Download Mosuo culture - St. Edwards University

MOSUO CULTURE
Crystal Mendoza
Kristen Gomez
Kaitlin Burke
Georgia Huston
Adolescent Psychology
Dr. Sara Villanueva
2 December 2013
Introduction- Origins
• Population: 40,000
people.
• Lugu Lake in Southern
China
• Known as “The
Kingdom of Women” matriarchal
community.
• Tibetan Plateau
• No standing army
• Isolated
Mosuo Women- China
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTrARDa8BU
Physical Milestones of the Mosuan culture
• Age of Sexual
Autonomy
• Age of puberty
• Physical Maturity
• (Most information is
with a hetero couple)
Additional Biological Variables
•Diet
•Lifespan
•Education
•Isolation
•Health
Gender Roles
• Walking Marriages—
women have more
power
• Family
Responsibilities—men
have less
responsibility
• Children live in
maternal household
Ceremony Life
•Ceremony occurs at
12-14-years-old
•“Skirt Ceremony” for
girls
•“Pants Ceremony”
for boys
Cognitive Domain
• Synaptic Pruning—”use it or lose it”
principle
• Agrarian society with emphasis on
family-focused relationships
• Gender roles vary significantly
• Both girls and boys are taught to value,
seek, and enjoy sexual activities
• Women do majority of physical/manual
labor
Language and Education
• No written language—all history,
culture, and religion passed down
orally
• Formal education system
extremely underdeveloped
• Clash of traditional rural/familial
education with formal education
• Very few students graduate from
high school, few-to-none attend
college
Belief Systems
• Tibetan Buddhism
• Four Noble Truths
1.
Presence of Suffering
2.
Desire brings Suffering
3.
Suffering can be ended through achieving Nirvana
4.
Steps to Nirvana are known as the “Noble Eightfold Path”
• Daba
• “Original” religion of the Mosuo culture, has been largely replaced by
Buddhism in recent history
• Nature worship
• Daba priests still called to perform special events
Closing
• Uniqueness of the Mosuo Culture
oWalking Marriages/ Women as head
of household
o“Skirt” and “Pant” Ceremony to mark
the age of adulthood
oVariation/reversal of gender roles in
the household
• Western World vs. Mosou culture
• Tourism in the area has recently
boomed.
• The modern is growing around the
ancient.
References
Coming-of-age Ceremony. (2011, June 29). Retrieved November, 2013, from Lugu Lake,
Mysterious Women's Kingdom website:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/yunnan/luguhu/2011-06/29/content_12799765.htm
Gong, B., & Yang, C.-L. (2012, June). Gender differences in risk attitudes: Field experiments on
the matrilineal Mosuo and the patriarchal Yi. In Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and
Competition, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.06.010
Journeyman Pictures, & ABC Australia. (1995, October). Mosuo Women- China [Video file].
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTrARDa8BU
Long-term and sustainable Projects for the Mosuo Minority. (2013). Retrieved November,
2013, from Hidden China website:
http://www.hiddenchina.net/web/eng/unterstuetzung_mosuo_support.html
Mosuo: A mysterious matriarchal group in china. (2003). Retrieved November, 2013, from
China Culture website: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_curiosity/200405/11/content_47041.htm
The Mosuo Culture. (2006). Retrieved from Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development
Association website: http://www.mosuoproject.org/main.html
Mosuo of China. (n.d.). Retrieved from JoshuaProject website:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=18610&rog3=CH
Shaitly, S. (2010, December 18). Is China's Mosuo tribe the world's last matriarchy? Retrieved
November, 2013, from The Guardian website:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/19/china-mosuo-tribe-matriarchy
Stacey, J. (2009). Unhitching the Horse from the Carriage: Love and Marriage Among the
Mosuo. Utah Law Review. Retrieved from
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=6c0be89a-c7b7-41eb-9be59815e7da024f%40sessionmgr12&hid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0Z
Q%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=59997723