essay

Warriors and weavers: a study of gender relations among the Iban of Sarawak

female and male in borneo : contributions and challenges to gender studies1 • Published In 1991 • Pages: 231-270

By: Mashman, Valerie.

Abstract
The male prestige system is discussed in the historical context of headhunting in order '…to determine whether it is 'exclusively male' and to analyze women's relationship to this male prestige system'…(p. 233). Further discussion focuses on the significance of weaving as a complementary index of prestige for women. Gender construction is then examined from a different perspective that may be more appropriate in the light of the more 'traditional' values indicated as part of the prestige system mentioned above. In this analysis two complementary categories derived from the organization of space in the longhouse are examined. These categories represent the RUAI or veranda, and the BILIK or family room, identified respectively with the male and female gender. Mashman concludes that while men assume dominance in formal power and public life in Iban society, they always remain on the fringe of longhouse life, for it is the women, with their ritual expertise and specialized knowledge of rice cultivation, who are central to the longhouse as a point of stability in Iban consciousness (p. 263).
Subjects
Ethos
Cereal agriculture
Woven and other interworked fabrics
Dwellings
Division of labor by gender
Travel
Status, role, and prestige
Gender status
Instigation of war
Aftermath of combat
culture
Iban
HRAF PubDate
1995
Region
Asia
Sub Region
Southeast Asia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Unknown
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
Analyst
John Beierle
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
not specified
Coverage Place
Sarawak, Malaysia
Notes
Valerie Mashman
Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-270)
LCCN
91072229
LCSH
Ibans (Bornean people)