Essay About Culture Of The Cashinahua And Physical Making Of Persons

Gender and Sociality in Amazonia
Gender and Sociality in Amazonia
Gender and Sociality in Amazonia
The culture of the Cashinahua was studied by Cecilia McCallum in an
attempt to understand the creation of gender and the effects of sociality in
their amazonian culture. She more specifically studied the physical and
symbolic creation of gender within the Cashinahuas culture. McCallums
personal insight allows readers to have a more indepth look at the
Cashinahua culture which enables one to have a better understanding on
how it compares to the considerably modern western culture.This
information is essential to our class discussions because it gives a more
complete insight into a culture instead of the less explanative versions we
often tend to read in our daily class readings.
McCallum discussed in Gender and Sociality in Amazonia the
physical making of persons. She used the metaphor of cooking for the
birthing process. It is a good way of explaining how the Cashinahua
percieve the process of forming a child. The creation of a child or ba va
according to the Cashinahua occurs due to repeated intercourse. This
theory is quite similar to western culture since we know it occurs due to
repeated intercourse without the use of birth control. What is quite unique
about the Cashinahua is that they have interesting concepts on what a child
is made of, believing that semen, or male blood as it is referred
to and
actual blood make up a baby. Western cultures have of course the biology
to prove the semen and the egg theory for making a child. The Cashinahua
also believe that any man who makes repeated love to a woman while she
is pregnant will be the father of the child even if he is not the biological
one. This could be seen as similar to the process of adoption in
westernized cultures, though a parent may not be a biological one the child
is raised by parents as if it was their own.
Another physical aspect of Cashinahua culture that deals with the
physical creation of physical beings is food. Since “Food, like sex, both
make and unmakes bodies.” (McCallum, 17) The Cashinahua believe that
men should drink caissuma, a drink made from corn and peanuts if he
wants to produce healthy children. This could be seen similar to the diets
which many couples trying to have a child go on before pregnancy. It is
also similar to the diets and vitamins pregnant women go on in order to
ensure a healthy pregnancy and child birth. The birth of a child is also
unique in the Cashinahua culture in that a woman delivers her child either
stands or squats in a hammock while her husband supports her. A mother
or close female friend also tends to aid in the delivery. As well as “no man
other than the father can see the genitals of the mother or the blood.”
(McCallum, 19) These beliefs are similar to western culture in that a
womans husband normally helps during the delivery process through
coaching. The use of a woman to help with the birthing process can also
be seen