mother
are subject to an incest taboo (Turnbull 1965a: 111112).
The Mbuti revere their forest environment as the
physical embodiment of a spiritual power greater than
themselves.
There is no particular item or place which
makes the forest the physical manifestation of God;
rather it is the essence of the forest itself (Turnbull
1965b: 247-248).
The Mbuti regard themselves as the
children of the forest, and sing to it or address it
frequently, because "the forest is everything"
(Turnbull
1965a: 252).
The molimo ceremonies are rituals by which the
Mbuti communicate with the forest.
,
I
The ceremonies employ
48
the use of sacred flutes which women are forbidden to see.
The lesser molimo, which is conducted to improve hunting
or to end an individual's illness, is brief and conducted by men alone.
The greater molimo is more often
conducted after a death or during a time of poor hunting
and general malaise among the group (Turnbull 1965a:
261-262).
This festival is lengthy and both sexes
participate, although women are still expected to avoid
looking at the sacred flutes.
The elima ceremony is conducted upon a young girl's
menarche and
hood.
symbol~zes
her entrance into adult woman-
She now becomes eligible to marry and become a
mother.
The young girl celebrating the elima is seclud-
ed with her friends and together they are taught the songs
and duties of adult women.
At times the girls exit the
hut to chase eligible young men.
The young men are
then obligated to fight their way back into the hut,
through a phalanx of protective relatives (Turnbull
1961: 188-190; 197-198; 1965a: 71-72).
Disputes of all kinds are settled in an informal
manner, either by argument, sulking, or mediation by
others until the fight is either resolved or forgotten
(Turnbull 1965a: 189).
More serious matters will be
brought to the attention of the entire band (Turnbull
1961: 118-120).
Women and men both have access to
these relatively informal forms of mediation.
49
The Mbuti have neither a rigid sexual division of
labor nor an elaborate ideology of gender that emphasizes
one sex over the other (Turnbull 1965a: 151).
Women and
men both take the initiative in conducting sexual affairs
(Turnbull 1961: 206,
208~210).
Neither sex is particular-
ly reticent to pursue a possible liaison.
Although the
Mbuti do have an observable sexual division of labor,
it is one which both sexes feel free to violate should
the·need arise.
Men usually hunt to make tools, while
women gather, ·build huts and cook.
Men organize molimo
ceremonies and women organize elima ceremonies.
But
women participate in net hunts, and men frequently
gather vegetables and mushrooms, or clean and carry
infants (Turnbull 1961: 154; 1965a: 151).
Women play
a significant role in the predominantly male molimo
ceremony, and young·men are a vital part of the young
girls' elima ceremony (Turnbull 1965a: 151-152).
The Cuna
The Cuna are a low-rape matrilineal, matrilocal
people who inhabit the San Blas archipelago of Panama.
Farming is an almost entirely male activity, in which
swidden horticultural methods are employed.
The Cuna
cultivate bananas, plantains, corn, rice, yams, sweet
manioc, various citrus and tropical fruits
257).
men.
(Stout 1963:
Hunting is a secondary activity pursued by some
Peccaries, tapirs, monkeys and other small mammals
50
and birds are hunted (Stout 1963: 257).
Women's duties
include cooking, sewing, weaving, and the manufacture
of the mola tapestries for which the Cuna are noted
(Stout 1963: 258-259).
The Cuna are matrilineal and primarily monogamous,
with matrilocal residence.
Households consist of one or
more conjugal families affinally related to a lineage
of women (Stout 1963: 260).
The eldest male in resid-
ence is the head of the household.
ity over all women in the household.
His wife has authorRelations are ega-
litarian inasmuch as there is no financial investment in
a marriage to
b~
forefeited should it fail;
thus,
little pressure is placed upon young people to remain
in a marriage (Stout 1963: 261).
The Cuna believe that the world was created by the
union of God and God's wife;
female, creates human fetuses.
a third deity, also
These deities cannot
be propitiated but are only addressed in certain chants.
Life and death are predetermined and God is omniscient,
unforgiving and cold (Stout 1963: 266).
have souls.
abduction.
All things
Illness in humans is due to soul-loss or
After death, people's souls live in an after-
world which is structured of eight layers.
Souls are
required to pass through the fourth layer, the home of
evil spirits, while journeying to heaven (Stout 1963:
264-266).
51
Boys have no puberty rites, but girls have two
elaborate ceremonies which each last several days.
The first occurs at menarche, at which time the girl
is secluded, her hair is·cut, her female relatives
and friends pour sea-water over her to protect her from
evil spirits, and her body is painted.
This seclusion
terminates with a dance during which chicha, a fermented corn dirnk, is consumed in great quantities (Kelly
1966: 117-119; Stout 1963: 262).
The second ceremony
follows approximately a year later and involves much
feasting, chicha-drinking and religious ceremony.
This
second feast announces the girl's marriageability.
The Cuna are a society with a rather strong sexual
division of labor, but relations between the sexes are
mutually respectful.
Both.sexes are reserved and
discreet about sexuality but neither sex is considered
to be asexual or without sexual feelings
123).
(Kelly 1966:
Neither sex is devalued and infant girls are
welcomed (Kelly 1966: 116; Torres de Ianello 1957: 5).
Female deities are featured strongly in the Cuna
belief system (Keeler 1956: 74-75; Torres de Ianello
1957: Sl-52).
In addition, the practice of matrilocal
residence increases female solidarity by perpetuating
female lineages·.:
The Jivaro
The Jivaro are a low-rape horticultural tribe liv-
52
ing in the Ecuadoran and Peruvian forests.
They prac-
tice swidden farming, hunting and fishing, and in earlier
times practiced head shrinking.
The Jivaro have an
elaborate belief system depending upon contact with the
supernatural through the use of hallucinogenic drugs
(Harner 1972: 134).
The Jivaro practice swidden agriculture, hunting,
fishing and occasional supplementary gathering (Harner
1972: 47).
Crops cultivated include sweet potato, sweet
manioc, taro and peanuts, with sweet manioc being the
primary tuber crop (Harner 1972: 48).
Hunting provides
the major source of protein and is done with blowguns,
shotguns, which have been in use since the early twentieth century (Harner 1972: 199), and dogs.
The Jivaro
hunt agouti, peccary, various species of monkey, and
armadillo.
In addition various birds are hunted for
both food and feathers
(Harner 1972: 56).
Jivaro kinship is a slightly patrilineal personal
kindred which the Jivaro classify by degr.ees of distance from ego.
The Jivaro recognize two kinds of kin,
"true" kin, who are one's biological grandparents, parents, uncles, siblings, children, and cross-cousins,
and "branch" kin, who are affines \vho were unrelated
to ego prior to marriage.
Such definitions of kin
are often manipulated by an individual in different
situations, for example, when required to aid a certain
53
kind of relative (Harner 1972: 98-103).
The primary
social unit of the Jivaro is the household.
Households
are generally composed of a man, his wife or wives
and their children, with other members, for example,
a widowed mother or unmarried brother, taking up residence occasionally.
When daughters marry, their husbands
move into the household and reside there until the birth
of the first child.
They then establish their own
households nearby (Harner 1972: 79).
Both boys and girls celebrate the arrival of
puberty by undergoing various rites.
sixteen, he establishes his
a~ult
When a boy reaches
status by killing
a tree sloth and shrinking its head.
His father or
other adult male relative will then hold two feasts for
him and he will begin to wear the cotton headband that
signifies adulthood.
He is now entitled to get
m~rried,
although he will probably wait until he is between 21 and
23 years of age (Harner 1972: 93).
A girl's entrance into puberty is celebrated with a
pair of
fe~sts,
held approximately six months apart.
The first is a minor affair of about two days duration;
the second is about a week's length.
also has supernatural significance.
The second feast
During the feast-
ing the girl drinks tabacco drink in order to make contact with the supernatural world and receive dreams that
will bring future success in horticulture and animal
54
husbandry (Harner 1972: 93-94).
(The Jivaro believe that
daily waking life is a "lie" and that the true world,
the one that causes events in day-to-day life, is the
supernatural one, which can only be perceived after
the ingestion or hollucinogenic plants (Harner 1972:
134).)
Jivaro men and women regard sex as a necessary part
of life and as a welcome diversion.
arrange liaisons at various feasts
Both men and women
(Harner 1972: 108-
109).
There is a rather strong division of labor by
sex among the Jivaro.
Men build houses, hunt, make
string and weavings, and clear gardens.
Women weed
and harvest gardens, cook food and prepare manioc beer
which is drunk in vast quantities (Harner 1972: 47-51).
Women are thought to be especially skilled in animal
husbandry.
Should a man wish to hunt with dogs, his
wife will accompany him and handle the dogs herself
(Harner 1972: 81).
Although women do not occupy a position precisely
equal to men among the Jivaro, neither are they considered inferior or subservient.
Women have a special rela-
tionship to Nungui, the class of fertility goddesses who
cause crops to grow (Harner 1972: 71-72).
The Mundurucu
The Mundurucu Indians are a horticultureal tribe
55
that inhabits the Amazon Valley.
The 1>1undurucu are
linguistically related to the Tupi-speaking tribes,
although this connection is remote.
The Mundurucu are
typified by a very high incidence of rape, both by
gangs and individuals.
Mundurucu villages are com-
posed of several household dwellings and a men's house.
The household dwellings are occupied by uterine kinswomen and minor children of both sexes (Murphy and
1974: 117-121).
~1urphy
The Mundurucu are horticulturists and hunters.
They also fish and gather, but to a much lesser degree.
They practice
much
swi~den
of the year.
agriculture and keep gardens for
Gardens are approximately two acres
and are planted for two seasons, after which they can
no longer sustain crops and are left fallow.
The primary
crop is bitter manioc, but pineapple, melons, squash
and sweet potato are also grown (Murphy and Murphy 1974:
68-70).
Hunting is strictly a male activity.
Men
often hunt in groups, with bow and arrow or occasionally
with guns.
the forest.
They often take dogs to track game through
Tapir and wild pigs are valued game due
to their large size, but deer, agouti and monkeys are
hunted as well (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 62-63).
Mundurucu women do all farming save the clearing of
land (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 68).
They also process
manioc (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 123-127), cook meals
56
and weave (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 128-129).
The Mundurucu are organized into two moieties, the
Red and the White.
ly.
Membership is inherited patrilineal-
Members of each moiety marry members or their op-
posite number.
In practical terms, people marry their
classificatory cross-cousins (Murphy and Murphy 1974:
72-73).
Although the Mundurucu practice patrilineal
descent, post-marital residence is matrilocal.
Such a
residence pattern is relatively untraumatic for the
young men who move from village to village, staying in
different men's houses along the way.
It is assumed
that these young men are wandering from one place to
another in search of a wife and it is sometimes difficult to tell when a marriage has indeed been formalized
(Murphy 1960: 84-85).
The religiuous life of the Mundurucu centers around
the men's cult of the sacred trumpets (Karoko).
Each
men's house maintains a set of three trumpets, which
are kept in a sealed chamber.
This protects them from
the women, who are forbidden to see them.
The men of
a village play the trumpets, which is considered pleasing to the ancestral spirits, and make the trumpets
periodic offerings of meat and manioc drink (Murphy and
Murphy 1974: 92-93).
Karoko ceremonies are typified by
much feasting and gaiety.
At the climax of such a
ceremony, men escort the three trumpets into the village, playing them and clustering about to hide them
57
from the sight of the women.
The women shut themselves
inside their houses and perform the same sort of ritual
wailing that is performed
for the dead, because the
women mourn for the loss of the trumpets and the power
they represent (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 93).
2
Mundurucu society is deeply bifurcated along sexual
lines.
Men and women perform few
identical tasks.
Work groups are almost always sexually segregated.
When
men and women work together, as a group fishing for
example, they will still perform separate activities.
Men act as drivers and poison the water, while everyone
else captures stunned fish.
Men who capture fish use
harpoons, while women an,d children use nets (.Hurphy and
Murphy 1974: 65-66).
manioc preparation.
Women alone do cooking and
They do garden weeding and har-
vesting as well, and in those instances where a man
and woman work together in a garden, each will perform
a different task (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 127-128).
The Pokot
The Pokot, also known as. the Suk, reside in portions of western Kenya and eastern Uganda.
This society,
though it views women ambivalently, has a negligible
rape rate.
the Pokot occupy both highland and lowland
environments, and each group pursues a different subsistence strategy.
The highland Pokot cultivate finger
millet, sorghum and maize.
They also keep small numbers
of livestock (Edgerton 1971: 81).
The lowland Pokot
58
are primarily pastoralists and farm rarely, if at all.
The Pokot pastoralists herd cattle, sheep and goats,
and trade livestock for grain (Edgerton 1971: 82; 85).
Trade activities, intermarriage and various rituals
link both highlanders and lowland groups together into
a cohesive social unit (Edgerton 1971: 82).
The Pokot are patrilineal, with segmentary lineages
and clan exogamy.
They prefer polygynous families,
although both polygynous and monogamous families are
the basic units of production.
patrilocal, then neolocal.
Residence is initially
Pokot in both environments
exchange livestock as bridewealth payments, which can
lead to strain and conflict among individuals who do
not have access to sufficient numbers of stock to make
the appropriate payments (Edgerton and Conant 1964:
408) •
Pokot children undergo various rites of passage.
Boys are circumcised with members of their age grade;
such associations endure for lif·e (Edgerton and Conant
1964: 411).
Pokot girls are given great freedom in
childhood and adolescence.
Beginning around age five,
girls begin sleeping away from horne in a special hut.
In the hut older girls sometimes receive lovers.
Love
relationships are sometimes formalized between adolescent girls and youths by presentation of a gift or promise of a gift to the girl and particularly attentive
59
and gallant behavior at public gatherings (Edgerton
and Conant 1964: 411-412).
Just prior to marriage or
the third month of pregancy·, girls undergo eli toridectomy3 in a public ceremony attended by men as well
as women.
Older women perform the operation and the
girls then observe a period of seclusion (Edgerton and
Conant 1964: 411).
The Pokot have rather strained gender relations.
After an adolescence of great freedom and autonomy,
young Pokot women are subjected to extreme male dominance by their husbands, who expect them to perform all
the labor the family may require (Edgerton and Conant
1964: 413).
They are required to remain in all but the
most unpleasant marriages to avoid forfieture of
brideprice.
Pokot ideology regards women as inferior
and requiring male rule (Edgerton and Conant 1964:
409-410). Yet the Pokot value sexuality, skill and
satisfaction in sex and sexual activity for both men
and women (Edgerton 1971: 118).
The Gusii
The Gusii are a horticultural and pastoral people
occupying the southwestern region of Kenya (LeVine
and LeVine 1966: 5-6).
The high incidence of rape among
the Gusii has been noted in the literature (LeVine 1959) .
The Gusii are patrilineal, have a strong segmentary
lineage system and the remnants of several exogamous
60
clans (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 33-34).
Before contact
the various clans carried on feuds and warfare while at
the same time exchanging wives, a fact recognized in the
Gusii proverb, "those whom we marry are those whom we
fight."
(LeVine 1959: 966).
The Gusii farm and keep cattle.
include corn and eleusine, a grain.
Primary staples
Supplemental crops
include sweet potato, beans and peas (LeVine and LeVine
1966: 13).
Some cultivate coffee as a cash crop (LeVine
and LeVine 1966: 14).
Cattle are the primary herd
animals, but sheep and goats are also kept (LeVine
and LeVine 1966: 14).
Cattle are not often consumed,
but are kept for future use as bridewealth.
However,
cow's milk is consumed, after souring in large quantities (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 17).
The Gusii belief system is based upon propitiating
the demands of the ancestors.
These demands must be
fulfilled to prevent disaster from striking.
The an-
cestors most commonly demand food and careful and frequent conduct of various rituals (LeVine and LeVine
1966: 56-57).
Gusii boys are circumcised around the age of ten or
eleven.
They are circumcised in a more or less public
ceremony, although their parents are forbidden to witness
it (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 179).
After the operation
the boys are secluded and shown ritual objects, after
61
which they are sworn to secrecy regarding the events
of their initiations (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 181).
Girls are initiated at around nine years of age, in a
rather elaborate ceremony which begins with clitoridectomy.
During the course of the ceremony, the follow-
ing seclusion period, and the post-ceremony dancing,
women engage in ribald songs, acts of petty vandalism
and general mayhem (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 167-170).
Gusii gender relations are filled with strain and
hostility.
Although women have some economic autonomy
(S. LeVine 1979: 7), they are governed by numerous restrictions in their daily lives.
The ideal Gusii wife
is obedient and deferential to her husband, should
consult him in all decisions, and respond quickly to
his demands (LeVine and LeVine 1966: 21).
Young un-
married Gusii women, though often sexually active, are
reticent to engage in sexual activity,
fear~ng
damage
to their reputations, pregnancy, or parental disapproval, as well as intercourse itself (LeVine and LeVine
1966: 43).
After marriage, sexuality is viewed differ-
ently by the sexes.
The combative nature of the Gusii
wedding consummation has already been noted in Chapter
One, above.
This hostility continues in marriage.
Gusii men often maintain that women cannot derive any
pleasure from sexual activity (LeVine and LeVine 1966:
54).
At least some women appear to agree; LeVine (1959:
62
970) reports that many Gusii wives resort to various
deceptions, such as waking a child and needing then
to tend to it, to avoid sex.
The Kikuyu
The Kikuyu are a patrilineal people who occupy the
northern region of Kenya (Lambert·l956: 1).
They farm,
herd cattle, sheep and goats, and have an extensive
cycle of rites de passage through which all Kikuyu must
pass (Leakey 1977: 4).
It is in connection with this
ritual cycle tha·t rape occurs (Lambert 1956: 56) .
Kikuyu farming provides the main source of food, as
meat is consumea in ritual contexts.
Swidden farming is
practiced and maize, millet, sorghum and various tubers
are cultivated (Leakey 1977: 168-175).
The Kikuyu also
keep cattle, sheep and goats, which figure highly in
their ceremonial life.
Cattle are a barometer of wealth
and social status while sheep and goats figure highly
in ceremonies, as sacrifices, and as bridewealth (Leakey
1977: 207-208; 761) .
The Kikuyu are patrilineal and patrilocal.
House-
holds are polygynous and the autonomy and informal power
of first wives is great.
Prospective first brides are
allowed great freedom in accepting or refusing young
men's advances (Leakey 1977: 748-752).
After a girl
agrees to marry a young man, he then gives her family
several bridewealth payments of goats and sheep to secure
63
the agreement (Leakey 1977: 754-756).
Means of se-
curing a second wife differ little from the first, with
the exception that a man's first wife performs those
parts of the wedding ceremony previously performed by
his mother (Leakey 1977: 790-791).
For other marriages
a man will often use his first wife as a go-between and
will have sought her advice in this union;
often it
will be the first wife who formally proposes to the prospective bride (Leakey 1977: 794).
Kikuyu initiation rites are lengthy.
and girls are initiated.
Both boys
These rites have a strong
relationship to the age grades to which every Kikuyu
individual belongs (Leakey 1977:589).
Briefly, adoles-
cent Kikuyu males are initiated at around fourteen or
fifteen years of age, although there is evidence that
prior· to
West~rn
contact this did not occur until closer
to eighteen years (Leakey 1977: 587).
In initiation
boys are ritually stripped of their childhood clothes
and ornaments, and circumcised (Leakey 1977: 618-621).
Girls partially disrobe and are subjected to a reduced
form of clitoridectomy (Leakey 1977: 622).
The second ceremony, which concludes initiation and
marks a Kikuyu's entrance into adulthood,
rape.
invo~ves
ritual
Young initiated males go out in search of an
appropriate woman to rape.
This woman must be married,
and must be a stranger to the initiates.
In practice,
64
perhaps two or three of the initiates rape the woman,
the other boys apparently masturbate in her presence
(Leakey 1977: 691).
For girls information is sketchy.
Leakey (1977) states that
the male novices 11
11
they achieved adulthood with
(692) but does not expand upon this,
leaving the reader to wonder if girls undergo any sort
of ritual intercourse 4 or if they merely pass through
the concluding ceremonies with the boys.
Lambert (1956)
suggests that ·girl· initiates in fact seek out men with
whom to ritually copulate so as to attain adult status
(54-44).
Women are the primary farmers in Kikuyu society,
and the Kikuyu observe a pronounced division of labor
by sex (Leakey 1977: 10).
Indeed, much female power
and authority among the Kikuyu is informal and indirect, rather than socially recognized.
However, within
this informal context, women have influence over
thei~
husbands' acquisition of junior wives and over dispersal of property, and considerable power over their
sons, who will consult them in all major decisions
(Leakey 1977: 10-ll).
Discussion
The question that now arises is, what patterns do
these groups exhibit with respect to rape?
resemble each other and how do they differ?
How do they
And in
what ways do the high-rape incidence groups resemble
65
and differ from each other?
It has been my contention
that a key variable for the societies under examination
is male control of female sexuality.
Each society's men
may need to control the sexuality of women for different socially perceived reasons, but the indicators that
I have cited above will remain the same.
In the first rape-prone society examined here, the
Aranda, women are subject to numerous taboos and strictures dictated by male elders.
tinuously male-directed.
A woman's life is con-
Girls are sometimes promised
to appropriate husbands while they are still small
children (Spencer and Gillen l927: 470).
In the course
of a girl's initiation, the power that men have over
her sexuality is
~cted
out in a very specific way:
she is raped repeatedly, both by men who are potentially
marriageable and by men who stand in such a relationship to her that in daily life sexual _activity would
be considered incest (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 473).
In a merely physical sense the experience reinforces
her perception of male power; this continues when,
following this, she is escorted to the camp of her husband by the men who have participated in the ceremony.
The following day the initiate's husband customarily
sends his bride back to the men who conducted the ceremony, but this is not obligatory.
After this second
round of ritual rape, the woman becomes the sole pro-
"'"'
Table 2
Group
Name
l
Major Factors
2
3
Hinor Factors
2
l
Inc.
Low
Nbuti
X
Aranda
X
X
X
Nundurucu
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Jivaro
X
Cuna
X
Pokot
X
Kikuyu
Gusii
X
X
X
X
X
X
Eight Cultures Catorized by Major and Minor Factors for Mate
Control of Female Sexuality
Key:
Hajor Factors:
1. Male initiation of Sexual Encounter
2. Female avoidance/resistence to sexual activity
3. Lack of formal female avenues of redress
Minor Factors:
l. Male control of female initiation rites
2. Denial of female fertility.
67
perty, as it were, of her husband and only he has
sexual relations with her, excepting those times when
he may offer her sexual services to a stranger as a
matter of courtesy, so long as that stranger is a member
of the appropriate section (Spencer and Gillen 1927:
473-474).
These experiences reinforce women's role as
property, specifically the property of their husbands.
Further, for those women who occasionally run off with
lovers, death is a reasonable punishment, and men will
carry it out, sometimes years after the original
transgression.
5
'I'hus among the Aranda several indications of male
control are present: male initiation of sexual encounters,
a passive female avoidance of sex, complete female vulnerability to male authority, punishment and attack,
and extreme male control of female initiation rites.
These formal strictures ritually reproduce the daily
gender relations in which men alone control female sexuality, where men control access to women through marriage
exchanges and through the hospitable loaning of wives.
It is this control, which is so firmly located in the
older males, that limits female sexuality.
The strong
control exercised by men over female sexuality renders
women the passive objects of men, with whom men can reproduce male public society.
The act of ritual gang
rape, occuring as it does during the ceremony which
signals a young girl's entry into womanhood and marriage-
68
ability, reinforces male control over her sexuality.
It
is an act in which men "create" her sexuality.
But why might Aranda society find female sexuality
in need of control?
What mechanism might operate to
so firmly locate women•s sexuality in the hands of men?
The Aranda, while strongly patrilineal, believe that
women are impregnated by the spirits of ancestors lurking in the landscape (Spencer and Gillen 1927: 76-77;
Strehlow 1968: 87).
mized.
Man•s role in conception is mini-
One possibility suggests itself:
if women are
the sole creators of people, through pregnancy and
birth, then male control of female sexuality, and by
extension, fertility, returns complete control of
society, and its reproduction, to men. 6
Among the Mundurucu a different situation obtains.
Not only is sexuality defined as "male," but women are
subjected to numerous sexual restriction, e.g., they
must always cover their mouths because an open mouth
is like a vagina, they must never look a man in the
eye (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 106), and they generally
travel in pairs because a single woman is fair game
for a coercive sexual encounter (IvJ:urphy and JYlurphy
1974: 109).
Women who are not perceived by men to be
under the control of a man are likewise considered fair
game (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 107-109).
Among the lYlundurucu, men control sexual encounters
69
and the structure of society itself encourages women
to avoid them.
The Mundurucu believe as well that men
are the sole creators of children;
vessels.
women are passive
And, although Mundurucu women's activities
create for them a strong source of solidarity (Murphy
and Murphy 1974), they have no recourse to men's attacks;
in spite of their social solidarity they do not have a
sanctioned means of responding to men's attacks.
Rather
they accomodate to men.
Mundurucu ideology displays an anxious preoccupation with the relations between the sexes, and especially
with the maintenance of male dominance.
The ideology
emphasizes male prowess at hunting and posits an extreme
male dominance.
Men control public space, ritual, and
women through the threat of gang rape (Murphy and
Murphy 1974: 1.00_;101).
Women, for their part, present
a demure and submissive face to the public and their
collective work pattern is as much
protection from
male threat as i t is a practice of production.
However,
this male dominance is ambivalent, and the power of
women recurs in Mundurucu myths of castration and incest
(Murphy and Murphy 1974: 99-100).
Women have inferior
status but are insatiable and just within male control
(Murphy and Murphy 1974: 89; 107-108).
At the same time, men control this dangerous female
sexuality and fertility. Among the Mundurucu some women
70
become sexually insatiable. These women, called
~'
are extremely deviant, sexually aggressive and forward.
They can seek magic cures to rid themselves of their
deviant condition but it is important to note that a
~
acquires her condition after being bewitched by a
male shaman (for women cannot become shamans).
Thus
men control even the deviant sexuality of these women;
men cause women's sexuality U.tlurphy and Murphy 1974:
106-107).
The Mundurucu also believe (as did Aristotle)
that a child is created entirely of its father's semen;
the woman functions merely as a vessel (Murphy and
Murphy 1974: 102; 161-162).
Thus men are the important,
I
active creators of children while women perform an
essentially passive and nurturant role.
.
.
Ideologically,
.
control of all sexuality and fertility rests in the hands
of men.
For the Gusii the reasons for high rape incidence are
somewhat different from those previously discussed.
In early Gusii history brides were obtained by capture
from feuding but intermarrying clans (LeVine 1959: 966).
While Gusii ideology presents a strong commitment to
female submission and inferiority, many other factors are
implicated.
High value is placed on a violent brand of
maleness and men take pride in causing pain in sexual
encounters.
The Gusii find sex suspect in general;
they punish their children from an early age for any
71
sort of sexual curiosity or experimentation (LeVine
1959: 971).
For Gusii boys, sex becomes conquest; for
girls, a form of barter, reproducing on a smaller scale
those relations that obtained in an earlier time.
The Gusii say "we marry whom we fight," but in what
ways do Gusii men control female sexuality? Men specifically control sexual interaction and women have no choice
in the matter.
Given the adversarial nature of Gusii
sexual dynamics, i t is not surprising to note that Gusii
girls and women rarely if ever initiate sexual encounters, that girls and married women as well resist or
avoid sexual encounters altogether.
.Last, women have
no access to revenge, so to speak.
There is the dif-
fuse hostility that accompanies initiation ceremonies,
but Gusii women do not have any way of punishing men
for their behavior.
Women's behavior is always more
closely _monitored and when women are attacked, this will
prove quite damaging to their reputations if it should
become public (LeVine 1959: 974).
I would suggest that high rape incidence among the
Gusii is the result of the combination of male control
of female sexuality, strong ideology of male dominance,
and a high level of male violence.
Two of the following
groups have some of these features but manage the incidence of rape quite differently.
The Kikuyu, who practice ritual rape in male initia-
72
tion ceremonies, are an anomalous society.
The Kikuyu
also in their earlier history followed the practice
of bride capture (Leakey 1977: 776-).
However, the Kikuyu
have an ideology of male/female complementarity (Leakey
1977: 9; Matthiasson 1974:
428-42~),
an elaborately
detailed and positive view of sexualtiy, and a reduced
level of violence in daily life.
Women and men are both
entitled to an active sexuality; among adolescent Kikuyu
of both sexes interfemoral intercourse is common, and
young people of both sexes seek out sexual partners.
In cases where women feel wronged they can appeal to
women's organizations, which may institute fines (Lambert 1956: 98).
The Kikuyu, then, do not fit the
typical pattern of a high-rape society.
The only con-
text in which rape regularly occurs is this ritual one,
and in other instances where rape occurs, fines, sanctions and punishment are levied.
It is likely that this
isolated pattern of rape is indicative of ceremonies that
accompanied bride capture.
The lack of rape throughout
society suggests a culture which does not offer the necessary supports to a socially acceptable pattern of
rape.
In Kikuyu society women control their own sexual-
ity and rape does not become a means of discipline or
intimidation.
Among the Pokot, a group in which rape incidence
is extremely low, an entirely different set of factors
73
is present.
Although the Pokot have an ideology of fe-
male inferiority and high level of interpersonal violence
similar in many respects to those of the Gusii, the Pokot
display an openness to sexuality (Edgerton 1971: 118) that
the Gusii lack.
The Pokot display none of the factors
which indicate male control of female sexuality.
Pokot
men and women both feel free to engage in sexual relations and to solicit encounters, and rather than avoiding
such activity, Pokot women actively seek it.
Lastly,
Pokot women who feel wronged by thier husbands are free
to hold a shaming party (kilapat) ,·in which they and
their friends behave in an insulting manner toward the
husband, urinate and defecate on him, and ~laughter
and eat his favorite bull (Edgerton and Conant 1964).
Among the other low-incidence groups, the pattern
of male control is also reduced.
In Cuna society,
while division of labor by sex is strong, the society
is marked by a strong complementarity between the sexes,
with women being strongly valued both ideologically and
economically.
While women are shy and reserved .in Cuna
society, they do not avoid sexual encounters, and young
girls sometimes conspire with their grandmothers to
arrange a kind of bundling if they have their eye on a
prospective marriage partner (Kelley 1966: 110-111).
Women have access to appeal grievances to the village
elders and women will also appeal to their families when
74
in need or support.
The Jivaro, too, in spite of their strong ideology
of male dominance, do not subject female sexuality to
male control.
Female sexuality and fertility are not
fetishized or viewed as dangerous. 7
specifically manipulated by men.
Neither are they
In theory, sexuality
conforms to certain mores that obtain for both sexes.
Extramarital intercourse is proscribed and premarital
sex is frowned upon, but in practice extramarital sex
is considered a source of adventure and excitement,
and premarital sex occurs frequently.
Among the Jivaro,
as among the Cuna, a woman with a grievance may appeal
to her family for support.
A Jivaro woman is in con-
trol of her own sexuality, regardless of the value placed upon brave, war-like men.
This brings us full-circle to the Mbuti.
The
Mbuti do not turn the sexuality of women into a commodity in any way.
counters freely.
Men and women conduct sexual. enWomen do not avoid sex.
All women
have as great a right to resolution of grievances by
the band as do men.
fertility.
society.
I~uti
do not mystify sexuality and
Both are accepted as good and are valued by
Men do not own women, and do not own or have
rights in their fertility in the way that some African
tribal societies do (see for example, O'Laughlin 1974;
Sacks 1979).
Thus the need a man might feel to damage
75
another man's property by raping a woman does not
arise.
Likewise, in a society where women are social
adults, men do not have the right to·punish them for
real or imagined transgressions.
This model is by no means completely explanatory,
but the incidence of rape is not likely to be explained
by one simple factor.
While I have contended that male
control of female sexuality is one factor that leads to
a higher incidence of rape, I have also suggested that
this control may itself occur for different reasons
and under different combinations of economic, ideological, and historical circumstances.
The interaction of
these variables is a subject for statistical research
on a larger, more representative sample.
I further
contend that this model is implicated in explaining the
high incidence of rape in the United States.
The incid-
ence of rape in the United States is wellknown (Brownmiller 1975).
Researchers have suggested social and
political reasons for its occurrence (Amir 1962; Brownmiller 1975).
However, a brief digression into United
States history suggests that male control of female
sexuality was prevalent and reached its zenith during
the Victorian Age.
Victorian women as well were con-
cerned with high rape incidence.
Marriage law condoned
marital rape, and sexual noutrages" or attacks upon
servants, governesses, and other women without the
76
protection of a man were especially common.
Women in
both the women's suffrage and temperance movements
were concerned with eliminating these indignities
(Gordon 1976: 102, 104, 124).
The Victorian era was rife with theories about the
natures of men and women.
The growth of the West
and the rise of industry led to an ideology of the lone
and conquering male (Barker-Benfield 1976) .
Such men
needed women to satisfy their own baser needs, but women
themselves were perceived as of a higher moral order
(though intellectually inferior) and as the tamers of
me~
(Barker-Benfield 1976: 9; 40; passim).
Women were
further perceived as entirely asexual and without sexual
feelings (Ehrenreich and English 1979: 121-122).
Women
had no legal rights, no social autonomy and were at the
mercy of a soclal and legal system that regarded them
as children (Ehrenreich and English 1979; Gordon 1976).
The Victorian woman had n·o sexuality, so closely did
the men who had authority over her guard it.
due to many factors.
This was
Certainly the ideology of female
inferiority/purity that prevailed in the nineteenth
century was part of it;
also the shift in production
from the household to the workplace reduced women's
role in production.
The slow evolution of the middle-
class woman into a fragile child effectively barred her
from the marketplace.
~-)
//
77
Why these factors should still obtain in the late
twentieth century becomes more problematic.
Women
have more autonomy and a greater (if superficial) sexual
liberty.
I would contend that a partial reason for high-
rape incidence in the United States is the historical
importance of the previous control in the very recent
past.
It is also likely that some aspects of earlier
ideological perceptions of women are slow to change,
~
reinforcing an expectation that male control is good,
appropriate and right.
Last, the United State is a
society with a high level of interpersonal violence, a
factor that interacts with male control of female.sexuality to produce the right environment for a high incidence of socially sanctioned rape.
This brief excursion into the history of American
women suggests that the male control of female sexuality
model may in part explain why rape occurred in the nineteenth century United States and under what circumstances
it persists today.
But further and more varied research
must be conducted in this area to confirm the validity
of the male control of female sexuality model, and to
further refine the contexts in which rape occurs, the
reasons men in different societies rape, and the differences between high and low-rape cultures.
Only then
will we begin to understand the meanings of rape.
78
NOTES
1.
All culture descriptions are written in the ethnographic present.
2.
Of course I am dealing here with a discussion of
ideal rather than real or daily culture as its
members live it. Among the Mundurucu for example,
women do in fact violate certain ideal norms of
behavior (Murphy and Murphy 1-974: 108), and
Mundurucu women generally hold men's version
of what constitutes Mundurucu culture in contempt,
although they conform to appropriate behavioral
norms (Murphy and Murphy 1974: 137-139). However,
I contend that the maintenance of this ideal culture as an ideology, and the lip-service that men
and women pay to it, suggests something important
about how men and women relate and how gender
relations are organized in a given society.
3.
It is useful to bear in mind that clitoridectomy
takes many forms, and occurs at different ages.
Among the Gusii, clitoridectomy occurs between
8 and 10 years of age and inv·olves excision of
much of the clitoris (LeVine and LeVine 1966:
168). Among the Pokot it occurs around the age
of 15 or 16 years and ·involves the removal of
the clitoris and the inner labia (Edgerton 1971).
Among the Kikuyu it occurs around age 13 and
involves removal of the tip of the clitoris
(Leakey 1977: 622). Although clitoridectomy can
be a traumatic experience for a young girl, it
is not likely that the operation alone reduces
sexual response.
Sherfey (1973) has noted that
the visible portion of the clitoris is only a
small part of the female sexual anatomy. Approximately two-thirds of the organ is internal (Sherfey
1973: 58). Of course, most of this sexual tissue
remains after clitoridectomy.
4.
I hasten to point out here that in the case of
male initiates, boys wander the hills in bands
searching for a woman to take unawares. Both
Leakey (1977: 690) and Lambert (1956: 54) note
that the screams and struggles of any woman unfortunate enough to be taken in this way would
inevitably draw other bands of initiates to the
site.
Girls seduce men separately and alone,
using seduction and manipulation. I was struck
also by the social nature of the boys' initiation
vs. the solitary and particularistic quality of
79
the girls'.
5.
The problem of ideal vs. real culture arises
once again.
See note 2 above.
6.
Examination of Aranda myths shows a pattern of
Aranda culture heroes and heroines who reproduce asexually (Strehlow 1968: 10-lln).
7.
Sanday has recently suggested, based upon readings
of certain Jivaro myths, that the Kivaro have an
ideology based upon male-female antagonism
(Sanday 198la: 181). However, my readings of
more recently collected myths (Harner 1972:
72-75) show no such pattern of antagonism.
Rather, they show a pattern in which fe~ale
deities (Nungui) give power or knowledge to
mortals of both sexes.
Chapter 4
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
In the previous pages I have suggested one possible variable which, in conjunction with others, might
help to explain the incidence of rape in different
societies.
I have suggested that a model of male con-
trol of female sexuality could provide a partial explanation of the incidence of rape.
I have .examined the incidence of rape in eight
separate preindustrial societies matched for subsistence and/or geographical location.
I specifically
examined several major points: 1) male initiation of
sexual encounters; 2) female avoidance/resistance to
sexual activity; 3) lack of formal female rites of
redress.
I also examined two minor factors: 1) male
control of female initiation rites; 2) denial of female
fertility.
I have suggested that those cultures whlch
feature these factors will have a high rate of rape
and those that do not will have a very low or absent
incidence of rape.
Given the limitations of the avail-
able data, this hypothesis was proved by· analysis of
the eight cultures.
The nature of this work is exploratory and preliminary.
As I have indicated, previous research in this
area has been scant and impressionistic.
80
While this
81
paper is a first attempt to remedy this problem, other
avenues of research may also prove beneficial.
Further
field research is neeqed to add to the basic ethnographic
information currently available.
Larger statistical
studies which can examine a larger matrix of variables
are necessary as well.
This paper has limited itself to an examination of
preindustrial
societi~s,
although I have suggested that
my model may be applied to industrial-societies as well.
Further examination of such societies is also necessary
in determining other possible variables that contribute
to rape.
Although I contend that subsistence as such is
not a factor in the presence or absence of rape, other
aspects of modernization may contribute to its incidence.1
Theoretical approaches are also necessary to research in this area.
a
~ypology
As Webster (1977: 102) has noted,
of rape is needed, in which the different
contexts and forms of rape are examined.
For example,
such a typology could divide rape irito formal and informal categories, and ritual/nonritual subcategories.
Formal rape would be that which is sanctioned by a
given culture and not subject to punitive measures.
In-
formal rape would be rape that is considered deviant or
criminal behavior.
Ritual rape would be forced inter-
course which takes place as part of some ceremony.
A
82
formal ritual rape takes place during Aranda initiation
ceremonies, or during the Gusii wedding consummation.
An informal ritual rape is one that could occur within a
subculture, for example, the practice of gang rape by
the Hell's Angels (Thompson 1966: 191-196)
~
Combinations
of rape categories can occur within a given culture.
As was seen among the Mundurucu, formal ritual gang
rape is often meted out to women who behave incorrectly.
However, nori-ritual rapes will often occur, as when
a man might seize the opportunity of raping a lone
woman traveling to her garden or the forest (Murphy and
Murphy 1974: 108).
This typological research could also
examine the mean.l.ngs and functions of the different
categories of rape outlined above.
This would prove
useful in determining whether these different forms of
rape have different functions within a given culture.
This research suggests finally that while rape is
a complex and troublesome problem, it is not inevitable
or inherent in relations between men and women.
Further
research such as I have suggested will .add new dimensions both to the explanation of rape, and to the
general research on gender and sexuality.
Such research
will also add to the development of theory and explanation in gender studies, an outcome which can only be
beneficial to both anthropology and women.
83
NOTES
1.
Modern industrial society introduces many variables
into any discussion of gender or related issues.
Addressing the issue of women's status, for example,
Goode (1963) suggests that the industrialization
of society causes women's status to rise, while
Boserup (1970) suggests that women's status declines under such circumstances.
84
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