Anthropology and perspective
I am reading the book “Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches” by Marvin Harris and I recently finished the chapter called “The Savage Male”.
The author has explained a few things around wars and why the males turn out to be savage. He also details how in one tribe, the Yanomami, the people practice actively murdering their infant girls, then infant boys too, how the men beat their wives and how frequent is the beating. The wives expect to be beaten, he says. They have been brought up in such a culture where they do not know that their husbands can be non-violent. The men fight each other for claiming the women and wage wars against other tribes to capture their women.
It was shocking to read about them and then compare their lives with our civilized ones. We have come a long way from such savage cultures. Reading anthropology begets an eagle eye’s view on life. We get to see our place in the world. I get to realize that by a sheer stroke of luck I was born into a relatively better time and I have to face much fewer struggles than other people.
Anthropology is worth devouring!
