The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology) [Paperback]

Gilbert Herdt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0030689074 | ISBN-13: 978-0030689079 | Publication Date: January 1, 1987 | Edition: 1

This cultural and psychological study of gender identity and sexual development in a New Guinea Highlands society includes initiation rites and socialization studies, and contrasts the Sambia with other societies, including our own. Sambia boys experience ritualized homosexuality before puberty and do not leave it until marriage, after which homosexual activity is prohibited. The implications are developed cross-culturally and contextualized in gender literature.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gilbert Herdt, Ph.D. is Director and Professor of the Human Sexuality Studies Program and Professor of Anthropology at San Francisco State University. He is also the founder of an interdisciplinary research institute-- Institute on Sexuality, Inequality and Health--and Director of National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University. He has served on more than 10 international committees or agencies, 8 major national committees and academic committees (NIMH, SSRC), and approximately 15 departmental and university-wide committees at 4 American universities. Dr. Herdt is the recipient of various awards and research grants, including the William Simon Henry Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship and a Pre-doctoral Fulbright Scholarship to Australia. Dr. Herdt's research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Ford Foundation, Spencer Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. He is a fellow of the American Anthropological Association, International Academy of Sex Research, and Royal Anthropological Institute (UK).

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 1 edition (January 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030689074
• ISBN-13: 978-0030689079
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #749,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting Read, January 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology) (Paperback)

In interesting read. The Sambia are a people of a unique and intregueing culture and the insight this book provides is inmatched.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars what a crappy parenting manual, June 11, 2010

By 

Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology) (Paperback)

If you're looking for a handbook on how to become a better parent, I would suggest either Parenting With Love And Logic (Updated and Expanded Edition) or Becoming the Parent You Want To Be: A Sourcebook of Strategies for the First Five Years.

This book has got to be the worst "how to" parenting manual I've ever read. Its parenting suggestions -- specifically those covering how to grow your son into a strong, healthy male -- are unconventional at best, downright illegal at worst.