Essay On The Sambia

Book Review

The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guinea

By: Gilbert Herdt

Caroline Murray

University of South Florida

Homosexuality has become a hot topic of acceptability within the past few decades. The United States has its own fair share of legislation and debate among different cultural groups with the society. However, some societies across the world have instances of ritualized homosexuality as passage to adulthood. Gilbert Herdt is a noted cultural and clinical anthropologist who has conducted extensive research on human sexuality. He is a founder of the Department of Sexuality studies in San Francisco State University and maintains a position as a professor (Gilbert Herdt 2010). He has become an international figure in regards to child and adolescent sexuality, the gender relations involved in cultural views and development of sexuality, and orientation. His work The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea, has gained recognition and highlighted the dichotomy of gender in relation to sexuality and power. He won the Ruth Benedict Prize in 1988 for his research (Gilbert Herdt 2010). The Sambia are a “rugged mountain people” that call the rainforest of Papua New Guinea home (Herdt 2006: 1). Herdt began his research in 1974 to discover a group of people who broke the preexisting stereotypes of overly aggressive behavior (Herdt 2006: xvii). His ethnographic research included field observations through participant observation and interactions with informants (Herdt 2006: xxi). His close relations to his informants allowed him insight into traditions and the associate change. He looked to the evident gender differences in the Sambian society that preoccupied the people to the ritual initiation th...

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... examples, the author takes strong note of the age that boys begin to participate and why (Herdt 2006: 123). He utilized comparison to the culture of the United States, which promoted ease of readability. Some of the language Herdt utilized was particularly interesting. He chose to speak of the men’s secret society as a “cult” and “brainwashing” (Herdt 2006: 107). The views of the ritual change as progression continued for some, such as Moondi. The text was a great example of the influence of sexuality within a society. Herdt promoted some semblance of cross-cultural comparison within the text to show the differences while not detracting importance.

References

Herdt, G.

2006 The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guinea (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA. Thomson Wadworth.

Gilbert Herdt

2010 About. http://gilbertherdt.com/about/, accessed February 15, 2014.