Glenn Lynch
September 21, 2005
GLS 410
Unit Two Integraded Paper

“The Contrast of Tu’Hoansi and Indian Societies”

Economic and political structures favoring egalitarian community based governance with full participation from all its members provide better opportunities for equal rights and access to resources than communities within a class based system. By far and large, the more egalitarian societies tend to incorporate hunter-gather modes of production while classed societies trend more toward the stratified communities of an agricultural state. Disparaging differences in women’s rights and class stratification can be found by examining the differences in the production modes, marriage practices, sexual relationships, and political makeup of the Tu’Hoansi and Indian societies.

The Ju’Hoansi peoples were once a nomadic foraging society located in the Kalahari Deserts in Southern Africa (Bonvillain 19). While many facets of their society seem to place men in positions of authority of women, the gender gap is relatively small as both men and women engage in the sustenance activities. Women’s roles are primarily focused on caretaking and foraging but men quite often share in theses responsibilities. The division of labor between women and men is less rigid than other non-egalitarian societies (Bonvillain 19). In fact, the estimated overall time spent performing production work is relatively equal between men and women (Bonvillain 19). Men assume all of the responsibilities for hunting, mostly as a group and largely for the purpose of adding social value. Great care is taken to ensure that the proper portions of meat are distributed throughout the entire village (Bonvillain 20). To underscore the importance of keeping everyone on equal level, the Ju’Hoansi developed “leveling mechanisms” (Bonvillain 20). to ensure that hunters do not become self-consumed by their contributions to the community.

Although the Ju’Hoansi support bilateral kinship, allowing for a balance within individual living communities, newly married couples typically stay with the wife’s family for three to five years (Bonvillain). This practice provides the new bride with support from her family and helps level out the authority a man has over a woman and provides the woman with a support system while she becomes accustomed to her husband. Most first marriages are arranged but divorce can be initiated by either party. Premarital sex and extramarital relations are quite common with little recourse or negative stigma attached on the offending party (Bonvillain 24). Sexual relations rely on the willing participation from both man and woman. Some married couples do not consummate their relationship for weeks or months after their marriage (Bonvillain 23).

Decisions impacting the entire community are held in an open forum where each participating member has their chance to be heard. The Ju’Hoansi do not have a formal chief, preferring to rule based on group consensus (Shostak). The only real positions with any distinction outside of norm were the healers and both men and women could participate (Shostak). The healers, however, did not hold any authority or garner any special privileges. The ideals of equality and community governance of the Ju’Hoansi are in stark contrast to many modern class based societies that do not share the Ju’Hoansi rather simplistic and ritualistic systems of checks and balances. Modern India, in particular, still faces a high degree of social imbalance brought on by years of male dominance and class rule.

India remains a “highly stratified and complex agricultural state” (Bonvillain 133). where the central government has inherited many of the traditional Indian values that favor men over women and differences between social castes have led to a hierarchal structure of rule in accordance with Hindu and Muslim traditions (Bonvillain 134). Large portions of India reside in poverty and in relative isolation from governmental control Bonvillain 134).. As a result, the government has had little success in instituting changes geared toward alleviating the harsh social conditions Indian women face (Bonvillain 141). Production has traditionally been carried out exclusively by men although recent changes to labor laws have allowed for more participation from women. Discrimination and dominate social idioms, however, continue to be a barrier to women’s equal participation in the labor and trade markets (Bonvillain 143). Due to these social pressures women’s roles have been restricted and limited to domestic work within the home. Women that do work are often handcuffed with labor work and their traditional roles, leading to a double allocation of their productive time (Bonvillain 143).

More often than not, marriages are arranged by the parents and typically include a dowry paid by the woman’s parents to the man’s parents as an attempt to gain favorable arraignments for their daughter. The higher the social stature or prominence of the man, the higher the dowry (Bonvillain 141). Many factions of Indian society continue to practice active and passive female infanticide, leading to an imbalance between male and female ratios. This imbalance has meant great deals of impoverished or lower caste men are unable to marry. Child marriages were common as parents were interested in securing a husband for their daughters and men were interested in securing a bride before she could become spoiled by another man. Widowed women are discouraged from remarrying and often commit “sati” on the funeral pyres of their husbands (Bonvillain 140). Although this practice has been outlawed, many women prefer to continue the practice over the alternative of becoming impoverished, scorned, or even mutilated by members of society. Many in society believed that “women could not control their passions” and that it was a man’s obligation to forcibly control his wife (Bonvillain 135). As a result physical violence remain a continuous problem and is frequently carried out by men and the mother-in-law of the bride. Women often run away from their husbands but her family often returns her along with some form of tribute to make reparations for their daughter’s insolence (Bonvillain 140).

In many ways, India’s struggles with inequality worked in reverse of those of egalitarian foraging societies. The Ju’Hoansi, for example, experienced the benefits of a non-gender biased community until external influences began to reshape the dominate way of thinking. As other tribes were forced from their lands on to lands traditionally used by the Ju’Hoansi the Ju’Hoansi became hypnotized by the perceived easier way of life of cultivating. As these influences invaded their lives, they became less of community of shared values and resources, adopting instead the ideals of individual ownership, status, and accumulation of wealth. India, on the other hand, required external intervention by an invading government to begin to overcome the oppression faced by women. It was not until the British took control over India that girls were provided with the same educational opportunities as boys (Bonvillain 140). After security independence in 1947, India continued down the path of reform but still has a long way to go before women can feel completely liberated.

Despite the efforts of both the British and Indian governments, India will continue to be a stratified society based on caste and gender unless each and every citizen takes action into their own hands and institute checks and balances similar to the community driven levelers used by the Jo’Hoansi. The current class system will only continue to propagate feelings of dominance by one section of society on another. Wholesale changes away from traditional views on marriage, sex, work relationships, and governance are needed to exact real change to India’s social structure of gender inequality and differentiation.

Works Cited

Bonvillain, Nancy. Women and Men. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2001

Shostak, M. Nisa. “The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman: http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~epsadm03/kung.html New York: Random House. 1981