Hi Brian . . . my, the two of us seem to be doing a lot of talking around here,
don't we? :) <- see? she's truly smiling.
In this culture (sorry, still haven't had time to figure out who they are)
marriage is for men a source of economic stability much like it is for women in
this country. An elderly man who had been divorced, was forced to make a
living carving statues out of wood. This was the only thing he could do - and
if he couldn't do this, he relied on the "pity" of others for his food and his
entire survival.
I think even more than economic stability (for virtually the only possessions
one had were food and a few items of clothing, very "primitive" as far as
technology goes) though, marriage is a form of social stability - an unmarried
man was somehow viewed as worth less than a married man.
I would call this an example of a matriarchal system, or as close to a
matriarchal system as I've ever run across. Strange that the things that women
are often devalued for in this culture are seen as valuable in this other
culture.
Tj.
