Cultural Factors Affecting Human
Fertility*
GEORGE J. JENNINGS
Department of Anthropology Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
From: JASA 22 (June 1970): 52-59.
*This paper is a modified version of one presented in a panel
discussion on "Problems
Associated With Increasing World Population" at the fall meeting
of the Chicago
Section of the American Scientific Affiliation held on December 6,
1969, in Chicago
at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Human fertility remains high in many countries because cultural values influence parents to procreate many children. From Biblical cultures in antiquity down to the present, religious views are integrated with various cultural factors in encouraging human reproduction rates although the New Testament does not seem to be explicit in suggesting family size or encouraging human reproduction. Among a range of cultural factors influencing population are such values as virility, prestige, security and others held by parents in a cultural milieu. If one adopts the Malthusian, or pessimistic, view that human population will eventually outstrip food resources, birth control measures, especially contraceptives, will be effectively disseminated in non-Western cultures only by cognizance of crosscultural appreciation of values and acculturational processes.
"So God created man in his own image. in the image of God he created him;
mole and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said
to them, 'Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it ...'"
(Genesis 1:27-28,
RSV).
Perspectives on Fertility
With these words the Bible introduces the divine intention that human fertility
is to be the means for populating the earth by man still free from sin with its
pervasive and dire effects. Undoubtedly this directive influenced early man's
view about human reproduction which, when coupled with subsequent
events, eventuated
in an attitude toward children epitomized in the agonizing plea by
Rachel to her
exasperated husband. "When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she
envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, 'Give me children or I
shall die!' Jacob's
anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, 'Am I in the place of God, who
bath withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"' (Genesis
30:1-2). Childlessness, ag
gravated by envy of her sister and co-wife, prompted Jacob's favorite wife to
consider suicide in her belief that barrenness is a divine reproach.
At the inception of Christianity, Paul perhaps echoes a similar opinion towards
human fertility in instructing Timothy thus: "So I would have
younger widows
marry, bear children, rule their households, and give the enemy no occasion to
revile us" (1 Tim
othy 5:14, RSV). As the Roman Catholic Church became dominant, it adopted like
ideas which have persisted through the centuries and, excepting
recent opposition
by liberal members in Europe and America, instilled the attitude
among Catholics
so effectively that a devout member in Malitbod, a small barrio in
the Philippines,
summarized a consensus of opinion regarding birth control by women practising
contraception and abortion with these words:
"When these women die, they will be brought before our Lord who will ask: 'Why did you kill your child?' And what will they say? Surely, they cannot tell lies because God can see through their hearts; He knows what we humans are doing. If our hearts are black, as these women's, God will certainly say: 'You have murdered an innocent child; you have rejected my gift. Go and burn in hell for all the mortal sins you have committed in my name'" (Jooano, 1969:17).
A maxim among the Lughara people in Uganda, "The work of women is to bear
children" (Middleton, 1965:57) expresses a view widely shared
among peoples
throughout the world. To be more precise, we should rather say that
the attitude
of this maxim is common to most maledominated societies. This belief
is opposed.
Sabamma, a mother in Gopalpur, a village in south India, offers what may be a
representative opinion among women in countries marked with high birth rates.
After eleven pregnancies and bearing eight living children, Sabamma sums up her
motherhood by saying, "Thank God, those pregnancies finally stopped"
(Beals, 1962:14).
Sex is of course a primary drive among most species in the animal kingdom. The
urge to perform the sexual act is powerful quite apart from intention
to propagate
the species. Among many animals, this drive
is controlled by instinctual mechanisms so that sexual activity is confined to
annual rutting seasons although man in domesticating certain animals
has altered
their sexual habits. In contrast, man is normally characterized by an
oestruality
favoring sexual activity throughout the year, hence birth of
offspring may occur
throughout the year. Also in terms of human biology, a healthy female is fecund
for about thirty years. This biological potential rarely operates
freely, however,
for man possesses culture with ideas restricting his biological
nature. The central
assumption in this essay, therefore, is that human fertility with
attendant population
problems should he considered from a cultural perspective if programs
to ameliorate
a critical world problem are to achieve success.
Cultural Influences
The view emphasized here then is that to understand human fertility rates and
threatening population increases, cultural influences must be
identified and modified.
Admittedly one can be either pessimistic or optimistic in appraising
man's growing
numbers and the potential food resources (or other materials essential to human
life), for disagreement exists among scholars with some holding to
the Malthusian
theory while others think scientific ingenuity can increase
productivity adequate
for probable population increments. Whether the pessimistic or the optimistic
view is valid cannot be argued here, but it does seem reasonable to
conclude that
ultimately there must be limits to the "carrying capacity of the
land"-to
borrow a phrase used by ranchers in western range country.
Culture is the central concept in anthropology denoting man's
distinctive quality
setting him apart from all other life forms. Simply defined, culture
may he considered
the total way of life or the design for living characterizing each
human society.
It includes in a complex integrated whole all learned and shared
behaviors stemming
from themes or values witbin an emotional matrix or ethos. Animal
behavior seems
to be dominated by instincts which in man are greatly modified by
cultural influences.
Although culture channels most human thoughts, feelings, and actions, we need
not adopt extreme cultural determinism for each individual can exercise freedom
in varying degrees of deviation from cultural patterns.
As defined by anthropologists, culture is significant in
understanding human fertility
rates in modifying sexual activity by relating sex and reproduction
to the culture's
value system. For example, anthropologists agree that the incest
taboo preventing
sexual mating between certain men and women considered relatives is culturally
proscribed. Hence relationships subject to the incest taboo vary considerably
from society to society. In many of our states, the mating of first cousins is
illegal because it constitutes incest, but among many societies
marriage of first
cousins is approved and preferred especially if these cousins are
"cross-cousins"
(i.e., father's sister's children, or mother's brother's children).
Likewise shame and guilt feelings associated with sexual matters and activity
invariably stem from cultural views with some societies holding strict taboos
against open discussion and education while others are relatively
free from these
restrictions. One may ask to what extent current opposition to sex education in
public schools in the United States springs from a pur
itanical ideology long characteristic in American culture. We may have seemed
to stray from our subject, but these observations are relevant in
this study because
cultural values are inextricably woven in decisions to favor or oppose programs
affecting sexual activity and human fertility.
Several Questions
Several questions emerge in this and other studies seeking a solution
to the ominous
population increase. With developed communication and dissemination
of information
about growing population pressure in the world, and the effectiveness
of inexpensive
contraceptives, why haven't birth rates declined more rapidly? Why do parents
in various cultures continue to have large families when privation
and even starvation
confront them? What influences are at play causing fecund women to
bear unwanted
children? Why have some governments failed in their efforts to
initiate successful
programs for birth control? Our contention is that answers to these and similar
questions can be offered only by understanding the cultures,
including religious
beliefs, of the countries where human fertility rates remain high. We
will examine
briefly, therefore, selected attitudes held by various cultural
groups about the
birth of children.
With developed communication and dissemination of information . . , and the effectiveness of inexpensive contraceptives, why haven't birth rates declined more rapidly? Why do parents in various cultures continue to have large families when privation and even starvation confront them? What influences are at play causing fecund women to bear unwanted children? Why have some governments failed in their efforts to initiate successful programs for birth control?
Hebrew Culture
In ancient Hebrew culture, the bearing of many children was viewed as evidence
of divine approval and blessing. A simplistic explanation for this attitude is
to attribute it to obedience to God's injunction to Adam, "be fruitful and
multiply" (Genesis 1:28) which was reiterated to Noah (Genesis 9:1,1) and
to Jacob (Genesis 35:11). However other factors undoubtedly
influenced the Hebrews,
so often prone to disobeying God, in observing this command by incorporating it
into their cultural values. For example, we may infer from God's covenant with
Abraham, with its dual promise of possession of the Holy Land and "I will
make you exceedingly fruitful" (Genesis 17:6), that many children provided
economic security for old age in a pastoral economy as well as
populating a sparsely
populated country much desired by more populous and stronger
neighbors. This pro-fertility
theme is unequivocally advocated by the Psalmist in these lines:
"Lo. sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reword.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them!
He shall not be put to shame tv/zen he speaks with his enemies in the gate" (Psalm 127:35 RSV).
Such thinking promoted a rapidly expanding population to foster an
abundant society
where a man was surrounded by many children to care for him in old
age, to expand
flock and field, and to increase the tribe with numbers and
prosperity for strength
and security in the nation. This attitude also met the concern to preserve the
family name and lineage insuring inheritance continuity in the land-a
theme that
reinforced the abundant society goal, for to fail to have offspring to carry on
the family name was a misfortune imperiling the social structure. The levirate,
a cultural practice requiring a man to marry his deceased brother's
wife to produce
offspring to preserve the dead brother's name and inheritance,
illustrates Hebrew
thought. When judah's son, Onan, refused to honor his levirate responsibility,
the Lord 'slew him," to emphasize a cultural value which
reinforced prolific
human fertility patterns among the Hebrews (Genesis 38).
New Testament Times
When one considers cultural factors affecting human fertility in New Testament
times, there is some evidence that marriage and children were
accorded high evaluation
and were cited as models of acceptable faith in God. There is,
however, no detailed
or extended statement suggesting explicitly what family size should
be. As a matter
of fact, Fagley has observed correctly that parenthood in the New Testament is
considered in dialectical fashion (1960:124). In a thesis and
antithesis pattern
there is a yes and a no in both the Gospels and the Epistles.
Seemingly negative
and affirmative utterances regarding family conditions were made by
Jesus to his
disciples. Later, embedded in a Judaie ethos but alertly sensitive to pervasive
Hellenistic influences, Paul spoke both for and against family ties
when he sought
to cope with emerging problems within the first struggling churches. In short,
we cannot conclude that the-New Testament presented an explicit view
to influence
human fertility rates among the first Christians.
Christianity
It seems, therefore, that early Christianity contained opposing views with some
leaders advocating such an extreme as celibacy while others favored
marriage and
the procreation of offspring. The patristic writings reveal an
ambivalence stemming
from the conflicting opinions. As the Christian movement developed
through history,
the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and later the
Protestant
churches, made interpretive pronouncements about parenthood and childbearing.
These doctrines were usually fashioned to influence cultural
attitudes among the
people where the churches flourished. The Eastern Orthodox Church
viewed marriage
and sexual relations primarily as a means for procreation of children even to
the point that coitus within the marital state was tinged with sin if
procreation
was not the purpose. Any form or method of contraception was
condemned as evil.
In Roman Catholicism, marriage became a sacrament intended to sanctify conjugal
activity primarily
for producing offspring. While in time permission was given to
couples to practice
the rhythm method for contraception, the Roman Church condemned
"artificial"
contraceptives in maintaining that coitus is ultimately justifiable
only for begetting
children. The current controversy and dissension within the Roman
Church includes
papal authority in banning contraceptives, although it is common knowledge that
many Catholic couples, especially in urbanized Europe and the United
States, disregard
the official dictum.
Protestantism originally shared Roman Catholic views in opposition to limiting
births by contraception, but the tendency has been increasingly to
view marriage
as a function for companionship and parenthood with the conclusion
that the former
does not require the latter to justify conjugal relations. Even among
the conservative
and evangelical segments of Protestantism, sexual intercourse in
marriage without
procreative intentions is widely accepted and the employment of contraceptives
is common (Vincent, 1968).
Non-Christian Cultures
Outside the culture areas where Christianity dominates, religions views within
cultural settings affecting human fertility vary considerably
according to Fagley's
survey (1960:94108). Among Hindu and Buddhist peoples there are few religious
or legal restrictions preventing artificial means of birth control.
The portentous
population growths in countries like India and China are due to other cultural
factors, for contraception is legal and sterilization is usually
allowed on both
social and eugenic grounds. In Japan abortion is permitted for economic reasons
under medical sanction.
In Islamic countries, "The cradle is proving more potent than
the sword"
(Fagley, 1960:101) with Middle Eastern countries marked by population
growth rates
of nearly three per cent annually-a rate second in the world only to some Latin
American countries. The pro-fertility patterns rest upon a cultural
system where
children are much desired for the labor services relating to employment on the
land when the children are young, or numerous children enhance the
parental prestige
with much honor ascribed to large families, or children are the only means whereby
the Islamic law of inheritance can he realized. Despite these
cultural views favoring
population increases, contraception is legal in some Muslim
countries, as in Egypt
and Pakistan, but somewhat surprisingly it is not in Turkey which has
been receptive
to many modern ideas. Whether contraception is allowed or forbidden in Muslim
countries, policies determining the practice within the culture seems
to be primarily
for political reasons rather than religions. Paradoxical situations also exist
in some Muslim countries; for instance Turkey considers contraceptives illegal
but is quite lenient in penalizing abortionists, (As a Judaic enclave
within the
Islamic World, Israel has legalized contraception but severely penalizes those
guilty of induced abortion.)
Latin America
As stated earlier, this paper sees religion and ideology of peoples as integral
and pervasive parts of cultures. Evidence leads us to conclude also
that religious
beliefs commonly influence, or serve as sanctions for, most cultural
traits, complexes,
and other
institutions. This must be born in mind as we direct our attention to what may
seem to be nonreligious factors within a culture as these factors affect human
fertility rates and related population problems. Assuming this argument to he
true, we focus our attention upon selected cultural traits' at play in an area
characterized by the population "explosion." The area is
Latin America
where the population is increasing about three per cent annually, and
where social
scientists have identified typical factors contributing to the
alarming population
increases (Stycos, 1969).
Rapid population growth in Latin America is
sur
prising when it is known that most people in general seem to prefer
small families.
This general preference, however, is offset or defeated by cultural
values which
militate against married couples having small families. For example, soon after
marriage the typical wife becomes pregnant because young husbands fear possible
rumors of sterility or impotence, thus reflecting the great valise placed upon
masculine virility. To the Latin American, the most convincing way to
demonstrate
masculinity is to father children. Sexual experience and adventures
do not prove
manliness, for while most Latin American men engage in pre-marital
and extra-marital
sexual activities, these are usually with prostitutes who, if they
become pregnant
and hear children, cannot enable a man to claim virility since the paternity of
an illegitimate child is uncertain. When questioned about sexual and
family matters,
one informant gave this typical response: "This business of being married
and having no children looks bad. One likes to have them to prove he
is not barren"
(Stycos, 1968:69). Hence when his wife, becomes pregnant soon after
marriage and
hears him a child, a young man confirms his adult status; and when
the wife continues
to hear children, the man demonstrates to his community his
continuing virility.
The pronounced double standard of sexual behavior among Latin
American societies
is a second factor favoring human fertility. This double standard
fosters intense
jealousy among men toward their wives who in turn are deeply
suspicious of their
husbands. These marked jealousies frequently are rationalizations for desertion
and extramarital sexual life, but their significance for this analysis is that
they affect family size in that both men and women believe that
Isaving many children
reinforces the marital bond and reduces tendency toward
unfaithfulness. In actual
practice this belief is more effective in restricting the
womansomething recognized
by both men and women. One Puerto Rican wife put it this way: "He told me
the more kids I have the more tied to him I was
that with so many kids I could not abandon him to go with another man or return
to my family" (Stvcos, 1968:70).
Male authority is a third reason contributing to the high birth rate
among Latin
Americans. Men usually object to their wives using contraceptives because they
feel such use undermines their "rightful" male authority. In order to
sustain his authoritarian position, the husband assumes that he has the right
to determine the time, form, and frequency of coitus. He thus is the
determining
member in the family birth patterns. This dominating role, coupled
with the desire
to demonstrate his masculinity has its fulfillment in repeated
pregnancies, each
following quickly the previous childbirth.
Another cultural feature at play in keeping high birth rates is the man's fear
of his wife's infidelity. Massy Latin American husbands believe that if their
wives were allowed to control conception by contraceptive methods the
wives would
not hesitate to engage in extramarital sexuality. This conclusion
rests upon the
widespread notion that men are much more clever and wise in seducing
women; therefore
to grant the wife prerogatives with respect to becoming pregnant
raises the threat
that some adroit male may captivate and conquer her. Related to this is Oscar
Lewis' observation that "Some husbands deliberately refrain from arousing
their wives sexually, as it is assumed that a passive or frigid wife
will be more
faithful. In general, sexual play is a technique men reserve for the seduction
of other women" (1960:58). Jealousy also motivates men to forbid
their wives
to submit to physical examination by a male physician; this in turn
prevents many
wives from learning about effective contraceptive methods and birth
control.
Factors favoring human fertility: masculine virility . double
standard of sexual
behavior male authority .... fear of the wife's infidelity fear that
birth control
may impair one's health • • • . psychological
reactions in
coitus • • • • lack of information cultural
distinctives.
Both men and women, in ignorance, fear that birth control may impair
one's health.
We need not be onduly surprised that such apprehension exists for it
may be remembered
that serious charges have been made against oral contraceptives by
medical authorities
in our so-called enlightend United States. Many Puerto Rican husbands and their
wives believe that birth control methods cause cancer or other serious maladies
in women. Common views include the notion that diaphragms get trapped
in the vagina
and can he removed only by major surgery. Sterilization, it is
assumed, can cause
a woman to he chronically ill and helpless. One husband offered a
typical feeling
in these words: "I have never used prophylactics with my wife nor will I.
That is dangerous because if it breaks the woman may die if that stays inside
her womb" (Stycns, 1968:74).
Another cultural attitude rests largely upon psychological reactions in coitus.
Many men are convinced that condoms destroy pleasurable sensation in the sexual
act. We may challenge this stated reason for evidence seems to suggest that it
is a rationalization for a more basic premise. In their double standard system,
Latin men think women should be classed as "good" or "bad."
Bad women are the prostitutes with whom the man can enjoy themselves sexually,
hot good women are those desired for wives. The good woman is to be
treated with
respect and reserve an attitude that influences many husbands in their sexual
life with their wives with the result that marital sex tends to he mechanical
with little affection and eroticism. This persists as a culture
pattern because
the husband ascribes purity to his wife, while she has inculcated
from her parents,
especially her mother, the conviction that sex is ugly and
unladylike. Small wonder
that these false postulates tend to develop passivity and frigidity
in many wives.
Consequently men, who seek to demonstrate their virility in impregnating their
wives, resort to prostitutes for erotic and sensual sex experiences. Since in
so doing, they are threatened by venereal disease from prostitutes,
they are willing
to use condoms, which in turn become associated with the world of
evil and which
are inappropriate for conjugal intimacies with wives who are related
with sacred
bonds. As one husband confessed, "Those things I don't use with my wife,
because it debases my wife to use something that is used with prostitutes"
(Stycos, 1968:75).
Lack of Information
Unquestionably absence of accurate information and lack of
communication between
spouses about sex and child birth are unfortunate characteristics in
many sociocultural
groups. Even where literacy and education are cultural foci, facts
about sex and
reproduction may be shrouded in prudish ignorance, or worse, information about
birth control may be erroneous because it is derived from questionable sources.
Unfortunately in some cases distorted ideas are propagated by zealous
religionists
holding views contradictory to fact. Cultural premises may include puritanical
attitudes by husbands and wives who consequently are ashamed to discuss sexual
matters between themselves or consult competent authorities. An
exaggerated sense
of modesty is often a cultural principle to the degree that couples, especially
wives, are reluctant to seek birth control information. So pronounced is this
modesty concept in some cultures that wives refuse to submit to
physical examination
by a male physician and some are even ashamed to he seen by their own
husbands.
Examples about misinformation and restricted communication forming
part of cultural
value systems may he cited for Latin America, Islamic countries,
India, and elsewhere
where population growth rates remain high. Obviously the decision to
effectively
employ birth control methods is a mutual one between spouses. Husband and wife
may have knowledge about contraception but if cultural beliefs hamper freedom
to discuss intimate matters between themselves, it is not likely that effective
action can he implemented. Contraception and limited human fertility
depend upon
couples aware that their wishes are shared. Intensive and extensive educational
schemes must not only be introduced in many countries but these programs must
be directed by those cognizant with acculturatiooal processes and
cultural factors
already cited as well as the following selected at random from
various societies.
Other Cultural Factors
Barnett provides an absorbing description of the role played by
children in transferring
and redistributing wealth among the Palauans in Micronesia (1960). In
this cultural
system, couples desire many children because the children are
considered potential
sources of services for the mother's kinsmen. The father is required
to pay what
Hoebel calls the "progeny price" which is compensation to the wife's
kin for its loss of a legal claim to the children that she will bear
If it is difficult to inform people in the Western cultures where education is valued and the need for birth controls is appreciated, it is infinitely more difficult to instill necessary ideas in peoples who link many children with cultural ideals.
(1966:345). The father in turn realizes reimbursement by an adoption
system whereby
wealthy people adopt by payment as many children as possible for prestige and
services. Children are thus viewed as a significant commodity in the economic
patterns of Palauao culture. To suggest that a man limit his
procreative activity
is to threaten his right to economic security. Birth control measures
meet stern
opposition here.
In his study of a south Indian village, Beals singles out a cultural
ideal bearing
upon India's massive population problem (1962). While conducting a
census in Copalpur,
he discovered a household containing fifteen people which in analysis led him
to observe that "This is a large household, the symbol of one
old man's success
in life. Few other men live to see a household full of children and children's
children. Out of one hundred thirteen households, only six have more than nine
members." In the succeeding paragraph Beals conveys something of
the pathos
expressed by a woman who informed him that nine of her children died
before reaching
adulthood (1962:13). But Western medical and health methods are
reducing the terrible
infant mortality rates while efforts to introduce birth controls lag
due to this
cultural equation that links family size to the successful life. The result is
staggering population increases among those who must choose between
the burgeoning
numbers and an adequate standard of living. Through lack of information about
the impending crisis, the villagers retain cultural views leading
them to conclude
that it is possible to have both.
African birth rates are high because in most cultures, many children symbolize
prestige and insure old age security. It is a truism for Africa that parents,
especially fathers, love children. Both polygyny and the levirate
persist amidst
changing cultures because these culture traits aid a man to father
many children.
In fact the desire to enlarge the family with many children explains
why sociological
paternity is more important to African men that biological paternity, a value
quite foreign to Western husbands who in all likelihood will divorce a wife who
bears a child not fathered by her husband. When Hoebel argues that the payment
by the groom and his family to the bride's family to legally establish marriage
should be labeled "progeny price," he reflects insight into African
attitudes. The critical factor in most African marriages is that the
wife produce
offspring greatly desired by the man but which can he his legally
only if an agreed
upon amount has been paid to the bride's family. Hoebel puts it in these words:
"Progeny price may be in part compensation for the loss of the girl by her
kinship's group, but is much more an act of
compensation to that group for its loss of a legal claim to the children that
she will bear" (1966:345). Commonly the cause for divorce in
Africa (as well
as in many non-Western cultures) is a wife's barrenness, and polygyny
is fostered
for the same reason-to provide progeny to the man.
The culturally-induced desire for many children is illustrated by
Gulliver's study
of Jie marriage in Uganda (1960). Jie marriage is primarily for procreation as
clearly revealed in fertility rites, and, equally significant, the
view that marriage
must be confirmed by the birth and survival of children.
Radcliffe-Brown succinctly
underscores this cultural principle in his assertion that "The
most important
part of the 'value' of a woman is her child-bearing capacity. Therefore, if the
woman proves to he barren, in many tribes her kin either return the
marriage payment
or provide another woman to bear children" (1950). High infant mortality
rates in Africa formerly limited population growth rates to offset
the high birth
rates stemming from these cultural incentives, but now medication and
health improvements
are lowering the mortality rate while birth rates remain at high
levels to aggravate
growing population pressures.
Abortion
The practice of abortion needs some comment in any summary of cultural factors
affecting human fertility. Abortion is practiced by practically all
peoples despite
its illegality in many cultures. A striking example of how this custom affects
population dynamics is provided by Schneider in his study of abortion among the
Yapese in the Pacific (1955). Prior to European contact, Yap's
estimated population
exceeded 50,000 people, but by 1945 when occupied by American troops,
the island's
population had declined to about 2,500, The Yapese express concern in
their admission
that something should be done "to have more babies."
Evidence indicates
that self-abortion is widespread among Yapese women during their
years of maximum
fecundity. The result is that 34 per cent of those interviewed
between twenty-six
and fifty years of age admitted that they have never borne children.
Schneider's
study revealed that Yapese culture encouraged non-responsibility in
early adulthood
with extended and multiple love affairs as a primary quest for erotic pleasure.
Pregnancy and childbirth are considered threats to the
culturally-favored amorous
adventures. Despite male objection, women may accomplish abortion in
secrecy easily
because tradition requires the menstruating woman to retire to isolated areas.
Here in seclusion, a pregnant woman (the pregnancy undetected by the
man) induces
abortion without her lover or husband being the wiser. Customarily pregnancy is
kept secret by the woman for the first three months, a time when the expectant
mother and her unborn child are highly vulnerable to sorcery. The
pregnant woman
has ample opportunity to accomplish abortion while visiting the
isolated menstrual
areas without detection because of this threemonth secrecy practice. Thus the
cultural milieu favors a practice among the Yapese threatening their
survival.
It is not likely that abortion will become the dominant means for
limiting human
fertility even though it may be effective as among the Yapese. Western ideas of
medical practice and health measures will undoubtedly advocate
inexpensive contraceptives
as the preferable method rather than the more costly,
and in some cases much more dangerous, abortive method. It is
possible that increased
emancipation of women and access to higher standards of living will favor that
most extreme method, sterilization, especially by couples who have had several
children.
Difficulty of Education
Unquestionably education is critical for disseminating safe and effective birth
control methods to retard population increases. But from the
viewpoint of cultural
anthropology, we must caution those seeking to implement educational programs
in cross-cultural situations. If it is difficult to inform people in
the Western
cultures where education is valued and the need for birth control is
appreciated,
it is infinitely more difficult to instill necessary ideas in peoples who link
many children with cultural ideals. Education will be effective only
to the degree
that cultural values and customs are understood and the principles of
acculturation
are applied. Among those who have explored the multi-faceted problems
in transcultural
communication, Barrett has provided what should be required reading
by every one
seeking to promote birth control programs in other cultures (1953).
Short of ruthless dictatorship and coercion, governmental policies
for restricting
human fertility can be implemented only by appreciating that the citizenry have
value-laden ideas about the "rightness" or the "wrongness",
the "desirability" or "undesirability", and
similar judgments
about procreating many or few children. Perhaps there is occasion for optimism
in Meier's conclusion that advances in science coupled with developed
technology
of communication will effectively disseminate birth control
information throughout
the world (1968). But cognizance of cultures is imperative in order to identify
those subtle factors affecting human fertility so that programs may be realized
and thus cope with the world's ominous population increases.
REFERENCES
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