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sex, money, and the status of women in aboriginal south Bougainville
Author(s) -
NASH JILL
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1981.8.1.02a00070
Subject(s) - adultery , new guinea , social status , value (mathematics) , sociology , gender studies , demography , ethnology , political science , social science , law , machine learning , computer science
Comparison of three societies of aboriginal south Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, shows an increasing exchange value placed on the sexual services of women, as seen in marriage exchanges, fines for adultery and fornication, gifts between lovers, and prostitution. This increase is in direct relation to the development and use of general‐purpose money. Implications for the comparative status of women and the evolution of society are noted. [Bougainville, status of women, economics of sex, social evolution, money]