Fluent Essays

Total word count between 350-450.Reading link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zYv0_CEhQTw3LTGfN... (unhitching the Horse from the carriage)Answer all parts of the following question: 1A. According to the article “Unhitching the Horse from the Carriage,” the Mosuo people of Lake Lugu in China have been practicing a form of sexual union called tisese. Explain how the institution of tisese operates for Mosuo women, children, and family. How does biological paternity and sexuality work for the Mosuo women and men?1B. How have the Chinese government and tourism transformed the Mosuo tisesesystem and family life?1C. The tisese of the Mosuo and the boy-wife system of the Azande that we studied several weeks ago are both unique types of sexual unions. In a few sentences, describe two of the key differences between these two systems. azande.pdf mosuo_lecture.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Early Ethnographies Ethnography is the signature methodology of anthropology Early Studies of Sexuality Ethnographic studies were of small numbers of people – Researchers cannot find safety in numbers – Different meanings of sexuality – Sexual behavior often taken out of its context Limits of Early Ethnographies Ethnocentricism “weird customs,” “sexual lives of ‘savages’” Gender/Race Bias of Researchers White male researchers studying non-white societies Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902-1973) Azande People in South Sudan • They are called both Zande and Azande • In South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Azande/Zande • Ethnically mixed; different languages • 3.8 million; polygyny Contemporary Azande PreColonial Azande • Azande were organized in warrior kingdoms with male soldiers who lived in barracks • The ruling class had large harems – they controlled access to young women and their sexuality and reproduction • Harems led to a scarcity of women – girls were married very young and child betrothal was widely practiced • Poor, young men could not access young girls for marriage • Rich men v. poor men • He studied boy-wives after 65 years of its disappearance from Azande society E.E. Pritchard • He depended on older men and their memories • There was no societal shame about a young man being a “boy-wife” • Boy-wives were not seen as gay as we understand in the West today Precolonial Azande Customs As Told to EvansPritchard • Azande did not approve of anal intercourse • Boy-wife was a social marriage to fulfill some sexual and companionship needs of poor soldiers • The practice of male-to male sex was prevalent among the nobility Boy-Wives Among the Azande • Married men and bachelors lived in military barracks • Bridewealth was difficult for poorer soldiers – Bridewealth refers to the transfer of resources from the man’s family to the woman’s family • Poor bachelors took on young boys as surrogate wives Soldier Husbands of Boy-Wives • Men would pay 5 spears for a boy-wife • Act as son-in-law; perform duties for in-laws • They may later get a daughter as wife from the boy-wife’s family • One soldier could sue another man for ‘adultery’ – sexual relations with his boy-wife • When boy-wives grew up, they and their ‘husbands’ married and adopted heterosexual lifestyles • Roles of BoyWives • • • These young males between the ages of 1220 They were referred to as “women” Relationship was similar to that of a marriage – It was not purely a sexual relation Boy-wives performed many services – Cooking, cleaning, maintaining the household – Carried the warrior’s shield on journeys – Could not cook porridge or fowl; that was special cooking done by mother-inlaw •Apprenticeship Relationship –they learned how to be a warrior/man from their soldier husbands To summarize Boy-Wives • Sexual intercourse was between the thigh and not anal penetration • Form of companionship for lonely soldiers • Social, Sexual and Educational aspects Decline of Boy-Wife Marriage • Boy-wife marriage disappeared after British colonial contact • The British dismantled the Azande kingdoms and military companies – Nobility were removed from power – Soldiers were disbanded and sent home – Thus, women became more available – Colonialism brought in Christian missionaries who reformed Azande society • Lesbianism and Early Azande Society • In polygynous families, lesbianism was practiced – In the harems, you had one husband, multiple females – There was a lack of sexual contact for the females Note: There were probably many women in the harem who were lesbians and preferred female-female sex and companionship Azande men were afraid of lesbianism – The fact that women could satisfy themselves would lead men to lose their sexual authority – They associated lesbianism with witchcraft • Baghuru Baghuru (Female Friendship) – Formal female friendship • Close intimacy between two women with husband’s permission • Baghuru considered as cover for lesbianism in Azande society • Sexuality as socially constructed (constructivism) • These arrangements (boywife/baghuru) exceed the sexual; there provided societal needs Implications • Pritchard is one of the few early male anthropologists who included women’s sexual identities in his research • Institutional social forms (boywife/baghuru) in Azande society informed by its patriarchal attitudes Announcements • Week Eight Exam 4 this Friday – – – – One Essay Question Read “Unhitching the Horse From the Carriage” Read whole article with special emphasis on listed pages Watch YouTube Documentary: The Land Where Women Rule: Inside China’s Last Matriarchy NOTE: NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED! • Week Ten Exam 5 or Last Exam – Multiple Choice and True/False – Will Cover Entire Course – Study Guide will be Provided The Mosuo Of Lugu Lake Yunnan Province, China Map of China Lake Lugu Lake Lugu The Mosuo Family • Contradicts some basic ideas of marriage • These are: – Marriage is a universal institution – The ideal family structure consists of married, heterosexual couple with children – Children (boys) need and yearn to live with their biological fathers – Challenges that marriage stability affects a child’s welfare – Challenges the notion that parents who have extra marital sexual relations threaten the well-being of children Mosuo Household • Matrilocal and marilineal • Multigenerational; children live with their matrilineal kin in extended families • Family members maintain, own and inherit the family property – No individual ownership – Collectively perform labor, rear children, care for the elderly • Dabu (household head) could either be the eldest male or female – Whoever they deem fit to manage domestic activities Tisese • Tisese is the Mosuo form of sexual union called “a man goes back and forth” – Termed walking ‘marriage’ by the Han Chinese – Tisese in practice since 200 BCE • At age 13, a girl performs a ‘skirt’ ceremony – She receives a sleeping room of her own (flower chamber) – She can accept nocturnal male visitors as sexual partners • At age 13, boys go thru a similar ‘pants’ ceremony – They eligible to practice tisese Furtive and Open Tisese • Furtive or closed tisese– no public acknowledgment or obligations between parties; less common today • Open tisese more common form – Sometimes a woman and man solidifies their love in a small ceremony – He can openly visit his lover for an indefinite period that can be terminated by either party • Visits are nocturnal • Men are expected to return to their maternal households in the mornings where their duties are – labor, social ties, obligations Mosuo Women • They have autonomy over their sexual and procreative lives • Women can freely accept or deny lovers • Mosuo culture does not venerate women’s chastity or judge women’s sexual behavior differently • Families do not interfere in daughter’s (or son’s) choice of mate because mate choice has no significance on family life • Women are freed from reproductive demands • Families do not require each daughter to produce heirs • For the regeneration of the Mosuo matrilineage, each generation of women must produce at least one daughter and a gendered mix of children • The children are collectively raised • Families lacking sons/daughters will exchange and adopt within the Mosuo • Mosuo men are social fathers to their nieces and nephews Features of Mosuo Life • All children born to a Mosuo woman are full siblings • Mosuo culture does not have step/half siblings • Biological paternity does not matter for Mosuo kinship • Some Mosuo allow for a man to reside with a woman’s family or for a woman with a man’s family – These relationships are not considered marriages – They are called co-habitation Ideas During Communist Rule • Mosuo were considered as “Living fossils” of ancient marriage formations and kinship structures • Evolutionary anthropologists – Primitive system of group marriage • Communist Chinese efforts at reform of Mosuo kinship and family – Bring them into the modern world – Change matrilineal to patrilineal system – Households should be male-headed and nuclear • By 1956, 10\%-14\% Mosuo were married • By 1960s, 20\% Mosuo were married • 1975 One Husband, One Wife Campaign of the Chinese Government – Imposed modern, heterosexual marriages – Every adult had to get married; – sentries posted on streets to detect men who visited lovers – Lovers were dragged out of bed and publicly humiliated – 60\% were forced to marry thru coercion – Withheld grains and cloth rations from mothers who refused to reveal the names of biological fathers Effects of Communist Rule • Forced co-habitation • Families adapted by allowing visiting men to move in • Introduction of a new kinship term – parents-in-laws • Many extended Mosuo families broke up Effects of Modernization on Mosuo Kinship • 1978-The People’s Republic of China changed from socialist class struggle to economic development policies under Deng Xiaoping • Allowed the Mosuo to revive their maternal families, kinship structure but also introduced new social dynamics • 1981, minorities received permission to resume traditional practices • Mosuo marriage rate dropped back from 60\% to 32\% Effects of Tourism • Tourism’s main attraction – Free love; Han Chinese men come to experience tisese – Increase in sex tourism, brothels and non-ethnic Mosuo women dressing as Mosuo • Consequently, Mosuo families in Lushoi restricted # of families to 72 to prevent the dilution of culture • Formed a co-operative to share the income from tourism – Boat and mule rides, and folk performances Education and Tourism • Education and the influx of tourists have changed Mosuo kinship structure • College-educated Mosuo want modern, registered, co-habiting marriages • Tourism has created jobs for Mosuo to showcase their tisese or walking ‘marriage’ to tourists “Within the tourism frame and imagination, the multiple ways of imagining the Mosuo territory as a land of women and a land of sex, blur into a land of women for sex.” (Walsh 175) Effects of Modernization • Some Mosuo now eschew multiple sex partners, furtive visits • father, husband, marriage as an institution has gained some legitimacy • Paternity is discussed now • Two new forms of tisese – Long-term visiting marriage and registered cohabitation What can we learn from the Mosuo • Tisese separates sexuality and romantic love from kinship, reproduction and parenting • Traditional tisese governed by mutual desire and affection • Lovers do not share homes, money, childbearing, daily labor or relatives • An individual’s choice of mate does not carry any implications for his or her family income • Leading to multiple relation, both enduring or short-term across class, age, religious and ethnic boundaries Mosuo women are neither virgins nor whores No marriage or divorce No widows or spinsters, no solitary individuals Nobody’s social status depends on the success or failure of their love life or marriage • Men/women without children do not suffer the indignity of being called sterile or “barren” • People live in intergenerational family structures where care and nurturing takes place • • • • • What is Mosuo tisese ‘marriage’ (also called walking ‘marriage’)? What are its key features? • How did the communist government of China try to modernize the Mosuo family system? • What are the effects of tourism and modernization on the Mosuo culture and family system? • How does tisese problematize our ideas about monogamy, marriage, children, paternity, family, kinship? ... Purchase answer to see full attachment