For some reason I couldn't find many books,
or web sites, about the separate "Men's And Women's Houses"
In Papua New Guinea's Early History.
The closest documentation of this phenomenon
can be found in the anthroplogical studies/observations by
Margaret Mead, made when she was allowed to live in
The Women's Huts in the South Pacific Samoan Islands.
Recently, Many viewers have been kind enough
to share their knowledge of this topic, and when acceptable
I will post their chunks of Wisdom and/or References on this topic here:
Subject:
male anthropologists on papua new guinea mens' rituals
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999
From:
Hoolaboy
To:
vinny
Hi!
Just to let you know that in his recent book
"Power and its Disguises"
(Pluto press London),
John Gledhill
(Political Anthropologist -University College London)
wrote about Papua New Guinean mens'Adolescence Rituals,
describing in some detail the oral sex teenagers perform on men
and the male-female tribal dichotomy.
- Hoolaboy
Not One Modern Male Anthroplogist,
as far as I can find, has
ever been allowed entry into "The Men's Huts,"
or allowed to take part in the men's
Most Sacred,Ritualistic, Sexual Activites,
reported to exist within that country's
early, so-called, "Primitive"culture.
If interested, the reader could
research the following book titles
that might cover the subject in more depth than I
intend to delve on this site:
Greenway, J. Down--
"Among the Wild Men."
Narrative Journal of 15 Years pursuing the
Old Stone Age Aborigines of Australia. London
1973, 361 pp, 3 maps, 20 pp ills. Hardboard &
ruffled dj, vgc. Signed presentation copy. $45
Aboriginal Myths Retold.
Cheshire, Melbourne 1949,
173 pp, paperback. $30
Stone-Age Bushmen ot Today.
London 1936, 220 pp, 15 plts of l6, lacking
the frontis. Green cloth marked, fair. $30
Experiments in Civilization:
The Effects of European Culture on a Native
Community of the Solomon Islands.
Routledge, London 1939. 268 pp, ills, blue
cloth slt. rubbed o/w g+. $75
or review any works by Margaret Mead.
or View A Film:
By Virginia Yans-McLaughlin
It is described as:
"A must for Women's Studies."
. . . a fascinating portrait of
one of the most influential women of our time.
Using never- before -seen archival footage,
stills, interviews and dramatic re-creations, it
weaves together a story of a scientist,
adventurer and international celebrity whose
ideas shaped how we think about ourselves.
The film tells . . . (about)
studies of youth and gender in Samoa and
New Guinea . . . and revolutionized our
understanding of what it means to be male or
female.
85 min. Video. Sale $350. Rental $85.
Also,
Genital Modification links/WebSearch that describe other
Aspects of Aboriginal Rituals,
Although these rituals involved
body piercing and
tattooing, the aboriginal tribes never mixed
Anal With Oral Sex.Each tribe practiced either one or the other,
But Never Both.
On the web you can research many types of modification,
including:
Palang - Vertical Palang - Subincision
Prince Albert - Foreskin - Cleopatra
Dydoe - Hafada - Kandoekoe
Frenum - Perincision
and learn much more about body modification.
The following are portions from another web site on the subject:
"Body Decoration"
is a universally practiced
phenomenon that constitutes it's
own Unique Language.
Body decoration comes in
three forms:
Body Painting
which is temporary;
Body Modification,such as
tattooing, piercing,
stretching, and scarification, which are permanent;
and
Body Ornamentation,
such as cosmetics, coiffure, and
some forms of piercing,
which can be either temporary or permanent.
Anthropologists generally
agree that body decoration transmits complex
messages about identity and
social status. Permanent body modifications
Stamp Cultural Values On The
Flesh,
create a permanent identity for the
individual
and
Reinforce Beauty
values,
signal health and sexual assertiveness,
Promote Sexual Attraction,
enhance sensual and sexual pleasure,
and
"Visually Eroticize The Body"
(Berns 1988; Bohannan 1988; Brain 1979;
Drewel 1988; Faris 1972, 1988;
Gould 1968; Kaeppler 1988; Myers 1992;
Roberts 1988; Seeger 1975;
Strathern and Strathern 1971; Turner 1971, 1980;
Vale and Juno 1989;
Vogel 1988; Willis 1989).
Evidence for body painting and ornamentation
dates back to the
Upper Paleolithic
(White 1989),
whereas the origins of permanent body
modification can tentatively be traced to the
Neolithic.
Siggers
(1996)
hypothesizes that scarification dates back to
8000 B.P.
Other evidence for
scarification includes
The Sahara Rock Painting
(c. 7000 B.P.)
at Tassili
N'Ajjer in Tanzoumaitak, Algeria,
which depicts a Horned Goddess with
signs of scarification on her breasts, belly,
thighs, shoulders, and calves, as
well as two excellently preserved
Egyptian Mummies(c. 4000 B.P.)
who served as a priestess and a temple
dancer of the fertility goddess
'Hathor'
(Bianchi 1988).
. . . The Tiv claim the raised scars stay
sensitive for many years and they produce
erotic sensations in both men
and women when touched or stroked.
The comportment of both males and females under
the influence of pain is
a crucial element in their elevation to adult
status. Their behaviour must be
consistent with cultural expectations or they
risk being viewed as unworthy
or contemptible (Gould 1968; see also Bilmes and
Howard 1980). As
Bohannan discovered when he studied the Tiv,
Making Oneself Beautiful
Must Involve Pain And Effort;
the pain is the
proof positive that decoration
is an unselfish act,
and
that it is done to give
pleasure to others as well as
oneself' (1988:82).
The resultant marks or scars proclaim the inner
qualities of beauty:
Strength, Courage,
Endurance,
as well as willingness
to endure pain and
hardship in order to gain
Admiration, Respect,
and
Value From Their Social
Group.
. . . Women endure scarification to prove to
themselves and
others that they can withstand the pain and
suffering of childbirth, and
young men brave pain to prove that they can
accept the hardship and
commitment of providing for a family. Individuals
unwilling to undergo the
ordeal and suffer for their loved ones are viewed
as cowardly, selfish, and
unworthy of marriage.