article

Sexual magic and money: Miskitu women's strategies in northern Honduras

Ethnology • 45 (2) • Published In 2006 • Pages: 143-159

By: Herlihy, Laura Hobson.

Abstract
This article highlights Afro-indigenous Miskitu women's position and agency on the increasingly cash-oriented Miskito Coast (northeastern Honduras). While Miskitu men (the main breadwinners) work as deep-water lobster divers, women live in matrilocal groups and use sexual magic to beguile men into giving them their earnings. The women's discourse of sexual magic contests, but does not subvert, the male-dominant gender ideology of the lobster-diving economy. Nevertheless, Miskitu women have refashioned their gender identities and their views of money, into empowering and strategic practices for domestic security (p.143).
Subjects
Sexual stimulation
Gender status
Gender roles and issues
Labor supply and employment
Household
culture
Miskito
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub Region
Central America
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle; 2009
Field Date
1997-1998
Coverage Date
1997-1998
Coverage Place
Village of Kuri, Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Northeastern Honduras
Notes
Laura Hobson Herlihy
Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-159)
LCCN
64005713
LCSH
Miskito Indians