nude. At about six years the little girl has placed upon her an apron of
leaves. This is her sole garment. Later in life, the womanly instinct
for ornament shows itself however, so that necklaces and girdles are
added. There is a certain kind of girdle, made from the pandanus leaves,
which is the peculiar possession of the married women. The women, as
well as the men, tattoo their entire bodies. This art of tattooing is
practised almost entirely by the women. They use a piece of quartz or
glass, making horizontal and vertical incisions in alternating series.
There was probably some religious significance originally in this
practice, since the men begin the process by making incisions with an
arrow used in hunting the wild pig, and while the wounds are still fresh
the man must refrain from using the flesh of this animal. The bodies of
the women are usually quite shapely, though their faces are not
beautiful. With the women as well as the men, the body is of nearly
uniform width, there being scarcely any enlargement at the hips. Since
the race is comparatively pure, marrying among themselves, the type is
very uniform; and since, as Quatrefages says, the occupations of men and
women vary little, the difference in the development of female as
contrasted with masculine characteristics is exceedingly small.
The young girl enjoys equal freedom with her brother, but preserves her
modesty with commendable strictness. An official, "the guardian of
youth," scrutinizes the conduct of the young people with much care and
attempts to see that wrongs against modesty and chastity are, as far as
possible, righted. The marriage relation is well guarded; bigamy and
polygamy are rigidly prohibited; and betrothals, which are often made
for the little ones at a very tender age, are held as inviolate, a
betrothal being regarded as quite as binding as actual marriage. The
young couple to be married never take the initiative for themselves,
this duty falls to the "guardian of youth," whose watchful eye is
expected to discern the eternal fitness of things in this important
field of human interest.
The marriage contract is a purely civil one, being celebrated at the
hut of the chieftain of the tribe. The bride remains seated. By her side
is one or more women; the groom stands surrounded by the young men. The
chief approaches him and leads him to the young girl, whose legs are
held by several women. After some pretended resistance on the part of
both, the groom sits down on the knees of his bride. The torches are
lighted so that all present can attest that the ceremony has been
regularly carried out. Finally the chief declares the young people duly
married, and they retire to a hut prepared in advance. Then they are
said to spend several days silently, without so much as looking at each
other, during which period they receive from friends presents of a very
practical nature, such as provisions and equipments for housekeeping.
After this silent but profitable function is over, a wedding dance is
given in which the whole community joins, except the two who are most
concerned in the festivities.
"It is incorrect to say that among the Andamese marriage is nothing more
than taking a female slave, for one of the striking features of their
social relation is the marked equality and affection which subsists
between husband and wife. Careful observations extended over many years
prove that not only is the husband's authority more or less nominal, but
that it is not at all an uncommon occurrence for Andamese Benedicts to
be considerably at the beck and call of their better halves."
A writer upon the Andamese islanders has this significant utterance
concerning woman's moral influence even among these uncivilized peoples:
"Experience has taught us that one of the most effective means of
inspiring confidence when endeavoring to make acquaintance with these
savages is to show that we are accompanied by women, for they at once
infer that, whatever may be our intentions, they are at least not
hostile."
As a rule, marriage life among these Andamese islanders is said to be
very happy. The women are constant and faithful; the husbands also
exercise marked fidelity. The spirit of equality and reciprocity
prevails to an exceptional degree when compared with many other
uncivilized peoples, and indeed with many civilized people.
Even before the mother gives birth to the child, the little one
receives a name with a qualitative, according to sex. This it bears for
two or three years. It is then replaced by another qualitative which the
boy bears till his initiation into the rites of manhood, and the girl
till the appearance of signs of puberty. This name corresponds to some
tree or flower. When the girl marries she drops her "flower name."
Mothers, too, have great fondness for their children, nursing them as
long as there is milk for them, and it is not uncommon for three
children to feed at the same maternal breast. A peculiar custom
prevails, however, by which most of the children are by the fifth or
sixth year taken from their parents, and become parts of another
household. This custom of adoption is a method by which friends express
and cement their friendships for one another. As Quatrefages says:
"Every married man received into a family regards as an expression of
gratitude and proof of friendship, the privilege of adopting one of the
children of the family." The parents rarely see children that have been
adopted. They may pay them visits, but they never take them back
permanently to their homes, and temporarily only by permission. The
foster-father may, strangely enough, pass his adopted child on to some
friend of his, as freely as he might one of his own.
The modesty of the scantily clothed women is noteworthy. Man, who has
written so minutely upon the Andamese, says that when a woman has
occasion to remove one of her girdles in order to make it a present to a
friend, she does so with a shyness that amounts almost to prudery; and
she never changes her apron before a companion, but retires to some
secret place. Even within the same family circle, the bearing of the
sexes toward each other is modest and delicate. The man will observe the
greatest care in his attitude toward the wife of a cousin or of a
younger brother, only addressing her through a third person. The wife of
an elder brother receives the respect accorded to a mother.
The negritos of Luzon in the Philippines are also found to be very
correct in their ideas upon the relations of the sexes. Adultery is very
rare, and is punished, as are theft and murder, by death. The manners of
the young girls are very correct, for any suspicion of their chastity
might prevent their marriage, for the young men are particular that
their wives should be without stain or even an imputation of it. When a
young man is ready to marry and has found the girl of his choice, he
lets her parents know of his heart's wish. They are said never to
refuse. They do not turn her formally or informally over to her suitor,
however, but they send her out into the forest, where, early in the
morning, before even the sun has risen, she conceals herself. It is the
young man's business to find this pearl of great price, or else he
cannot claim to be worthy of her and must forever relinquish all right
in her. This, it will be readily seen, is but another way of leaving the
whole matter in the hands of the girl, who may not seek the thickest
jungles for a hiding place. The day for the marriage has come. The
lovers climb two young trees which are adjacent one to the other and may
be easily bent together. An aged man comes, and presses the boughs of
the trees toward each other till the heads of the young couple touch.
They are then husband and wife. Feasting and dancing follow, and then
the pair settle down to life's realities in earnest. The husband gives
his father-in-law a present, a custom surviving from a day when wives
were purchased; and the father presents his daughter with a present as
dowry, which becomes her own personal property. The Aeta has but one
wife. If he should die after his children are grown, the family home is
continued; should the children be yet very young, the mother usually
takes them and returns to the home of her own people.
Among some of the negrito tribes there has been found an incipient
literature. The following are words of a love song which Montano found
among the Aetas. It has thus been translated:
"I leave, oh, my loved one,
Be very prudent, thou loved one.
Ah! I go very far, my loved one,
While thou remainest in dwelling thine,
Never the village will be forgotten by me."
In contrast with these pigmies of probably African origin, there may
come to our minds the ancient tradition of African Amazons. For the
poetical allusions among the Greek authors to such a community of female
warriors there was doubtless some basis in fact, and this even when all
due allowance is made for the imaginative element in the tale. According
to the tradition, these African Amazons, an army of powerful women,
under the leadership of their Queen Myrina, marched against the Gorgons
and Atlantes and subdued them, and at last marched through Egypt and
Arabia and founded their capital on Lake Tritonis, where they were
finally annihilated by Hercules. The truth in these Amazon stories lies
doubtless in the fact that it is not an unknown custom for African
women, strong of body and brave of spirit, to enlist as soldiers in
companies or armies, commanded by officers of their own sex, and to
become very powerful in regulating the life of some communities.
Among the Dahomeys, women captives are often enrolled in the king's
army of "amazons." These are said to have a perfect passion for
fighting. They are bound to perpetual celibacy and chastity, under the
penalty of death. They are described as famous in battle, but their
chief utility is to prevent rebellion among the male soldiers. They have
separate organizations and are commanded by officers of their own sex,
and are most loyal to their king.
The world has long known of the Hottentots of South Africa. Their women
are taller and larger than those of the neighboring Bushmen, who are the
South African pigmies. Among these Hottentots woman often occupies a
place of considerable power; this is notably in the home, where she
reigns supreme. The husband may lord it over her outside of the house,
and often does, making almost a slave of his spouse; but when he enters
the house, he abdicates his authority. Without her permission, the
husband cannot take a bit of meat or a drop of milk. If he attempts to
infringe the law, the neighbors take up his case; he is amerced, often
to the extent of several sheep or cows, and these become the absolute
property of the wife. Should the chief of a tribe die, his wife takes
his place and authority and becomes "queen of the tribe," unless her son
is of age. And it is said that some of these women chieftains have left
for themselves names of honor in the traditions of their people.
It is a custom among the Hottentots to call their children by the names
of their parents, but by a sort of exchange, the girls assuming that of
their father, the boys that of the mother--a syllabic suffix indicating
the sex. To the oldest daughter are accorded especial authority and
honor; for it is she who milks the cows and, in a way, has them under
her control. Requests for milk must be made to her, reminding us of the
Aryan _wood-daughter_, who was once the milkmaid.
No extraordinary claims can be made for the beauty of the Hottentot
women. They have the knotty hair that characterizes the negro races, and
the flat noses, thick lips, and prominent cheekbones. While their faces
have no especial beauty, their figures, when maidens, are regular, plump
and attractive; but after the first years of womanhood are past, the
roundness of youth yields to the wrinkles of age, and all attractiveness
disappears, the woman either becoming withered and haggard, or
manifesting that peculiar development said to be so much admired among
the Hottentots, known to science as steatopyga. The famous "Hottentot
Venus" furnishes an example of this type of _beauty_. The back is given
a most remarkable contour by the enormous growth of fat about the hips,
which, though hard and firm, shakes like jelly when our Venus walks.
This extraordinary development has to the Hottentot lady not only an
aesthetic but also a utilitarian value, in case she cares to support her
infant upon it.
The less cultured a people, the greater the place given by it to
ornament. Among many uncivilized peoples the men as well as the women
exhibit a fondness for decoration; but ornamentation is preeminently the
weakness of women. Although the savage lady regards clothing as
altogether an unnecessary burden, she must have her ornaments. One of
the methods of ornamentation is that of tattooing the body. Among some
tribes almost the whole body is covered with more or less artistic
designs, while others mark only parts of the body, as by rings around
the arms, or, as among the aboriginal New Zealand women, by puncture of
the lips. The use of shells, metal rings, bands, beads, feathers, mats,
and so on _ad infinitum_, is one of the marks of savagery.
A traveller has given the following description of a Kaffir's marriage
ceremony witnessed by him. The occasion was the marriage of a Kaffir
chief to his fourteenth wife, "a fat good-natured girl--obesity is at a
premium among African tribes--wrapped round and round with black glazed
calico, and decked from head to foot with flowers, beads, and feathers.
Once within the kraal, the ladies formed two lines, with the bride in
the centre, and struck up a lively air; whereupon the whole body of
armed Kaffirs rushed from all parts of the kraal, beating their shields
and uttering demonic yells, as they charged headlong at the smiling
girls, who joined with the stalwart warriors in cutting capers, and
singing lustily, until the whole kraal was one confused mass of demons,
roaring out hoarse war songs and shrill love ditties. After an hour
dancing ceased and _joila_ (Kaffir beer) was served around, while the
lovely bride stood in the midst of the ring alone, stared at by all and
staring in turn at all, until she brought her eyes to bear upon her
admiring lord. When advancing leisurely, she danced before him amid the
shouts of the bystanders, singing at the top of her voice and
brandishing a huge _carving-knife_, with which she scraped big drops of
perspiration from her heated head, produced by the violent exercise she
was performing."
Among African tribes, generally, the value of a woman is rated in terms
of the cow. While in India the cow is more sacred than the woman, in
Africa, a woman sometimes brings several cows in a trade. When a man
wishes a wife there is usually little trouble in obtaining her, either
by purchase, theft, or in some rather more sentimental manner. Among
some tribes female go-betweens are made use of, while genuine courtship
prevails among other tribes. The courtship, however, is seldom of long
duration.
The matter of marriage is more completely guarded among the tribes of
Africa and the Indo-Pacific than we might expect of the people of their
grade of culture. While tribes vary much in marriage customs, purity of
life is, as a rule, rigidly expected of married women, and most women
marry at an early age. Lewdness, however, is not generally regarded as
so great a crime as marital infidelity, which is often punished with
death. Betrothals are looked upon as much more sacred and binding than
they are among more cultivated peoples.
In Tahiti, so careful have been the natives in this matter of betrothal,
that the betrothed young lady was compelled to live upon a platform of
considerable elevation, built in her father's house. The parents or some
members of the family attended to her wants here, night and day, and she
never left her high abode without permission of her parents and
accompanied by them.
In the Yomba country courtship is carried on usually through female
rather than male relatives, and either sex may make the first advances
toward a minor. Among all uncivilized peoples, as indeed among many that
are advanced in civilization, the early marriage is one of the most
important elements in the backward condition of the people, if not
indeed the most serious cause of deterioration. Women are forced into
the arduous duties of motherhood at an age when they are neither
physically nor in any other sense prepared for such an obligation.
Children born of immature mothers can scarcely expect to be robust
either in body or mind.
The Kroomen, one of the native tribes of Liberia, hold marriage to be
the highest ambition of life. They will marry as many wives as they can
pay for, often leaving their homes in search of means whereby they may
accumulate wealth enough to buy another wife. Enjoying for a few months
the new relation, the ambitious husband goes off to seek again his
fortune, returns, buys another companion, the marriage is again
celebrated, and so the number of women who perform the drudgeries of
life increases. At about middle life, usually, the Krooman has
accumulated a sufficient fortune in the form of wives to enable him to
retire from active labor. He now settles down to live upon the labor of
his wives, who willingly support him. He is now known as a "big man,"
and enjoys not only the ease, but also the reputation and honor of one
who has come into possession of a well-earned retirement. Another
characteristic which marks woman's career among the lower races is the
fact of her early and rapid physical deterioration after marriage. This
is true not only of the women of Polynesia, but of the African tribes,
with which they have much in common. At the age when European and
American women are at the prime of their vigor and physical beauty,
these women have not only seen their best days, but are broken,
unsightly, and withered.
This deterioration is chiefly due to two causes; one is the uniform
early marriages among these races, and the other is the hard life which
is early thrust upon the woman. For she not only becomes the
childbearer, but the beast of burden, the farmer, too, it may be, and
the mechanic and the "general utility man."
It is true, especially where polygamy prevails, that there is a division
of labor, but the labor is divided among the women; the men do only the
lighter work. The several wives of the household take their servitude as
a matter of course, and usually, especially in Kaffir land, they are so
brought up that they regard a husband as degraded and effeminate if he
takes any part in the ordinary labors of domestic life. The women are,
generally, quite reconciled also to the polygamous relation, because a
husband is regarded as possessing dignity and respectability in
proportion as he is much or little married.
The less developed a race is, the less specialized is woman's sphere.
Among the barbarous and savage peoples woman is the "maid of all work."
She is weaver, potter, basketmaker, cook, agriculturist, water bearer,
beast of burden, everything. Men hunt and fish, eat and sleep. In
general, it may be said, that among the barbarous races there is a
greater relative disparity between the size and attractiveness of men
and women. This is doubtless to be accounted for by the fact that very
early the female is set to hard tasks of menial service and her body is
accordingly abused and stunted.
While the physical and social status of woman is one of acknowledged
inferiority, there are not wanting among the African tribes instances in
which woman exerts no small influence and exhibits no little power. This
we have noted in mentioning the tribes dominated by warlike women. It is
more particularly true of her influence within the precints of her
domestic life, as was seen in the case of the pigmy women of the
Andamese Islands. Mothers, and more especially mothers-in-law, exert
noteworthy power, but this is always by virtue of station rather than of
any inherent respect due to the sex itself. There are isolated examples
of a more active power exerted by woman.
As a rule, women of the inferior races have no part in the government of
their tribes. There are some exceptions, however. In the Sandwich
Islands, as is well-known, the hereditary right of rule might fall to a
woman as well as to a man, and there have been, in these islands, a
number of queens. Our own country took some part, as will be readily
remembered, in deposing the last of them from her throne.
Every student of what has come to be called "woman's sphere,"
especially among the uncultivated races, must be led to the conclusion
that the condition of the female sex, the sphere of her activity and
influence in any race, is one of the very best indexes of the
civilization of that people. The view of Havelock Ellis, in his _Man and
Woman_, is that it is the latter who is leading in the evolution of the
race, in the sense not only that the traits that more distinctively
belong to her are those that characterize the advance of society, but
that she registers more accurately the advances. "What is civilization?"
asked Emerson; and answers, "The power of good women."
Among the deplorable traits of women of uncivilized races is that of
infanticide. Among some of the Pacific islanders and in some parts of
Africa, the regular and systematic sacrifice of children is among the
most remarkable and cruel features of the social life of the people.
This is more particularly true of female infants.
War plays a very large part in the life of uncivilized races, and the
presence of women is a source of weakness rather than strength, since
usually they are not bearers of arms, and are among the most envied
prizes for which war is waged.
Ellis, in his _Polynesian Researches_, draws this gloomy picture of
unnatural motherhood among peoples of the Pacific islands: "In Tahiti,
human victims were frequently immolated. Yet the amount of all these and
other murders did not equal that of infanticide alone. No sense of
irresolution or horror appeared to exist in the bosoms of those parents,
who deliberately resolved on the deed before the child was born. They
often visited the dwellings of the foreigners, and spoke with perfect
complacency of their cruel purpose. On these occasions the missionaries
employed every inducement to dissuade them from executing their
intention, warning them in the name of the living God, urging them by
every consideration of maternal tenderness, and always offering to
provide the little stranger with a home, and the means of education. The
only answer they generally received was, that it was the custom of the
country; and the only result of their efforts was the distressing
conviction of the inefficacy of their humane endeavors. The murderous
parents often came to their houses almost before their hands were
cleansed from their children's blood, and spoke of the deed with worse
than brutal insensibility, or with vaunting satisfaction at the triumph
of their customs over the persuasions of their teachers." It is thought
that not less than two-thirds of all the children born were murdered by
their own parents.
"The first three infants," says Ellis, "were frequently killed; and in
the event of twins being born, both were rarely permitted to live. In
the largest families, more than two or three children were seldom
spared, while the numbers that were killed were incredible. The very
circumstance of their destroying, instead of nursing, their offspring
rendered their offspring more numerous than it would otherwise have
been. We have been acquainted with a number of parents, who, according
to their own confessions, or the united testimony of their friends and
neighbors, had inhumanly consigned to an untimely grave, four, or six,
or eight, or ten children, and some even a greater number."