Gender Rituals

by N. Lutkehaus (Editor), Paul Roscoe (Editor)

This volume draws together ethnographies of female initiation rites in Melanesia which require anthropologists to rethink their analysis of initiations and their perceptions of gender. The contributors argue that female initiation rites express more than cultural notions of femininity, narrow definitions of reproduction, or coming of age rituals - instead they play an important role in other life cycle rituals and in the political and economic organization of society.

Genres: Anthropology

286 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 1995