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Volume XVI (2005)
Book Review: Female and Male in Borneo:
Contributions and Challenges to Gender Studies
Ann R. Tickamyer
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979
Vinson H. Sutlive, Jr. Female and Male in Borneo:
Contributions and Challenges to Gender Studies,
vol. 1. Williamsburg, Va.: The Borneo Research
Council Monograph Series, 1991). 528 pp. $30.00
(cloth).
First, a disclosure: the authors of the articles in this volume
are primarily anthropologists, many of whom have
devoted their lives and careers to producing these ethnographic
accounts of gender relations and practices in Borneo,
while the author of this review is a sociologist who has studied
gender roles in Indonesia, particularly in Java. Thus, I
approached these studies with interest and respect, but from
a different knowledge and disciplinary base. Second a qualification:
these are not recent studies, nor is this a new volume;
rather it was published in 1991 and brings together
research reports based on work that in many cases was far
from new at the time. Nevertheless, the window into gender
roles and sexuality provided by these diverse studies
stands up to both the test of time and the continual development
of the field of gender studies. The result is a hefty
volume that provides fascinating portraits of gender roles
in one of the more remote corners of Southeast Asia and a
valuable compilation of accumulated knowledge about indigenous
peoples as their culture and lifestyles were in the
process of confronting profound change in traditional ways
of life.
Borneo is an island divided between different nation
states and populated by hundreds of different societies and
ethnic groups. The sixteen chapters that report primary research
cover eight separate indigenous societies spread
across Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, and Kalimantan. The Iban
(famous as former headhunters) and the Rungus (less belligerent)
are most heavily represented in these accounts, but
there are also studies of a handful of other groups. The chapters
vary from wide-ranging descriptions of gender roles
and sexual behavior to studies on the various stages of the
life course, ranging from birthing to mortuary practices and
everything in between. There are detailed accounts of highly
gendered and formerly widespread occupations such as
headhunting (male) and weaving (female) and absorbing
discussions of controversies such as the practice of latah
(unruly verbal behavior exhibited by semi-marginalized
women in many of these communities) and the use of penis
pins as displays of manhood and status. There is even a historical
chapter detailing attitudes about miscegenation and
other forms of cross-cultural gender relations in the early
days of nineteenth century British colonial rule. Taken together
these articles represent both a highly diverse and reasonably
comprehensive depiction of the varieties of gender
roles and experience found among the indigenous peoples
of Borneo. The individual chapters also make fascinating
reading.
Given the diversity in topic and approach, one of the
clear strengths of this volume is the introduction coauthored
by Vinson Sutlive (the editor) and George Appell. In addition
to summaries of individual chapters and topics, the authors
draw generalizations from this work, enumerate ongoing
questions and controversies, attempt to answer outstanding
questions based on the cumulated evidence, and
indicate the gaps in the knowledge base. For example, they
indicate that in all of these societies women and their work
are highly valued even if not universally given as high status
as men; gender roles tend to be complementary and
equivalent rather than identical; women typically are excluded
from occupying political roles although informally
they often have a strong voice in collective decision-making;
sex role socialization and particular aspects of women’s
sexuality are inadequately investigated; biological sex differences
are recognized and built into the fabric of the gender
division of labor; and there is wide variation in attitudes
and prudishness about sex. Intriguingly, rape and other forms
of sexual violence do not appear to have existed traditionally
in any of these societies. This is particularly noteworthy
given the high degree of real and ritual aggression exhibited
by Iban men and others in this area.
These and other insights from this overview provide
important context and balance for the almost bewildering
array of detail discussed in the individual studies. While
virtually every chapter is compelling in some way, some
stand out either for their wealth of information or for the
inherent interest of their seemingly exotic subject matter.
For example, in addition to the studies of latah (chapters by
Doolittle and Winzeler), penis pins (Brown), and mortuary
practices (Schiller) mentioned previously, there are detailed
accounts of the meaning of headhunting (Davison and
Sutlive), the practice of bejalai – traveling or journeys undertaken
by men as quests for status and expressions of male
perogative (Kedit), and the importance of weaving to
women’s lives and social influence (Mashman and Drake).
Several chapters represent family collaborations one way
or another. For example, different aspects of Rungus gender roles and sexuality are studied by three members of the
Appell family (L. Appell, G. Appell, and A. Appell
Doolittle), providing one of the more comprehensive and
compelling accounts of these topics found in this volume.
Alternatively, Crain draws upon the experiences of his family
who accompanied him in his field work. He contrasts
his family’s childrearing practices based on western assumptions
and methods with those of the Lun Dayeh, a group
located in Kalimantan near the Sarawak and Sabah borders.
The direct comparison between Western and Lun Dayeh
approaches are starkly illustrated in the mutual surprise expressed
over his young son’s upbringing, and Crain implies
that the early childhood experiences have had lasting effects
on his son’s character and preferences. This account is
one of the more intriguing as well as frustrating as it would
be informative to have much more detail on both accounts.
It also bears out the conclusion alluded to previously about
the relative lack of good specific information on sex role
socialization.
One of the best aspects of this volume is that it truly
contributes to gender studies, examining both male and female,
separately and together, so that it is possible to get an
emerging picture of how gender roles are constructed and
practiced in collaboration and in opposition. There are numerous
detailed accounts of the gender division of labor
and how material culture and practices associated with gender
are linked to ritual and spiritual life. Less convincing
are the occasional efforts to give theoretical underpinning
to these accounts, especially in light of more recent developments
in gender relations and feminist theory. As raw material
for theory construction, however, these provide ample
and sometimes provocative data. For example, an article on
the existence of a highly oppositional binary system of social
relations based on male-female opposition among the
Selako (Schneider and Schneider) details how virtually all
activities, artifacts, and beliefs appear to be assigned separate
gendered meaning, ranging from allocation of space in
traditional houses to cooking practices (men roast, women
boil). These findings are highly suggestive in light of strenuous
efforts to resist conceptualizing gender in binary terms
in contemporary feminist theory.
Many of the studies are accompanied by extensive and
high quality photographs and diagrams. There are detailed
depictions of long-house organization, weaving patterns,
children and adults at work and play, and even portraits of
historical figures and settlements, providing important visual
detail that would not be available through narrative description
alone. Unfortunately, few of these are dated or
clearly specify when they were taken, and it would be valuable
to have more consistent indication of the provenance
of these photographs.
In fact, the absence of clear information about date and
time is part of a more general problem for a number of the
accounts of the research discussed in this volume. While it
is evident that some of this research reaches relatively far
into the past, when and what duration for the fieldwork is
not always clearly specified or the information is buried in
footnotes. Similarly, there is great unevenness in amount of
information supplied about methods used. Perhaps this reflects
one of those disciplinary differences alluded to earlier,
but to have cross-disciplinary impact, as I believe these
accounts potentially have, it is important to have systematic
information on how study sites were selected, complete
sources of information, who were the key informants, language
and translation issues, etc. Some of these studies satisfactorily
supply this information, others leave the reader
with too many questions.
The greatest strength of this volume is the amount and
depth of information on gender roles and practices within a
variety of small communities, many of whose traditional
ways of living are undoubtedly on the way to extinction.
The accumulated research reported here provides important
baseline information whose existence makes a strong case
for the necessity of continued follow up to investigate
changes produced by the increasing volume of contact with
the outside world. The book ends with one such account of
changes to traditional culture from rural-urban migration
contributed by the volume’s editor. One of the more intriguing
findings is the ways that women appear to be increasingly
disadvantaged relative to men, even though in their
traditional societies they had strong claims to near equal
status. It would be extremely interesting to have similar research
on all of these societies as well as systematic case
comparisons across these and other social groups. It is from
such work that more detailed and nuanced understanding
will emerge of how gender is conceptualized and constructed
across the varieties of human experience.
Volume XVI |
