Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/57

Rh The division of functions within the household is, in certain matters, quite definite. The woman has to cook the food, which is simple, and does not require much preparation. The main meal is taken at sunset, and consists of yams, taro, or other tubers, roasted in the open fire — or, less frequently, boiled in a small pot, or baked in the ground — with the occasional addition of fish or meat. Next morning the remains are eaten cold, and sometimes, though not regularly, fruit, shell-fish, or some other light snack may be taken at mid-day.

In some circumstances, men can and do prepare and cook the food: on journeys, oversea voyages, fishing or hunting expeditions, when they are without their women folk. Also, on certain occasions, when taro or sago dumplings are cooked in the large clay pots, men are required by tradition to assist their wives (pl. 5). But within the village and in normal daily life the man never cooks. It would be considered shameful for him to do so. "You are a he-cook (tokakabwasi yoku) would be said tauntingly. The fear of deserving such an epithet, of being laughed at or shamed (kakayuwa), is extreme. It arises from the characteristic dread and shame, found among savages, of not doing the proper thing, or, worse still, of doing something which is intrinsically the attribute of another sex or social class (see ch. xiii, secs. 1-4).

There are a number of occupations strictly assigned by tribal custom to one sex only. The manner of carrying loads is a very noteworthy example. Women have to carry the special feminine receptacle, the bell-shaped basket, or any other kind of load upon their heads; men Rh