article

Sex relations and gender relations: understanding Kwoma conception

Mankind14 (1)Published In 1983 • Pages: 13-23

By: Williamson, Margaret Holmes.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article discusses Kwoma conception theory. It shows that the Kwoma regard men and woman as mutually dependent equals, and tht they regard women as the fertile sex that men must capture and keep so as to reproduce their patrilineages. It also shows that the relationship between men and women is analogous to that between Kwoma and a class of bush spirits called sikilwas, the true source of all fertility and well-being.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Conception
Pregnancy
Difficult and unusual births
Abortion and infanticide
Extramarital sex relations
Ethnoanatomy
Family relationships
Sexual intercourse
General character of religion
Organized ceremonial
Life and death
Avoidance and taboo
Organized ceremonial
Gender roles and issues
Gender status
Ethnosociology
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Kwoma
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2010
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Melanesia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Anthropologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem; 2008
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1972-1974, 1981
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1970-1980
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Peilungua mountain range, northwest of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea
NotesAdditional notes
Margaret Holmes Williamson
Includes bibliographical references(p. 22-23)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Kwoma (Papua New Guinean people)