Female Power And Male Dominance – Peggy Reeves Sanday (1)

The same strong woman would challenge all the “stout women”’ to wrestle.3? – Dobrizhoffer uses the term horde to designate the group of fami- lies following a cacique or chief. A horde consisted of extended families, any group of which might leave a horde whenever it suited them to join some other chief.

A chief was usually a man judged to be properly noble and warlike. His main task was to be the war leader. The position could be inherited or achieved through skill and valor. Females could and did become chiefs. Do- brizhoffer remarks: I must not omit to mention that the Abipones do not scorn to be gov- erned by women of noble birth; for at the time I resided in Paraguay, there was a highborn matron, to whom the Abipones gave the title Nela- teycate, and who numbered some families in her horde.

Her origin, and the merits of her ancestors, procured her the veneration of others.%? Since families could break away from a horde and join another whenever they chose, it would appear that the “chief” was not powerful in the sense of controlling the actions of others. Much more influential were the “jugglers” (shamans). They were be- lieved to have innumerable powers — to inflict disease and death, cure, forsee the future, cause rain and tempests, call up the spirits of the dead, change into a “‘tiger,”’ and handle snakes.

Their power was acquired in a vision quest from a supernatural relative, or sky- being, called ‘“‘Grandfather,’’ who was associated with the Pleiades. Jugglers accompanied all hunting and war expeditions. They advised on where to hunt and how to conduct a battle.33 A juggler could be of either sex, but females may have outnumbered males.

Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP 32 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA 296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne 3206, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1981 First published 1981 Printed in the United States of America Typeset by David E. Seham Inc., Metuchen, New Jersey Printed and bound by The Book Press, Brattleboro, Vermont Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Sanday, Peggy Reeves. Female power and male dominance. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Sex role.

2. Sexism. 3. Power (Social sciences) 4. Symbolism (Psychology) 5. Sex (Psychology) 6. Cross-cultural studies. I. Title. HQ1075.S26 305.3 80-18461 ISBN 0 521 23618 5 hard covers ISBN 0 521 28075 3 paperback ‘| heology _ibrary SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CLAREMONT California To Eric and Julie with love Contents List of tables and figures Preface Introduction Part I: Plans for sex-role behavior 1 Scripts for female power From “the complete perfect unity’: the Balinese The creative grandmother of the primeval sea: the Semang Father, mother, lover, friend: the Mbuti The mother of the earth beings who fell from the sky: the Iroquois One couple from the sky and one couple from the earth: the Ashanti The female creative principle 2 Scripts for male dominance Eve’s transgression, God’s punishment, and female power: the Hausa The merging and splitting of animals, mothers, and males: the Mundurucu Nullifying female power: the Papagoes The fierce people: the Yanomamo The psychological bedrock Part II: Constructing sex-role plans 3.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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