pEGGY R.

SANDAY

female Status in the Public Domain

In this cross-cultural a n a l y s i s of female status, 1 have been guided by

the need for an explanatory framework t h a t includes both an e x p l i c i t

statement of relationships between phenomena and a s p e c i fi c a t i o n of

how these change as the relevant variables are altered. In the formula­

tion that follows, 1 shall expand on a postulated model of the evolution

of female status, described i n detail elsewhere (Sanday, 1973). My em­

phasis will be on the ecological and demographic factors that influence

a shif t from a relative imbalance of power between males and females

to a situation where power is more equally distributed between the sexes.

This model postulates t h a t i n the evolution of human culture social

survival depends on the disproportionate expenditure of energy by

males and females i n three ma jor activi ties: reproduction, defense, and

subsistence. Since reproductive activity falls to the fernale, a constraint

is imposed on the proportion of total female energy to be u t i l i ze d in

other activities. Such a constraint in turn increases the probability that

the other two tasks draw more on the energy of males, thus placing men

This paper is an expanded and revised version of a paper published in the American

Anthropologist (Sanday, 1973). This version constitutcs further clarification of my

thinking on the subject of female status cross-culturally. 1 am indebted to numcrous

persons who commented on the original version and whose criticisms forced me into

conceptual clarification. Many of these people attended the meetings of the Society

for Cross-Cultural Research (Philadelphía, Pennsylvania, February 1973), where I

presented the present version. In particular I wish to thank Carol and Mel Ember,

Ward Goodenough, Leigh M i n t u r n , Albert Pepitone, Paul Rosenblatt, Alice Schlegel,

and numerous graduate students in the Department of Anthropology at the Univcrsity

of Pennsylvania.

I also wish to acknowledge the aid of Rebecca P a r fi t t and W i l l i a m Morris, who spcnt

many hours discussing with me the final theoretical model. Rebecca Parfitt also was

extremely helpful and concise in her coding of many of the variables.

Finally I wish to acknowledge the intcllectual debt I owe to many of the contributors

to this volume. In particular, the papcrs by Louise Lamphere, Michelle Rosaldo, and

Karen Sacks stimulated and supported many of the points I incorporate into the gen­

eral theory. Michelle Rosaldo's editorial comments have also becn extremely insightful.
 PEGGY R. SANDAY

in a strategic position to gain control of resources. The question of in.

terest here conc.�rns the condi tions under which the distribution and

allocation of male and female energy change sufficiently that females

can move inío one or more of the other task activities in such a way

as to alter what was initially an imbalance of power favoring males. How,

ever, before continuing with a discussion of these conditions and how

they effect a change i n other variables that are posited to co-vary with

relative sex status, we must discuss the operational definition of female

status to be employed.

Female S t a t u s : Two D o m a i n s a n d Three Parameters

In developing an operational d e fi n i t i o n of female status, i t i s neces­

sary to distinguish between the domestic and public domains and to

decide whether to Iocus on the degree to which women are respected

and revered i n the domestic and public domains or to concentrate only

on the degree to which women hold power and/or authority i n one of

these domains. Such considerations result in three possible, but not

necessarily interrelated, parameters , w hich should be ke p t ana l yti c a l l y

d i s tin c t i n t he d iscussi o ns of fema ! e status . F ur t hermore , the extent to

which they are manifested in the domestic domain may be i ndependent

of thei r mani f e stat i o n in the p ublic do m ain.

The domestic domain includes activities performed within the real m

of the locali z ed family unit. T he public domain includ e s political an d

economic activities that ta k e p la ce or have im p act beyond the locali z ed

f amily u n i t and that relate to control of persons or control of thin g s. The

distinctio n between pu b l ic and domest i c realms , al so dra w n by R osaldo

and by S ac k s ( b oth this volume), is i mport a n t , since high status in one

domain m i g ht concei v abl y p reclude hig h status in the o ther , in sorne

so c ieties .

M. G. S mith (1960: 18-19) de fi ne s power as "the a b i l i ty to act effec­

tively on p ersons or things, to take or s e cu r e favourabl e dec i sions which

are not of r ig h t a l located to the in d i v i d u a l s or t h ei r roles." P o w er , then,

is de f acto a nd not necessa r ily r ecogni z e d. He d e fi nes authorit y as "the

r ig ht to ma k e a p articular d e c i s i o n a n d to comma n d o b e d i ence. " In oth e r

words, autho r it y is recogn iz ed an d l e g i t i mi z e d powe r . R osa l do ( th i s

volume ) als o di s cusses fe mal e p o w er an d a u t h or i ty usin g S mith ' s d e fi n i ­

tions . S inc e mo s t e thno gr a pher s h a ve little or n o t h ing to say ex p licitl y

a b ou t f e male pow e r i n the p u b li c do m ain, S rn i t h ' s d efinition p rovide s a

usefu l o p e r ati o na l in d i c ato r for ma k i n g in ferences. F urthermore , it is

important to r ecogni ze in d e a l i n g with t he su b j ect of female status th a t

a l t h ou gh female authority may im p l y p ower (I shal l not e xp lore that

 Female Status in the Public Domain

question here), female power does not necessarily imply authority. Con­

sequently, one must make inferences about the degree of female power

in assessing female s t a t u s .

The degree to which women are respected and revered is the param­

eter most ethnographers have i n mind when they say that women have

high status or subordinated status. Western women in their often highly

valued roles as helpmate, sex object, the "driving force behind every suc­

cessful man," etc., can be said to have relatively high status along this

parameter. On the other hand, Nupe women, who occupy an economic

position generally much better than that of their husbands b u t who are

openly resented and feared by Nupe men (Nadel, 1 9 6 0 ) , would have to

be defined as low in status according to this dimension alone. The same

can be said of many African women who contribute heavily to the basic

economy while male acti vi ties, according to Le Vine (1970: 1 7 5), are

much more prestigious. Brown ( 1 9 7 0 ) makes a similar p o i n t when she

notes that i n one case high s t a t u s may be inferred from deferential treat­

ment, whereas in another high status may consist of an actual p o s i t i o n

of power over basic resources and important decisions. As she points

out, the two need not coincide and should be considered separately. She

describes i n detail Iroquois women who were not accorded deferential

treatment but who held considerable economic and political power.

How deference relates to authority (does authoríty necessarily imply

deference?) is another question we shall n o t get i n t o here.

With these considerations in mind, female status is generally defined

i n terms of ( 1 ) the degree to which females have authority a n d / o r power

in the domes tic and / or public d o m a í n s : a n d ( 2) the degree to which fe­

males are accorded deferential treatment and are respected and revered

in the domestic andj'or public domains. An analysis of variation i n fe­

male status and the causes of this variation in any one of these concep­

tual domains is a legitimate and interesting task. Even more interesting

would be an analysis of the relationship between the domains. For ex­

ample, i t might be discovered that high female status in one domain

pre�ludes, or is antecedent to, high status in another domain.

In the empirical analysis of female s t a t u s to be presented below , def­

e rential treatment a nd res p ect w i l l not be included i n the o p e r a tional

d e fi n i t i o n of fem a le s t a t u s . T he re a son for this is that w hile po w e r and

a uthorit y ma y form a sin g le continuum , de f erential treatmen t may be

eit her inde p endent or negatively related to these par a m e te r s . Co nse­

que ntly , deferential treatment is exclu d ed u n t i l thi s p o s s ibility can be

e m p iricall y e x p lored. I s h a l l c o n c e n t r a t e exclusive/y on female p o w e r

a n d authority in t h e p u b l i c d o m a i n . T he d o m est i c do main w i ll be ex-

 PEGGY R. SANDAY

cluded for two reasons. First, to include both domains at this point

is likely to complicate matters, since i t is conceivable that status in one

1
domain may preclude status in the other. Second, at this time a cross.

cultural analysis of variation in female power and authority in the pub.

lic domain is particularly appropriate in view of the current effort by

Western women to remove barriers that have traditionally confronted

them i n the economic and political spheres. This effort has attracted

widespread speculation, mostly unsubstantiated, about the causes of the

status of women in general. A cross-cultural analysis of female public

power and authority brings to attention societies i n which women have

achieved a relatively high status in the public domain, thereby con­

tradicting the popular belief that women have been universally ex­

cluded from this domain. Such an analysis also provides the only format

with which we can understand objectively the causes of v a r i a t i o n in

female public status. This may give activist Western women further

insight into where to concentrate their efforts to bring about change in

the imbalance of power between males and females.

A n Operational Definition of Female S t a t u s in t h e P u b l i c D o m a i n

The general definition presented above is couched in terms of the

degree to which women have de facto or recognized decision-making

power that affects activities at the economic a n d / o r political levels. 1

have further specified this definition so that data could be collected from

a cross-cultural sample. In a p i l o t study of twelve societies (see Sanday,

1 9 7 3 ) , 1 selected four dimensions for coding female status in the public

domain. These are:

l. Female material control. Females have the ability to act effectively

on, to allocate, or to dispose oí, things-land, produce, craf ts, etc.­

beyond the domestic u n i t .

11. Demand [or [emale produce. Female produce has a recognized

value either internally-beyond the localized family unit-or in an ex­

terna! market.

111. Female p o li t ic a l participation. Fernales, even if only through a

few token representatives, may express opinions in a regular, official

procedure and may influence policy affecting people beyond the do­

mestic u n i t .

IV. Female solidarity groups devoted to female p o l i t i c a l or e c o n o m i c

interests. Females group together in sorne regular way to p r o t e c t o r rep­

resent their interests, and are recognized and effectual i n this activity.

1 For a recent cross-cultural analysis of female domestic authority, see Schlegel

(1972).
 Female Status in the Public Domain 1
93

TABLE l

Scale of Female Status w i t h Related Variables

(p = present; A = absent; ? = information not available or unclear)

" " 11 111 Percentage

1 Demand Female IV of female Percentage

Fema le for political Female contri bu- of delties

material fema le partid- solidarity Sea le tion to sub- who are

control produce pation groups se ore sis ten ce female

Society

p p p p 5 30 31.5
\'oruba
p p p p 5 50 55.5
Iroquois
? p p p 5 50 53.l
Samoans

p p p A 4 29 40
Crow

p p A A 3 52 46.2
Aymara

? p A A 3 24 20
Tapirape
p ? A A 3 10 o
Rwala

p A A A 50 43.8
Andamans 2

1 6()a
Tikopia A A A A 75

Azande A ? A A 1 59 33.3

Somali A A A A 1 45 40a

Toda A A A A 1 10 37.5

• Only 40 perccnt (Tikopia) and 20 percent ( So m a l i ) of female deities have general powen.

When the data were collected, i t was discovered that, using Guttman

scaling procedures, it was possible to order the indicators into a con­

tinuously scaled measure of female status. The scale and the societies

of the pilot sample are presented in Table 1. The coefficient of repro­

ducibili ty is .92. The high reproducibility coefficient suggests that each

indicator can be seen as a point on a continuum of female status. This

continuum is of the general form presented i n Figure 1.

The fact that the indicators could be scaled suggests, far the pilot

sample at least, that the antecedent of female political authority is sorne

degree of economic power, i.e. ownership or control of strategic re­

sources. Whether economic power, noted in indicator I of the scale, in­

eludes economic authority, i . e . the recognized right to act effectively on

things, is unclear. In sorne societies, such as the Yoruba, women have a

clear and recognized title to the produce they trade. In this sense the

1 11 111 IV

No Fema le Dcmand Fema le Fema le

indicator material for female political solidarity
present control produce participation groups

1 . 1
1 1

Low fcmalc High fcmale

status status

Fig. 1 . Scale of female status

 PEGGY R. S A N D A Y
194

Yoruba women can be said to have economic authority. In other soci.

eties women may .have economic power but not authority. For example

among the lbo (who were not included in the pilot sample) wome�

made pots and traded, but the men controlled most of the income i n

the period before European contact (LeVine, 1970). After European

contact the existence of certain other conditions aided Ibo wornen to

mobilize their economic power and develop economic authority. The

fact that female economic power precedes economic or political autho-,

ity is not too surprising, since power over strategic resources has been

frequently noted to be antecedent to or at least correlated with the de­

velopment of economic and political authority.

The continuum of female status depicted in Figure 1 omits an im­

portan t characteristic of political authority, i.e. the right to allocate

.. or disburse political rights and power. This can be seen as a sixth step

on the scale. I t was excluded from the analysis because (it is conjectured)

women do n o t seem to gain this right in many societies. If one accepts

the assumption that female public status has evolved over time i n re­

sponse to a redistribution of male and female energy, then i t would be

expected that only a few societies would exhibit the sixth step on the

scale. I n the pilot sample, only the Iroquois show evidence of women's

beíng accorded this right. As Brown notes ( 1 9 7 0 ) , Iroquois women had

the authority to veto the nomination of the chiefs, could decide the fate

of prisoners of war, could partici pate in the deliberations of the Council

through their male speakers, and had a voice concerning warfare and

treaties. Even among the Iroquois, although female power was socially

recognized and institutionalized, female authority was exercised in­

directly through women's power to veto and to withhold food from war

parties. Female poli tical authority in sorne areas of Africa has reached

a more advanced s t a t e . According to Hoffer ( 1 9 7 2 ) , w i t h i n the M e n d e /

Sherbro area i n 1 9 7 0 there were eighty-one chiefdoms, ten of which were

headed by women. In 1 9 1 4 in the same ethnic area, there were eighty­

four chiefdoms, ten of which were headed by women. For further ex­

amples of advanced female political authority, see Lebeuf ( 1 9 6 3 ) ; and

for an example of an effective a n d powerful female solidarity group,

see Leis (this volume). The question of concern now is the conditions

under which women movc into the public sphere along the continuum

of female status discussed above.

A Theory of Fema le Status in t h e Public D o m a i n

The basic argument for the theory, presented i n Figure 2, postulates

that initially female energy is concentrated in the reproductive and

 Female Status in the Public Domain 1
95

-
males fema les
-
-
-
�

Defense Subsistencc Reproduction

males females
- -

,. - - -
-
Fig. 2. The flow of male and female energy in three task activities

child-rearing sphere, whereas male energy is concentrated mainly in the

subsistence sphere. Over time the presence of human predators causes

m e n t o move o u t of the subsistence sphere and into the defense sphere.

Depending on the nature of the warfare, its prolongation, and its in­

terference with male subsistence activities, females move into the sub­

sistence sphere to replace the displaced male energy. Females remain

in the subsistence sphere according to whether males continue in war­

fare activi ties or become involved in other activities resulting in pro­

longed male absence. Even i f men move back into the subsistence sphere,

sorne women may remain. Over time their number may grow as men

periodically flow i n and out of the subsistance sphere (see Lipman-Blu­

men, 1972, for an interesting discussion of this process in the United

States). This process may in time give rise to a condition of balanced

division of labor , i . e . both sexes c o n t r i b u te to su b s istence a c t ivities. The

i mp ortance of balanced d i v i s i o n of labo r i n the d e v e l op m ent o f female

p u b l ic status will be di s c us s ed in detail b e low.

T his is a s i m p l i fi e d m o de l , wh ic h i n c l u d es the a s s u m p t í o n , m entioned

ea rlier, that i n i t i a l l y female ener gy w as concentrated pr im a ril y in the

r ep roductive child-rearin g sphere. Another i m p l i c i t ass u m p ti o n is tha t

fema le s do not develop p u b l i c po we r a n d auth o rit y u n l ess at l e a st sorne

of their energies are e mpl o y ed i n pro ductive a c tivi ties . Th e e m p i r ic a l

r e l a t ionshi p between fe m a l e p ro d u c t i o n and f e mal e status in the pilot

samp le will be p resented bel o w. As will be seen, this is not a s i mpl e

l i near rela t i onshi p.

The basic ar g ument , then , f o c uses on male abs e nc e and f em al e con­

t r ibu t _ ion to p roducti o n . M a l e a b se n c e from the su b s i s t e nce s ph e r e fo r c es

women to enter this s p her e if so c ia l s ur viv al is to be ensu r e d . How e v er ,

as no ted e lsewhere (S anday , 1 9 7 3 ) , other co n dit i o ns migh t al so ach ieve

the sa me result. W hereas defense or re l ate d a c t i v i t i es inc re a se th e l i k e­

lihood t hat females will enter the su b s ist e nc e ar e na, this likelihood can

inc r ease independentl y when eco log i cal conditions favor the succ e ssful

u t i l i z a tion o f female ener gy. I n p a r t i c u l a r , wh e n the mix betwee n pop u­

lation d en s ity and the natural env i r o n me n t fa v o rs s h ifting agric u l t ure

or h o rticulture, women are more l ike l y to engage in s ubsi s ten c e a ct i vi -

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 Female S t a t u s in t h e P u b l i c D o m a i n 1
97

• An interesting but unanswered question is whether this also frees

ne 5 .
inen to engage in warfare or to develop an exclusively male control

sphere.

Factors Afjfleting Female C o n t r i b u t i o n to Subsistence

The model of female status, further elaborated in Figure 3 , rests heav­

ily on female contribution to production a s a n interv_e�ing variable. In

this section I shall undertake a summary of the e m p í r í c a l correlates of

female contribution to subsistence. The hypothesized factors affecting

female contribution to subsistence are presented in Fig. 3 .

Using data drawn from the Ethnographic A t l a s (see Sanday, 1 9 7 3 , for

the details of this a n a l y s í s ) , i t was found that regional i d e n t i fi c a t i o n and

type of agriculture explained most of the variance in percentage of

female c o n t r i b u t i o n to subsistence. Wornen contribute more to subsis­

tence in Africa and the I n s u l a r P a c i fi c and i n s h i f t i n g agriculture or

horticultural s o c i e t i e s . These fi n d i n g s , although they present sorne con­

tradictory results for South Amcrica, support the hypothesized relation­

ship between type of environment (see exogenous factors 7 and 8 in Fig­

ure 3) and female contribution to production. I have discussed the rela­

tionship between population density and natural environment and type

of agriculture i n an earlier paper (Sanday, 1 9 7 3 ) , drawing on the work

of Boserup ( 1 9 7 0 ) .

Ample evidence indica tes a relationship between the effect of a certain

type of warfare and female productive labor. Ember and Ember ( 1 9 7 1 )

find support for the hypothesis t h a t men do more i n subsistence than

women unless a certain type of warfare prevents them. Epstein (1971:

1 1 ) discusses the increased u t i l i z a t i o n of women in the economies of the

Communist-bloc countries caused by the huge wartime losses of man­

power. In the Soviet U n i o n , she notes that i n spite of the wide base of

female professionals, women are still not represented a t the top of the

Soviet professional and governmental hierarchy. The scale of female

status presented here suggests t h a t this is simply a matter of time and

the development of female solidarity groups.

For the effect on female labor of other factors resulting i n male absence

and a drain of male labor, a study by LeVine is instructive . Le V ine

(1970: 1 7 5 - 7 7 ) discusses .a p attern of labor m i gr ation that developed in

colonial Africa, res u lting i n r ural A frica n me n l ea v i n g hom e t o work far

a way far a period f

o y ears. M any tas k s performed by m en were relegated

to their wives and chil d ren . According to Le V i ne , the a b sence of the

men loosened the control over their w i ves ' ac t iv i tie s , but it d id not

result i n increased s t a t u s far wo m e n . Wh at ha s resulted, L e V ine sug-

 PEGGY R. S A N D A Y

gests, is increased hostili ty by mothers toward their children due to th

frustrations of the excessive work burden. LeVine goes on to say th e

these women, a n d other African women who shoulder a heavy wo�

load in the absence of men, find sorne emotional comfort in their subor.

dinated status. 1 strongly disagree with this interpretation, and suggest

instead that the frustration and hostility toward children is evidence

that the women are not happy with their subordinated s t a t u s . I t i s con.

ceivable that the women in the societies Le Vine refers to w i l l assert their

independence, with a consequent change in their status. LeVine's ex.

ample, however, supports the contention that a drain on male energy

will result in the redistribution of female energy. Ember and Ember

( 1 9 7 1 : 579) have also stressed the absence of males as a key determinant.

In addition to their warfare example, they allude briefly to the necessity

f o r m e n to be away on long trading trips in parts of Micronesia and

Melanesia as another determinant.

Relationship B e t w e e n Female S t a t u s a n d Female C o n t r i b u t i o n

to Subsistence

The correlation between percentage contribution of women to sub­

sistence and the scaled variable of female status in the p i l o t sample i s

negative (r = - . 1 6 ) . Plotting these two variables with data from Table 1

reveals a curvilinear relationship between these two factors (see Fig­

ure 4 ) . This means that, when the percentage of female contribution to

subsistence is either very high or very low, female status as measured by

the scale depicted in Figure 1 is also low. In other words, when women

contribute about as much as roen, the value of the scaled variable is

higher.

As would be expected from the graph presented in Figure 4, the cor­

relation between female status and balanced division of labor by sex

is high (r = - . 4 1 6 ) . The coefficient is negative because of the way the

balanced division-of-labor variable was computed. The score for each

society on this variable was determined by taking the absolute value of

the difference from the overall mean percentage of female con tribu tion

to subsistence for the pilot sample. Thus a low value indicates more

balance, and a high value imbalance. The correlation coefficient i n d i ­

cates, as does the graph in Figure 4, that the more balance there is in

division of labor by sex, the higher the s t a t u s score.

The overall mean percentage of female c o n t r i b u t i o n to subsistence

in the pilot sample is 40 percent. This is the same value found by Cop­

p in ge r a n d Ros enb l att ( 1 9 6 8 ) for a sample of sixty-nine societies , usi n g

 Female Status in t h e P u b l i c Domain 1
99

5 /
.
..,,,..-
-- .......
"'",
••

/ '
/ '
/ ',
4 / _ . \

/ l \

/ \

• / . . \
/ \

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/ \
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/ \
/ \
¡. • • ',
l •
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10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percentagc C o n t r i b u t i o n of Fcmales to Subsistence

Fig. 4 . Relationship between female status and female contribution

to subsistence

a similar method for computing percentage of female contribution to

subsistence. The fact that 40 percent is taken as representing balanced

division of labor by sex is, according to these authors (p. 3 1 3 ) , "a reason­

able deviation from equal division considering that women must bear

and nurse children." These authors found an association between bal­

anced division of labor by sex and the absence of romantic love as a

basis for marriage. They conjecture that the dependence of marriage

partners on one another for subsistence is an important source of marital

stability. They assume that sonie degrec of marital stability is essential

in reducing disruption, and that stable marriages need more than a

private agreement between a man and a woman. Mutual dependence

between spouses for subsistence goods is one source of stability. In the

absence of such dependence, an alternative bond must develop. They

hypothesize (p. 310) that "romantic love is such an alternative bond,

thar where subsistence dependence between spouses is strong, romantic

love is unimportant as a basis of marriage, while where subsistence de­

pendence between spouses is weak, romantic love is important as a basis

of marriage."

The findings of the pilot study indicate that balanced division of

200 PEGGY R. SANDAY

labor is also related to higher female s t a t u s . This, and the results report­

ed by Coppinger and Rosenblatt, raises two interesting questions. Is i t

the presence of romantic love that impedes women's acquisition of

power and authority in the public d o m a i n , e.g. is romantic love a mech­

anism for keeping women in their place and happy with their l o t ? Or

does the equal participation of men and women in the subsistence arena

give women the í m p e t u s for moving i n t o the public domain? I t could

be that when men and women experience mutual dependence in the

subsistence arena, both are i n a power posi tion relative to each other,

i . e . either one can obstruct the other's actions by withholding s o m e t h i n g

the other needs. This fact may give men the experience of accepting

female power when i t is exercised in oth e r c a p acities.

T he ahove ar g ument <loes not explain wh y wo rn en see rn to h ave a

relat iv ely low s t a t u s when the y have a monopoly on t h e p ro d u cti on of

s u bsisten c e goods. W hen wo rne n produce mo s t or a l l o f the s u b s i s t e n c e

go od s , i t w o ul d be expected t h a t they wou l d h ave mo r e pow e r vi s -a-vis

men . H owever , i t may be the case in su c h s i t u a t i o n s th a t wo men are

far m o re dependent on rnen to meet nonsubsistence surviv a l needs t han

rn en are on w o rn en to meet subsistence needs. For ex arnp l e, i f m en are

engaged in warfare , women ma y depend on thern for the prote c tion of

the famil y u n i t . W hen such warfare ceases , men rn a y develo p an i n d e ­

p endent control s p here, an d e x pressive or actual mech a nis m s ma y be

utili z ed to perpetuate fe rn ale de p endency. I n the fi rst case , ro m a n t ic love

may be on e of the expressi v e means by which women are tr aine d to

maintain a subor d inate stance and to be happy with s uch a p ositio n

rel a t i ve to men. In the second case , women rnay be tre a te d as s l a ve

labor (as they are in the case of the Az ande , to be discu ss e d below) and

forc i b l y rna intained in a subo r dinated p o sition .

These are inte r esting spe c ulations for whi c h there is l i t t l e em pi ri c al

support a t present. S o rn e of the abo v e relationships are represented i n

the flow di agram o f F i g ure 3, which shows a number of avenues by whi c h

wo m en develop public status. I t is clear frorn the above discuss i on t h a t

contrib ution to p roduc t io n is a ne c essar y b u t not su ffi cien t c o n d i t i o n .

An ex a mination of so rn e of the so c ieties in the p i l o t sa rn ple supports

s orn e of t h e above dis c u ss ion and sup p lies further insights.

I n societi e s wh e r e c o n t r ol a n d p r o duct i on are linke d and a competí­

tive m a r k e t exists , female power is li k ely to de v elop if females are ac­

tiv e ly cn g a g e d in p roduci n g val u ed rn ar k et go ods. In societies wh ere

c o n tr o l is bas e d on a m a gical or r eli gi ous title , female power is unli k e ly

to develop unl es s sorn e e xo g en o us i n fl u e n c e ( s uc h as t h e introd u ction of

ca s h-cr o pp i ng, fami ne , e t c. ) crea tes a new demand or results i n a revalu a-

 Female S t a t u s in t h e P u b l i c Domain 201

tion of female produce. Such exogenous influences can resul t in the de­

velopment of a new control sphere based primarily on who has access

to the valued product rather than on a magical or religious title to i t .

The Tikopian, Azande, and Somali women provide examples of cases

where women contribute predominantly to subsistence activities but

have no status. Firth ( 1 9 3 9 : 88) notes that whereas i n modern European

society control over the means of production is divorced from religious

title to this control, in T í k o p i a production is controlled by chiefs whose

political and economic influence rests on a religious basis. He also notes

the absence of an externa! market, which means no externa! ou tlet for

goods produced by women. Internally, the product of female l a bor is

n o t v a lued as much as that of male labor , be c aus e the main tas ks of

w omen dem a nd few t echnic a l aids and much hard wor k . I n con t r ast,

ma le tas k s are much more d i versi fi ed and re q uire more technica l a s­

s is t ance. F irth concludes that "the subordinate p osition of the women

as p ropert y o w ners is t hen t o so rn e extent to be correlated wi t h the t yp e

of t echnical e q uipment and system of p roduction i n vogue in T i k opi a"

(1 9 3 9 : 365).

A mon g the A z a n d e , w o m e n are the m a i n s ource of l abor and are a

s y mbol of weal t h . W o m e n are t re at e d mu ch like s laves a nd h a ve tra­

dition al l y b ee n b arre d from t h e ma in source of power, which i s throu g h

the e x ercise of ma g ic. A ccordin g to E vans -P ritchard ( 1 9 3 7 : 284), the ex­

clusion of women from an y de a li ng s with the poison oracle ha s been

the most evident s y m p tom of the i r inferior social p osition and the means

of m a i n t a i n i n g t he m in t hi s p o s i t i o n , T his situa t ion h a s c han g ed amon g

the A z ande as contac t w ith Europeans h a s created a demand for sorne

A z ande c rops. A c c ording to D e S c hlippe ( 1 9 5 6 : 1 4 5 ) , under E uro p ean

r u le w ome n be c am c e m an c ipa t e d, crops ac q uired c as h v alu e, war d isa p­

p e a red , hunting w as redu c ed , a nd men were com p elled to invest most

of their effort i n a gr iculture. I t is i ntere s tin g to note that when men

moved i n t o ag ricul t ura ! p roduction the y t ended to favor the c a sh crops

introduced by t he Eur o p e a ns , h en ce lim i ting th e a c ce ss of w o m en to

this new con trol s p h e re.

For A zande me o, cash crops had a p res t i g e va lue b ec aus e of t he hier ­

a rch ic al way of their introduc t io n and becau se of t h e ir n o velty (D e

Sc hli pp e , 1956: 145). T h í s, of course , partially li m it ed th e a ccess of

w om en to a new con t rol spher e bas e d p r ima ri ly on p r oducti o n. H a d t he

i m p o r t a n t cash cro ps am ong the Az a nd e not had t h i s pr e s ti ge value, t he

st at u s of Aza nde w om en mi g ht ha ve ch ang ed dra sti ca l l y in a sho rt p eriod

of ti m e , a s i t <li d for t h e Afi kpo Ibo w o men in e a st e r n Nige ria. Accord­

ing to L e V ine ( 1 9 7 0 : 1 7 8 ) , bef a re E ur o p e a n co nta c t Ib o wo m en m a de

202 PEGGY R. S A N D A Y

pots, traded, and farmed, but the men controlled most of the incom

and performed the prestige activities of yam farming and slave tradinge

The mobility !)f lbo women was limited because of the prevalence of
warfare. With the cessation of warfare, mobility became possible and

trading increased. At the same time cassava was introduced, which Ibo

men regarded with disdain, preferring to farro their prestigeful and

ritually important yams. The women were allowed to grow cassava be­

tween the yam heaps and to keep the profits for themselves. As time

went on, according to LeVine ( 1 9 7 0 : 178):

This despised crop eliminated the annual famine befare the yam harvest and

attained a high and stable market value. The Afikpo women became capable

of supporting themselves and their children without aid from their husbands,

and nowadays they even rent land independently for cassava c u l t i v a t i o n . Once

a woman becomes self-supporting in ·this way, she can say, i n the words of an

elderly Afikpo woman, "What is m a n ? 1 have my own money" (Ottenberg, 1 9 5 9 :

2 1 5 ) . Afikpo husbands have found it increasingly difficult to keep their wives at

home in their formerly subordinate position.

The Somali women were treated in much the same way as Azande

women. The Somali regard their female children as stock, and i n times

of famine have sold them as slaves (Drake-Brockman, 1912: 137-38).

Women were forced, under threat of physical violence from their hus­

bands, to perform ali the menial and heavy work and were allowed to

tend sheep and goats. Somali men considered i t beneath their dignity

to tend anything b u t camels, cattle, and ponies-the most valuable eco­

nomic assets of the Somali. Here again we see a case where women per­

form much of the labor but are denied access to the valued produce and

are kept in a subordinate position by externa} threat.

The social contexts of the Iroquois, Yoruba, and Samoan women pro­

vide examples of the conditions under which women can achieve con­

siderable economic and/or politícal power. Among the lroquois the

control of agricultura! production was in the hands of a group of women

i n the village who fonned a mutual aid society. Female control of agri­

cultura! production seems to have increased and been strengthened by

the prolonged absences of males in warfare and trading activities (Noon,

1 9 4 9 ) . The literature on the Iroquois stresses the high position of women

and their participation i n political and religious activities. Women were

able to influence decisions of the ruling council both directly and in­

directly through the weight of public opinion. Since unanimity was

necessary in decisions, any proposal impopular with the woinen could

be hindered by their disapproval. Women could also hinder or prevent

the forming of a war party that lacked their approval by withholding

supplies the warriors needed (Randle, 1 9 5 1 ) .

 Female Status in the Public Domain

The Yoruba women are perhaps the most independent i n Africa (Le­

Vine, 1 7 9 ) . Tradi�ionally these women.�aintained an autonomous

1970:
onomic role and a higher degree of mobili ty than, for example, the

; ��o women, who were prohibited from moving about freely because of

warfare. This sugges ts tha t, al though warfare may function to in crease

fexnale participation in production, it may also inhibit the development

of female power in sorne societies (although not in all, as the case of the

Iroquois clearly shows). The role of Yoruba women as independent

market traders is, and has long been, highly insti tu tionalized. The

women have organized trade guilds, which regula te the condi tions and

standards of the craf t and protect the interests of the members. These

are powerful organizations whose leaders play an important role in po­

I i t í c a l activities. Such organizations in many African societies are ex­

amples of the very real authority exercised by women in African political

systems (Lebeuf, 1963).

The status of Samoan women before European contact was not as

high as i t is reported by Keesing ( 1 9 3 7 ) after European contact. The new

status of women was an outgrowth of their organizations and functions

in the traditional system (Keesing, 1934: 394). For example, there was

an organization of the wives of chiefs and orators, which in modern

Samoa developed into a female replica of the men's council, dealing

with many matters other than those pertaining to women in earlier days

(Keesing, 1 9 3 7 : 9). The traditional women's committees in western Sa­

moa also laid the basis for the later women's Mau movement, which gave

women a strong tas te for poli tics.

Data on the traditional economic activities of Samoan women indicate

that on an informal Ievel women played as active a part as the men in

controlling economic arrangements (Mead, 1 9 2 8 : 8 2 ) . A woman's claim

on her family's land rendered her as independent as her husband (Mead,

1928: 1 0 8 ) . In agriculture the heaviest work was done by men and the

lighter and more detailed work by women. There was l i t t l e feeling about

the relative prestige of men's and women's work. Fine mats, which have

been called the Samoan currency, were made by women and were highly

valued (Mead, 1930: 67-74). Thus, while traditional Samoan women

<lid not seem to exercise the power that developed among Iroquois and

Yoruba women, the basis for the later development of female power and

authority seems to have existed,

Female Status, Sex A ntagonism, a n d Female Deities

In developing a theory of female public status, my emphasis has been

on ecological and economic factors and the efficient distribution of hu­

man energy. An alternative explanation might emphasize magico-re-

 PEGGY R. SANDAY

ligious means by which women gain and m a i n t a i n title to control. Fo

exarnple, women might gain power and authority i n societies where ma�

ternity is viewed as a sacred or magical function. As De Beauvoir (

1953:
67) has said, this can occur i n early agricultura! communities where

there is frequently an association between maternity and fertility of the

soil. In these belief systems the earth is seen as belonging to women

thus giving them religious ti tle to the land and its frui ts. Such belief�

are to be found in many societies. Among the Iroquois, for example,

the female virtues of food providing and the fertility and bounty of

nature are the qualities most respected and revered. Only women's ac­

tivities are celebrated in the ceremonial cycle. There are no festivals

to celebrate hunting or war, though they probably existed i n the past.

Most of the ceremonies are thanksgiving for the fertility of the earth,

especially for the crops, which are wornen's chief concern (Randle, 1 9 5 1 :

172).

The problem with this type of explanation is that i t can be considered

an effect and n o t a cause of female s t a t u s . A belief system emphasizing

maternity and fertility as sacred may function to legitimize female status

that develops because of ecological and economic factors. There i s ample

evidence in the ethnographic material, discussed above, that a change

in female status is associated with a change i n the productive system.

Where this has occurred, as with the Ibo, i t is interesting to note that

sex antagonism develops or increases. Perhaps sex antagonism develops

in the absence of a belief system that Iegitimizes and sanctions the power

of women. Sex antagonism might be reduced in such societies when a

belief system develops i n which female power is attributed to the natural

functions of women.

In order to investigate further the relationship between the belief

system and female public status, 1 made a study of the sex and domain

of authority of the deities, personified natural forces, and folk heroes in

each of the societies of the pilot sample. The number in each category

having clearly defined and general powers o v e r a group were counted for

each society. The percentage of these who were female was computed.

as well as the percentage who were female and had clearly defined gen­

eral power over both males and females (as opposed to power over fe­

males only, or males only). The data are displayed i n Table 1. These two

variables were then correlated with the female status scale and percent­

age female contribution to subsistence. Whereas there is a high correla­

tion between percentage of deities who are female and female contribu­

tion to subsistence (r = . 7 4 2 ) , there is no correlation between the per­

centage of female deities and female status (r = . 0 3 9 ) . The correlation

 Female Status in t h e Public Domain

b tween the percentage of female deities with general powers over both

eales and females and female status is low but positive (.300). The cor­

Jlllation between female deities w i t h general powers and female contri­

�:tion to subsistence is _slightly higher (r = .547). These pilot results are

intriguing and can be 'interpreted i n different ways. Clearly, more work

must be done i n this area. The flow chart of Figure 3 suggests t h a t the

belief system is a reflection and dramatization of female activities in

the subsistence domain and that i t also may serve to Iegitimize a change

in female public status.

Conclusion

There is no doubt from the data examined that there is a wide range

of variation in female public s t a t u s cross-culturally. In a few of the

cases discussed, there is evidence that both men and women have power

and authority i n the public domain. However, in the majority of cases

males clearly have higher public status. The question I have posed in

this paper concerns the conditions under which the relative status of

women changes in the direction of public equality. In answering this

question I assumed that in the initial stages of human society-and

probably throughout most of human history-defense, subsistence, and

reproduction were necessary activi ties for social survival and that male

energy was more likely to be expended in subsistence and defense while

female energy was devoted primarily to reproduction and secondarily

to subsistence. If this was the case, it would suggest that males were in

a better positíon to gain both access to and control over strategic re­

sources.

Figure 3 presents the factors that were hypothesized to influence a

change in the balance of power between males and females. The pre­

dominan t emphasis in this schema has been on male absence, ecological

factors, and change in the system of demand for female goods. Any con­

di tion of prolonged male absence can result i n females invading the

subsistence sphere if social survival is to continue. Certain ecological

condi� ions can have the same e ff ect. W hen fe m ale s move int o the sub­

sis t e n c e sphere , the flow diagram in Fi gure 3 su g gests t hr ee p os si bilities :

women may occup y this sphere tempo r ari l y w h i l e ma l e s are absent ; t he y

may become the predominant labo r ers a n d re m ain i n t h i s s ph ere ; or they

may c ontinue to occupy this sp h e r e i n conju n ct i o n w i th ma les , a n d a con­

diti o n of balanced division of labor may re sult. In the first two c ases

the data indicate that the pub l ic st a t u s of w o me n <l o e s n ot change,

whereas in the latter case the d ata in d i c a te t h a t w o m e n d e v e l o p eco­

nomic and p olitical p ower. Where f e ma le s in v ade the s ubs isten c e sphere
2o6 PEGGY R. S A N D A Y

and remain there, the evidence indicates that males develop an inde­

pendent control sphere, with the result that women are treated as slave

labor. The schema depicted in Figure 3 further suggests that increased

demand for certain goods produced by women will also result i n the

development of economic rights that can lead to an overall change in

status.

Finally, i t was hypothesized that when females develop economic and

political power, this w i l l be legitimized over time through the expressive

cultural system. The existence or development of female deities who

have general powers can be seen as a means for recognizing and accepting

female power. This also can serve to reduce sex antagonism, which seerns

to develop when the status of women changes in such a fashion as to

threaten male power and authority.

This has been, by and large, a programmatic and pilot effort. Al­

though empirical support has been found for sorne of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s

represented in Figure 3, the overall model requires empirical testing

with an adequate cross-cultural sample. Only then will the theory meet

the objections raised by Murdock ( 1 9 7 1 : 1 g- 2 0 ) concerning w h a t passes

as theory in anthropology. According to Murdock, anthropological

theory "includes remarkably few propositions which meet the basic

requirements of science, that is to say, which explicitly state relationships

between phenomena, specify precisely how these change as relevant

variables are altered, and support such statements with adequate vali­

dating evidence." I t would be well to keep Murdock's criticisms of an­

thropological theory in mind when working in the area of relative sex

status. Because this is an area prone to bias introduced by both ethno­

centrism and sexcentrism, i t is particularly important to seek the objec­

tivity provided by the rigorous use of the scientific method.