Marriage and Mandatory Abortion Among the 17th-Century Siraya

ISBN-13: 9780913167717 / Angielski / Miękka / 1995 / 104 str.

John Robert Shepherd

Opis

In 1628 a detailed ethnographic description of the Siraya, the Austronesian inhabitants of southwestern Taiwan, reported that Siraya priestesses mandated abortion for all young wives. Since that time Siraya mandatory abortion has perplexed students of human society. From Montesquieu and Malthus to Devereux, explanations for Siraya mandatory abortion have ranged from the demographic to the Freudian. By placing Siraya customs of marriage, pregnancy taboos, and massage abortion in historical and cultural context, this monograph provides new solutions to the puzzle of Siraya mandatory abortion.