Gender in Amazonia and Melanesia: An Exploration of the Comparative Method

One of the great riddles of cultural history is the remarkable parallel that exists between the peoples of Amazonia and those of Melanesia. Although the two regions are separated by half a world in distance and at least 40,000 years of history, their cultures nonetheless reveal striking similarities in the areas of sex and gender. In both Amazonia and Melanesia, male—female differences infuse social organization and self—conception. They are the core of religion, symbolism, and cosmology, a...