Abstract
ALTHOUGH the entry of women into the anthro pological field has begun to fill what was for long a serious gap in ethnographical investigation, much has still to be done. The value of observation from the woman's special point of view is well illustrated by Miss Earthy's study of Valenga women. The Valenga were described to a certain extent by M. Junod in his book on the Bathonga; but Miss Earthy has carried his observations further; and writing with the place and function of women in the community more particularly as the subject of investigation, she has given a fresh orientation to subjects usually regarded too ex clusively from the point of view of the male mem bers of the tribe. This is especially to be noted in the account of such a topic as marriage, and appears very clearly in her account of the details of the observances which precede, accompany and follow the rite. It also has an important influence on the account of family relations.
Valenge Women: the Social and Economic Life of the Valenge Women of Portuguese East Africa.
An Ethnographic Study By E. Dora Earthy. (Published for the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures.) Pp. xi + 251 + 24 plates. (London: Oxford University Press, 1933.) 25s. net.
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Anthropology. Nature 133, 367 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133367a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133367a0