Essay Example on the Rise of Gender Relations: An Analysis of Kinship to Kingship

Introduction

The book used in this review is, "Kinship to Kingship" written by Christine Ward Gailey. It is among the first novels to provide extensive analysis on how and why gender relations are skewed especially when state and classes transpire in a society. Through the application of the Marxist-feminist method, Gailey (1987, p.23) examines gender relations in Tongan society over three hundred years ranging from a period when kinship relation structured property, work, reproduction, consumption, and distribution to a class-based state society. In as much as, "Kinship to Kingship" revolves around Tonga, an island in the Southern Pacific, Gailey presents an argument that can be viewed through the neocolonial world. This anthropology study presents the gender relations in the Tongan society before and after coming into contact with the Europeans, who led to the emergence of class and state formation.

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The Tongans were strong warriors and skilled navigators whose brace canoes could transport a maximum of two hundred people. Before the emergence of the Europeans, they practiced cultural and political influence over different neighboring islands. However, during the first European intrusion in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the kingdom had already declined, and the powers of the Tu'i Tonga were exercised by the religious leaders (Gailey, 1987, p. 59) Therefore, this paper presents an opportunity to examine the tensions in the stratified kinship societies, which will also investigate the gender relations before and after the European invasion. Notably, women derived from chiefly and non-chiefly backgrounds have been strongly consulted in the state formation as well as in the processes linked with western influence.

To understand the involvement of women and their impacts in the Tongan society, it is essential to understand gender relations during the pre-contact period and the way these relations were preserved or diminished as a result of European influences.

Gender Relations before European Invasion

The Tongans' traditions over the past centuries held the notion that gender hierarchy was caused in association with state structures and class relations. Before the European influence, women were identified as the only creators of wealth in Tonga. This implies that women had the responsibility of making valuable commodities or objects that were utilitarian and were used on a day-to-day activities (Gailey, 1987, p. 99). For instance, women made the satiny bark cloth, finely woven mats, and the ornamented baskets, which were essential in the development of Tongan society as a kinship society made up of chieftainships. Subsequently, the split of labor, which enhanced class formation was lessened by the division of labor by gender. As a result, the chiefly estate was constantly engaged in the production of necessary products. It is crucial to record that, chiefly men were not mostly engaged in productive activities as opposed to women. Men's tasks, "Ngaue," were identified as nonchiefly. This implies that there was minimal involvement of men in the productive activities in Tango society.

According to Gailey (1987, p. 101), most of the garden work was done by women, and this is evidenced by the severe arthritic changes of their backs. These effects on their bodies were largely caused by the act of lifting heavy loads and constant bending through the activities that they were doing such as, shell fishing, tapa production, and gardening work (Gailey, 1987, p. 104). This is to infer that, the common basic activities in the society were significantly executed by women. However, this is not to say that men did not do any garden work. What can be derived from the book is that both in the modern and old age society, there have been so much focus on the roles of women in the family and the society at large as opposed to men. This infers that it did not matter whether a man has cleaned utensils on a day to day basis, but it was the role of women to see daily basic activities were performed accordingly. Women were expected to work in the garden and gather food that was used at home, while part of the males' responsibility was to go fishing and participate in long and medium trading, and war.

In the Tonga society during the precontact era, kinship and gender were both used together to ascertain the allocation of power, the distribution of goods and services, as well as the division of labor. The chiefly persons who had ranks had the greatest claims, and the provision of titled positions relied on the demonstration of rank. According to Gailey (1987, p. 113), the rank had to be endorsed through the presentation of valuable objects which was predominantly based or determined by the work of women. In as much as the leadership positions were hereditary, the principles of superiority and inferiority were also applied in determining rank.

Gender relations in Tonga were significant in both production and reproduction of kin-based society in Tonga. This is to infer that women's role in producing goods were applied while validating the positions and ranks of Tongans (Gailey, 1987, p. 129). Tonga has been categorized as one of the most hierarchical integrated, and vastly stratified societies in Polynesia. All titles were inherited and were passed across the male line of descent. Subsequently, this hierarchical social pattern is still being practiced in most societies across the world. Homage to the chiefs was paid twice a year by offering agricultural products among other goods.

Notably, there was no gender hierarchy. This implies that females were inferior to men although there was existence of some tensions between parts where women had dominance and where they did not. For instance, the powers of sisters was equated to the subordination of the wife. The most essential element of women's dominance was the functions of FAHU, also known as the sisterhood (Gailey, 1987, p. 137). This denotes that as sisters, women could claim rights to the labor of their brother and his wife and also had powers on other matters such as matrimony. Gailey further explains that a father's sister was given a lot of attention by the society while Tongen women particularly chiefly women also enacted the same social powers throughout.

Women's participation as the sole creators of socially valued commodities effectively hindered the emergence of class relations. Gailey uses the example of Tonga to determine the relationship between gender hierarchy and class formation. Before the arrival of Europeans in Tonga, the people used to live as hunters and gatherers in a kin-based community. The kin groups were identified as big extended family groups. The kin groups were characterized by different rights and tasks to the society as a whole although some of the families were higher ranking than others. According to Gailey (1987, p. 196), state formation and class division is a process that had already begun and it only came to be accelerated after the influence of Europeans. This implies that Tongan society had already started moving towards a society where a majority of individuals would produce while only a section of people managed the products of their labor.

Early European Contacts influence on Gender Relations

The concerns about gender and the transformation of gender responsibilities have attained currency or relevance in the recent debates on Polynesian studies. A majority of Marxist anthropologists embrace the notion that gender relations were majorly egalitarian in preclass communities. Additionally, the current elements of male dominance are the attribution of colonialism, class, and state formation. Although this line of thought can be very illuminating, it is mostly accurate to note that theoretical discussion can obscure an accurate illustration of the society in question. In "Kinship to Kingship," Gailey's arguments appear to have convinced the readers that European colonialism and state formation consistently caused the goods production as well as an altered division of labor.

Tongan state formation was identified as a process independent of direct colonization but in the view of capitalistic expansion in the Pacific, which featured a double makeover of the kinship society. Consequently, one of the chiefly groups which relied on kinship relations for its endurance came to manage the appropriation of goods and services independently without depending on the producing people (Gailey, 1987, p. 203). This transformation required the elimination of high-ranking women from being directly involved in producing necessary commodities. In that, after the invasion of the European, succession was validated through legal codes as opposed to the presentation of women's wealth commodities. Nevertheless, females in the producing category have lost the privilege to resources that they once were entitled through the responsibilities enjoyed by a sister. This denotes that their participation in the production of commodities is still essential, but the goods have eliminated their power of controlling or managing of necessary resources.

The constant reliance of individuals on an extensive range of kin, the basis of personal independence was minimized especially for the nonchiefly women. This have been achieved through the combined influence of missionary pressure, legal limitations, and production. As a consequence, nonchiefly women have for the first time become partially reliant upon their husbands (Gailey, 1987, p. 210). The European influence advocated for substantive dependency and minimal social dominance. Subsequently, the kinship aspect which had been instituted throughout the community became circumscribed. Critical kin relations have become either illegal or unnecessary in the state society. The transformation of Tongan women into limited reliance offers a perspective on the establishment of women's oppression. In that, the position and responsibilities of women in the Tongan society were getting ignored.

On the other hand, the introduction of division of labor by gender tend to have privileged men by striking a balance between genders, which had been missing for centuries. This denotes that cash is currently an element of wealth, while men have easier access to wage-earning (Gailey, 1987, p. 213). However, the old unrestricted perception towards both sexes has not been eliminated by technological and economic advancements. These attitudes are still prominent in modern places of work, banks, banks, and shops. In the rural areas, most men are involved in the garden work such as taking care of the land or attending to animals while women make bark cloth and weave mats. Moreover, both sexes are actively engaged in parenting while food preparation is jointly shared between females and male members of a family. Older children are also allowed to engage in adult activities and household chores. European dominance has advocated on the hierarchical system with a lot of focus on the aspect of equality in society.

Conclusion

To sum up, this anthropology essay has successfully provided a detailed analysis of the gender relations in Tongan society as well as the modern transformation of the Tongan culture by the Europeans. The transformation brought by the Europeans is responsible for the emergence of the central role of gender relations. As pointed out in this discussion, women were bestowed a privileged position as outlined in the traditional Tonga community. In that, women were the producers of commodities (KOLOA) in the economy as well as used as the channels of sacred power (EIKI), which in return flattered and buttressed male-dominant powers.