SEX AND THE SEA

Arlo Nimmo’s paper titled “Bajau Sex and Reproduction”, succinctly provides an overview of
the lives of the Bajaus through the lens of everything concerned with sex (Nimmo 1970, 251-
262). The paper can be summarized into three topical outlines, the first of which concerns the
religious ethos of the Bajaus. They primarily rely on superstitious rituals when it comes to
ensuring survival during childbirth and also indicate some awareness on its usage in courtship.
Superstitions and curses guide the Bajaus into ritualistically performing the right actions to avoid
what they perceive as divine retribution. The second topic concerns their two-faced sexual
culture. While the official moral code of the Bajaus is no sex before marriage, in reality, this is
barely practiced. Promiscuity is widespread, such that even children freely hear of adult jokes
everyday. Further, popular is the practice of paid sexual favors among teenagers in this culture.
The last topic concerns their social culture. They have no central unifying structure, but are
united in a sense by their culture. The social unit they follow relies on the existence of a male
elderly patriarchal leader as a catholic point of community between blood relatives. They are
relatively locked out of the progressive world due to the costs of moving out from the culture
they are familiar with. This paper provides us with remarkable and almost timeless insights on
the Bajau indigenous peoples, which undoubtedly has its place in the growing scholarly body of
literature on Mindanao Studies for years to come.

REFERENCES:

1. Nimmo, Arlo H. "Bajau Sex and Reproduction “ Ethnology 9, No. 3 (1970): 251-262