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Inequality and Changing Masculinities Among the Gende in Papua New Guinea: The ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’ and the ‘Very Bad’

Inequality and Changing Masculinities Among the Gende in Papua New Guinea: The ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’... This article examines Gende socio-economic history from before 1932 to the present, a history marked by extreme inequality and challenges to traditional concepts of masculinity. Centuries ago, the Gende lived in New Guinea’s interior. Forced from their lands by tribal warfare, they escaped to the less populated northern Bismarck mountains (in what is now Madang Province) and re-established themselves, marrying Chimbu and Ramu neighbours and favourably positioning themselves in a north-south trade route. First encounters with Westerners (1932) and capitalist enterprises set off waves of migration to towns and plantations with recent mining developments generating return mobilities as migrants hope to cash in on jobs and royalties. ‘Big men’ who strove to hold society together by using development and other means to even out rural and urban inequalities that threatened Gende society represent Marshall Sahlins’s ‘developman’. Today, such men are contested by others more interested in personal aggrandisement than social cohesion. Women’s continuing role in shaping masculinities and society is highlighted throughout, demonstrating the limits of R.W. Connell’s ‘hegemonic masculinities’ (and similar concepts based on male dominance) in understanding intergenerational conflicts and violence against women. While the seeds of global hegemonic masculinities have been planted, the Gende case is one of active local resistance. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology Taylor & Francis

Inequality and Changing Masculinities Among the Gende in Papua New Guinea: The ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’ and the ‘Very Bad’

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Inequality and Changing Masculinities Among the Gende in Papua New Guinea: The ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’ and the ‘Very Bad’

Abstract

This article examines Gende socio-economic history from before 1932 to the present, a history marked by extreme inequality and challenges to traditional concepts of masculinity. Centuries ago, the Gende lived in New Guinea’s interior. Forced from their lands by tribal warfare, they escaped to the less populated northern Bismarck mountains (in what is now Madang Province) and re-established themselves, marrying Chimbu and Ramu neighbours and favourably positioning themselves in a...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2016 The Australian National University
ISSN
1740-9314
eISSN
1444-2213
DOI
10.1080/14442213.2016.1186216
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article examines Gende socio-economic history from before 1932 to the present, a history marked by extreme inequality and challenges to traditional concepts of masculinity. Centuries ago, the Gende lived in New Guinea’s interior. Forced from their lands by tribal warfare, they escaped to the less populated northern Bismarck mountains (in what is now Madang Province) and re-established themselves, marrying Chimbu and Ramu neighbours and favourably positioning themselves in a north-south trade route. First encounters with Westerners (1932) and capitalist enterprises set off waves of migration to towns and plantations with recent mining developments generating return mobilities as migrants hope to cash in on jobs and royalties. ‘Big men’ who strove to hold society together by using development and other means to even out rural and urban inequalities that threatened Gende society represent Marshall Sahlins’s ‘developman’. Today, such men are contested by others more interested in personal aggrandisement than social cohesion. Women’s continuing role in shaping masculinities and society is highlighted throughout, demonstrating the limits of R.W. Connell’s ‘hegemonic masculinities’ (and similar concepts based on male dominance) in understanding intergenerational conflicts and violence against women. While the seeds of global hegemonic masculinities have been planted, the Gende case is one of active local resistance.

Journal

The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology – Taylor & Francis

Published: Aug 7, 2016

Keywords: Papua New Guinea; Gende; Inequality; Mining; Masculinities; Violence

References

  • Masculinity Matters: Gender-Based Violence and the AIDS Epidemic in Papua New Guinea
  • Women as Persons: Aspects of Female Life and Male-Female Relations among the Kafe
  • Siblings as Spouses: The Reproduction and Replacement of Kaulong Society
  • Heroes from Hell: Representations of ‘Rascals’ in a Papua New Guinea Village
  • The Death of the Big Men: Depreciation of Elites in New Guinea
  • The Rural Oriented Strategy of Urban Adaptation: Siane Migrants in Port Moresby
  • Kafaina: Female Wealth and Power in Chimbu, Papua New Guinea
  • Card-Playing Among the Gende: A System for Keeping Money and Social Relationships ‘Alive’
  • Bachelors, Spinsters, and ‘Pamuk Meris’
  • Nationalism and Sexuality in Papua New Guinea
  • Empowered Women
  • The Last Big Man: Development and Men’s Discontents in the Papua New Guinea Highlands
  • Wild Pigs and Dog Men: Rape and Domestic Violence as Women’s Issues in Papua New Guinea
  • Papua New Guinea Women in Town: Housewives, Homemakers, and Household Managers
  • What is Holding Them Back? Reflections on One Woman’s Loss at the Polls: Usino-Bundi Open
  • Troubled Masculinities and Gender Violence in Melanesia
  • ‘Our Good Work’ or ‘the Devil’s Work’? Inequality, Exchange, and Card Playing among the Gende