PURGING THE FEMALE
from the male
A Sambia boy squates in a sweet potato garden. Upon his initiation at age
of seven
he is taken away from his mother and may never again enter such female gardens.
The gardens will become polluting to him and he will be trained to be a
warrior.
- Gilbert Herdt 1981Guardians of the Flutes:
He will gain the sense of freedom "to be a man"
through the instrumentality of war.
-George F. Mosse 1996 The Image of Man
Women's fluids, essences, and powers are dangerous
and inimical to men.
An older man bleeds an initiate's nose during the first purging of female
pollution from maternal contact. -Gilbert Herdt 1981Guardians
of the Flutes:
A man forces the vomiting cane down an initiates throat
for
a second purging ritual to get rid of any female pollution.
-Gilbert Herdt 1981Guardians of the Flutes:
Only a boy can grow beyond the feminine
identifications that resulted from
his first encounters with his mother's female body and feminine quality.
-Splitting: A Case of Female Masculinity 1973 - R. J. Stoller
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