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WARI’(Western Brazil)
“A pubescent Wari’ girl’s sexual maturation and physical growth are
held to develop first out of a special relationship to the moon, whose
influence is loosely thought of as a stimulus to breast development and
menstruation. The second, more direct stimulus (upon which the efficiacy of the first depends) is a cross-sex transfer
of body fluid: the first time a girl has sexual intercourse, the infusion of
semen (a blood product) is said to transform her blood so that it increases
in quantity and strength. This sparks a growth spurt:
the girl grows fatter, stronger and- a point that Wari’
emphasize- able to do women’s work in planting, harvesting, and processing
food. […] The infusion of semen is thought to be prerequisite not only for
menarche but for every menstrual period in a woman’s life” Conklin,
2001:p153, 154; cf. 147, 160)[1].
“Prior to the contact, girls ideally (and
often in practice) married and began to have sexual intercourse before they
began to menstruate. The ideal that a husband should “grow” his young wife’s
body is analogous to a father’s responsibility to contribute semen to the
growth of the fetus in his wife’s womb and to
contribute meat, fish, and vegetable foods to feed his children. Wari’ do not mark female puberty and menarche with any
ritual […]”. Boys were instructed by older men “to control their sexuality by
respecting other men’s wives” (p158).
Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually. VolumeI. World Reference Atlas. 0.2 ed. 2004. Berlin:
Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology
Last
revised: Sept 2004
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