Sound of a woman: drums, gender, and myth among the Asabano of Papua New Guinea
Prior to their conversion to Christianity, Asabano boys and women were forbidden to play drums, lest they become aroused and promiscuous. The origin myth of the drum, revealed during male initiations, identifies its sound as that which emanates from a woman's vagina during sex. Therefore, to pl...
| Published in: | Material religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2007]
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| In: |
Material religion
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| Further subjects: | B
Feminism
B Material Culture B Myth B Melanesia B drums B Gender B Marriage B psychosexual adaptation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Prior to their conversion to Christianity, Asabano boys and women were forbidden to play drums, lest they become aroused and promiscuous. The origin myth of the drum, revealed during male initiations, identifies its sound as that which emanates from a woman's vagina during sex. Therefore, to play the drum is to have sex on a mythological-symbolic level. Boys married only after hearing this myth and drumming in an all-night public celebration. Initiates knew the secret significance of their performance, providing them with a sense of manly security and power. To women who listened and danced, the celebration displayed handsomely presented, marriageable young men. In 1994-5, Christian rhetoric held that prohibiting women from drumming belongs to the Satanic past. Yet, while initiations were no longer held, the drum still figured prominently in celebrations, played only by men. By 2005, both sexes drummed during Baptist church services symbolizing universal access to God's bounty, but outside of church drum making and leadership in performance remained a male activity. In spite of the loss of a religious ideology of male secret knowledge, masculine gender identity retained its strength in part through the continued practice of male drumming. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/174322007780095609 |