Trobrianders Fathers Role
The Trobrianders' way of life seems to revolve around the mother significantly more than almost every other culture. For example, children are claimed as part of the matrilineage meaning that they are claimed on their mother's side of the family. To someone who is not familiar with their culture, it may seem as though the fathers of the children have no rights or obligations to care for and raise their children. Even some people who have studied the Trobrianders have failed to see the importance that fathers play in a child's life. Even before a child is born, the father has important roles and duties to fulfill in his child's life. The first thing that the father helps to do is to develop the fetus and also nurture the fetus by way of intercourse. The Trobrianders believe that through frequent intercourse, the baby will help develop and nurture it. Another thing that the father does to help his child even before it is born is to pass on his matrilineal belongings. For a child, this can mean access to farming land, access to family spells, and even a family's
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The father is responsible for enhancing the beauty of his child from the time when a child is only a few months old. The first thing that a father does is decorate the baby with shells in order to make "socially beautiful", and it also provides the child with its first political step in life. After the father decorates his child with shells, if he intends to give his child a necklace, he must first provide them with tortoise earrings. The male and female earrings vary by decoration, but are almost the same. Like everything else in the Trobriand culture, there is a way to tell the families stature by the earrings. It depends upon the amount of shells that are in the child's ear, so the more tortoise shells a child has, it shows that the child's family is of that much greater wealth or
The father is responsible for enhancing the beauty of his child from the time when a child is only a few months old. The first thing that a father does is decorate the baby with shells in order to make "socially beautiful", and it also provides the child with its first political step in life. After the father decorates his child with shells, if he intends to give his child a necklace, he must first provide them with tortoise earrings. The male and female earrings vary by decoration, but are almost the same. Like everything else in the Trobriand culture, there is a way to tell the families stature by the earrings. It depends upon the amount of shells that are in the child's ear, so the more tortoise shells a child has, it shows that the child's family is of that much greater wealth or