When
it comes to the subject of male initiation in eastern highlands of New Guinea,
it is evident that the practice is made of an assortment of ceremonial
tendencies, with specific rules being stipulated in pursuit of manhood. It is
vital that all the boys are entering manhood pass through the different phases
of the initiation process as they are considered essential in making them mentally
and physically prepared for the initiation. The idea is that by ensuring that
the boys are prepared both physically and psychologically, they will be
prepared for fatherhood and the responsibilities associated with the role,
ensuring they can be equipped with the necessary tools to establish their
social identity and additionally the male supremacy. Bachelor cults, on the
other hand, are used in devising almost similar responsibilities although the
main dissimilarity on the traditions as well as values is significant as the
main focus, in this case, is on the issues of faith in spirit. It is evident
that in the eastern highlands there is an evident separation of children based
on their sex at the age of 7 years.
The Role of Male Initiation
The
male sex from this point commences on their initiation from the age of 9 years.
Once these genders have undergone several intuition phases, they are now
considered capable of handling duties apportion to their sex and thus ready to
marry and have children. The overall assertion is that initiation plays a major
role in removing the mother’s blood in them, which is believed as contaminating
their bodies. The overall objective of initiation of these boys is in ensuring
there is the stimulation of their life force and consequently transforms them
from boys into warriors, thus transforming the childhood consciousness into
adult self-awareness. In this case, it becomes apparent there are a definite
duty as well as privilege at every phase of the initiation process. In each of
the initial phases, the elder is well respected; leading to the fact that
social stereotype restrains any possibility of the young becoming rebellious.
The underlying attribute of the initiation ceremony is not only meant to prop
up male dominance social structure but further act as a legitimizing feature of
male domination over women in the society. This male domination over women is
seen ritually, socially as well as ideologically, with the dominant male
moreover female members of the society being examined with high regard.
Fathers
of boys aged between 8 and fourteen years brought them to special mote shelter
that was built with sacred enclosures. These boys were not allowed to gout in
the course of the three-day rites even if they wanted to urinate or defecate
while their diet had been limited to sugar cane juice and a few sweet potatoes
that were given to them by their mothers beforehand. One section of this
initiation would the boy's exit a back door, passing a man of wisdom and
knowledge while with the following symbols. These included a piece of ginger
which served as an indication for the assertion that their enemies before they
died, they had ema, a green plant as an indication that the young man is going
to own most fertile pieces of land and mena pungi referring to a pieces of pork liver to
indicate that the boys would be rich.
The rituals were repeated till the experts believe that the boys were ready to
leave human affairs and proceed with their lives unhampered and with
prosperity.
Bachelor Cults
On
the issue of bachelor initiation, the initiation of the boys started between
seven to eight generations during every phase of the initiation process, there
is evidence of physical beatings, nose bleedings and can swallowing before any
of these genders is considered as being ready for marriage responsibilities.
These initiations of the Sangi bachelors have been designed with the objective
of promoting the growth as well as the maturity of the young men. These sangai
bachelor rituals were communal, with no individual cases, whereby all the young
men were expected to take part in the ritual. These rituals were hierarchical
in their organization, with boys moving up the hierarchy via their attendance
of several cult performances that were organized in either one or two-year
intervals until these boys were believed to be ready for marriage.
Their
readiness for marriage was considered complete through the assessment of their
mental, physical and social transformation which was attained via the boys
being married to a spirited woman who seduced them from bachelorhood into their
transition into adulthood. When these
bachelors lived with the spirit woman faithfully via a series of cult
performances that extended for between five to ten years, they managed to
acquire the strength they needed to prevail via contact of women as well as the
skills needed to accumulate enough pigs to pay a human wife’s bride price.
The
sangai bachelor cults were a representation of seduction into marriage as well
as adulthood by the spirit woman whereby all the men would be transformed
mentally, physically as well as socially into competent adults. Further, these
cults played a significant role in the instilling of clay loyalty, cultivating
values that were appropriate in the changing times and additionally exerting
control over the younger generation.
Question Two
In
the examination of the female/male relations in the highland of New Guinea as
well as the assessment of the effect that modernization has on these
relationships, there are peculiar issues that come up. Some of those issues
include the fact that the peripatetic female protagonists represent the
modernity of the Huli women. There is the additional examination of the
relationships that exist between gender and modernity, with the main assertion
being that the occurrence of change is via constant attempts that are directed
as social reproduction.
The
bimodal, as well as the gendered state of modernity, is on most occasions
established by the colonial process and in other cases accentuated in the
post-colonial period as they strive to access modern nation states emerges. The
case as is evident in Papua new guinea is that is a nation state that is not
adequately equipped to facilitate their women to take part in ushering in as
well as displaying modernity. Overall the Huli woman is expected to abide by
the traditions via their consumption tendencies as well as taking part the bride
wealth system. The only way these women become modernized is via repudiation of
these roles, with the possible emergence of modernity being occasioned by the
shifting meanings as well as practices relating to social reproduction.
Traditional male/female relations in Highland Papua
New Guinea
The
Huli are characterized as possessing one of the most rigid gender-pollution
beliefs, with the codes of heterosexual avoidance. Traditionally, men and women
lived in different houses and maintained separate gardens. These men used to
cook for themselves, with the core objective of limiting the possible contact
between them and the women. In some regions, there used to be different paths
for the genders, with most of the men joining bachelor clubs whose objective was
to teach the young men how to avoid the possible fatal contamination by women.
One attribute that has been used to highlight the case placed on gendered
spatial boundaries that asserted that sweet potato runners coming from a
women’s garden should not touch those from the man’s garden.
One
of the practices that served to reinforce this relationship between men and
women was the assertion that women were smelly, not easily socialized,
impulsive and without the cultural knowledge or the capacity to internalize
rules. Most of the conversations still consider women as inferior to men, with
the common position being that the Huli women are “more traditional” than their
counterparts in other areas.
Conversely,
common discourse in the region highlight the Huli men as being the legitimate
bearers of display items as well as practitioners of self-beautification.
Regarding modernization, the Huli women are still considered inferior by the
male counterparts, with the women still carrying heavy items as pieces of work
in their string bags. The idea is that unlike the more sophisticated women in
other regions, the Huli woman has not learned to use the modern products to
clean themselves properly, which makes them smell. It is still taken for
granted that the Huli woman should not wear shoes, watches, sunglasses. The use
of bridewealth is the other attribute that plays a significant role in the
relationship between the Huli men and women. It bridewealth serves both as an
institution that allows for reproduction among the Huli in addition to the
pervasive discourse that it has been developed. Women having sex outside
marriage among the Huli are considered “not real women” since according to
their culture, taking money in exchange for sex, they are consuming the
compensation payment that should be given to their relatives for sexuality.
Impact of Modernizing Forces on These Relationships
The
core foundation for clamor in support for modernization is the fact that these
women seek to dethrone the white bourgeoisie prescribing male as the privileged
sex, leading to the question of what modernity means for women. The emergence of modernization is seen to
change the traditional relationship among the Hilu where women were considered
inferior to their male counterparts. What can traditionally be considered
modernity is, on the Huli, it can is considered the new road. One of these
changes is the emergence of compassionate marriage, which unlike the
traditional union where men dominated, in this new era, there is an increased
clamor for compassionate marriages on the part of women.
Further,
with the emergence of modernization, the woman has become more empowered and
consequently less like to continue promoting the assertion for instance that
the Hilu woman cannot use the contemporary products as soaps to enhance them.
Modernity promises emancipation of the Huli woman, with the aspect of men
controlling a woman’s sexuality being threatened considering that the
sexualization of the Huli woman by men will change.
Conclusion
From
the above distinctions and explanations, one prevailing difference between boys
and bachelor cults was that while the boys cult was meant to instill
responsibility and discipline the bachelor cults was meant to develop good
husbands and clan leaders. The boys’ cults instilled survival skills while the
bachelor cults developed leaders and responsible husbands. The overall assertion, in this case, is that
for boys have to undergo the prescribed phases for them to become men in the
society. The transition from boys to bachelors is considered the idea of
ensuring the effective and reliable creation of reliable and responsible me.
All in all, the use of these cults was vital in ensuring that responsible and
productive men were created and that the important clan values and cultures
were passed from one generation to the next.
In
the case of male/female relations in highland Papua New Guinea, it has become
overly evident that men have immense control over their women, controlling
almost every other aspect of female lives. Further, it is has been evident that
the culture among the residents has been designed in a manner that ensures the
women does not have an input into what happens in their lives, with the main
issue being that men have lived by demeaning the woman’s self-worth. The use of
cultural items as bride worth and the perceived male domination has served well
to support this position, with the emergence of modernization bringing new
tidings. The modern woman has become more sensitized and aware of what wrongs have
been happening around them. The fact that she seeks to rid her of the
predominant male domination and the consequent sexual control has brought new
light to the already battered woman.
References
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