Batek Negrito sex roles

Abstract

The principle aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the sex roles of the Batek De', a topic which has not been fully and systematically treated by any of the previous researchers on the Batek. Woodburn proposes that it is by studying hunters and gatherers who have an "immediate-return" economy, like that of the Batek, rather than a "delayed-return" economy that "we can reasonably expect to find 'elementary forms' of sex role" (1978:12). Interest in hunting and gathering societies has heightened in many circles recently, including in the field of the anthropology of women. The recording of clear information on sex roles is becoming an accepted and expected dimension of general ethnographic study. The problem of this thesis is to present Batek ethnography in terms of the activities and roles of Batek men and women and to try to understand and explain the configuration of these sex roles through Batek exegesis and anthropological analysis. Much of this thesis is devoted to the description of the Batek organization of labour and presentation of quantitative economic data collected jointly by Kirk Endicott and myself. The analysis of this data is my own, with key attention being paid to the light it throws on Batek sex roles. Other topics included in this thesis are Batek ideas about the sexes, the degree to which the sexual distinction enters into principles of social organization, cultural treatment of reproductive matters, and the development of sex role behaviour in children. Where appropriate in the text I discuss the relevance of the Batek material to recent works on sex roles in other societies and the anthropology of women.