Kathryn Apple
Nisa Essay Exam #1
1. In the !Kung society the more women account for labor & sharing in providing for subsistence, not merely child rearing, the more equal in society they are. Woman may own land or watering holes in which they have inherited, that no man can take away; they gather food and have to know the difference between many different kinds of plants, and they contribute a lot to the subsistence of the villages in which they live. Women’s roles are essential to the survival of the !Kung and without women the !Kung wouldn’t have survived as long as they have. “Unlike !Kung hunter, Kung gatherers have the solid assurance that when their families are hungry they will be able to find food-an assurance that fills them with pride.” (Shostak, 217) !Kung woman are the gatherers for their people, even though young boys accompany their mothers on gathering trips, girls at all ages are tasked with learning the different kinds of plants in their area and how to prepare them for eating when they get back to their villages. “From start to finish, her labor and its product remain under her control” (Shostak, 216), men don’t take the food after and decided who gets what food. This is the sole responsibility of the women who gathered the food, it is her food to do with as she chooses. !Kung men only average a kill every four days or so, thus making the daily gatherings of women in the village a pivotal aspect in the survival of the !Kung. The !Kung men don’t have control over where and when a woman will gather or even what they gather, women do however tell their husbands where they are going and when, this is more of a marital communication then a question of permission. The more a woman brings home and shares and presents gifts to others, the more she is valued in the village and in the hxaro networks can be given a higher standing by the same token. Women are an important aspect to the !Kung way of life and have their own sense of control and ownership in what they do to provide for their villages.
2. Kung men have a higher status and greater power than !Kung women do. They provide meat for the village, which is considered far more valuable than gathered goods; they provide their villages with tanned skins, sticks, tools and also create weapons for hunting and trapping. Their activities are valued more throughout the village and both economic and spiritual contributions and “in their somewhat greater influence over decisions affecting the life of the group” (Shostak, 218). When Nisa refused her first trial marriage and her mother started telling off Nukha for sleeping with Nisa’s husband her father stepped in and exclaimed that “No, don’t do all the talking. You’re a woman yet, how come you didn’t ask me? I am a man and I will do the talking now. …Now, you are a woman and will be quiet because I am a man.” (Shostak, 123). This describes how much more influence and power a man has over women in the villages and describes exactly how a man feels about his affluence.
In contrast, there is equality between !Kung men and woman and a division of responsibility that makes them equal in their village life. Men have certain duties and responsibilities but there is also an overlap between them as well. With their children men are not feared as the tyrant or the authority, just as mothers are not a threat to a boy’s masculinity. Both parents are involved and both parents authority is weighted equally. Fathers in the !Kung society “have been shown to provide more care for infants and young children than fathers in many societies, even though they spend much less time in contact with children than mothers do.” (Shostak, 214) Woman in !Kung society are primarily the gatherers for the village but on occasion their roles cross to a hunter as well. When meat is needed or wanted by a !Kung woman or her children she has been known to set traps and hunt. “Animal protein is not
