Unlike the mother's brother and sister's son tie exemplified by Paddy and Tulum , the relationship between mother's sister and sister's daughter is not based upon obligation. The mother's sister is classifactory 'mother' to the child (because of the practice of sororate, she may also be the child's mother's co-wife). The mother's sister may assist in the education of the female child. In fact, the relationship between these individuals is usually very close. However, Meggitt (1974:12 7-128) reports that real mothers generally resent any interference with their child-rearing tasks. Indeed, such interference may result in particularly vicious fights between women. The mother-daughter relationship is also frought with conflict over childrearing. Grand mothers feel great affection for their grandchildren and often interfere with their upbringing. This interference results in numerous fights between mothers and daughters. In addition, the relationship between father's sister and brother's child is one w ithout obligation. Although the father's sister has no duties to fulfill in regards to her brother's children, ties between them are significant when the children are either close kin or reside in her country. However, the ties only exist under these circumstances, women are not interested in more distant relations as are men.
Women, therefore, interact within a circumscribed number of possible relationships. In addition, assistance and interest appears to be due to emotive, rather than obligatory, reasons. It should also be noted that in actual affinal relations women are being related by men who are endowed with power over them. The importance of this fact is shown in a description of a con flict given by Meggitt (1 9 7 4 :9 5 ). A woman who fights with the wife of her husband's brother may be beaten and berated by her husband. Therefore, if a woman puts her own feelings above her husband's important relationships with other men, she may suffer the consequences of male's physical superiority. This relationship is similar to that described by M illett in S E X U A L P O LITIC S . That is that the physical abuse of women by men is political in nature. Such actions reinforce male dominance over women as individuals, as well as a group, through psychological as well as physical means.
In addition, Meggitt reports that all forms of female solidarity except mother-daughter, are extremely tenuous. Forms of female solidarity exist between adulterous wives, co-wives, sister-in-law and sisters. Adulterous wives assist each other in their extra-marital affairs by not reporting to any male relatives. However, this trust is somewhat reluctantly given. A woman never knows when, because of some dispute, the other women will inform on her (1974:10 6).
Co-wives are usually united by affection and by the problems they both face as wives of the same man. Meggitt claims that the bond 'is a more intense form of the tenuous solidarity that most women display in the face of male superiority' (1 974:10 9). Co-wives share their possessions, not by law, but through affection. They hunt together and help take care of each others children. However, there does exist some rivalry between the women. In addition to problems concerning raising each others children, as reported earlier in this chapter, there is the rivalry of women who share the same husband. Meggitt (1974:78 ) shows that thirty-three percent of all married men have more than one wife. However, what Meggitt does not show is that fifty-six percent of all married women share the same husband. Thus, polygyny has a greater overall effect upon women than men.
Sisters should support each other and do display great affection for each other. However, as they may become wives of the same man, hostility may grow between them as they compete for the husband's affection. About th irty percent of all co-wives are related as sisters, half or full; and approximately three percent are parallel cousins (Meggitt 1974:79). Thus, although sisters should support and assist one another, the practice of polygyny may result in particularly vicious fights between them. Another form of female bonding exists between some sisters-in-law. This usually occurs if both were young when they were married. In times of birth, they may act as midwives to each other. However, if one of the sister-in-laws is older, then this friend ship will not usually develop. The older woman may see her position as one who is concerned with insuring that her brother is not cuckolded. If the younger woman does engage in an adultrous affair, her older sister-in-law will berate or even physically attack her (1974:162-163).
The strongest bond between women, that between mother and daughter, is one of the longest lasting in Walbiri society. However, girls are usually married and residing with their husbands by the tim e they are ten or twelve years old (Meggitt 1974:80). As marriage between communities is statistically about equal to those within a community, a significant number of girls are separated geographically from their mothers at an early age.5 In addition, even if a girl marries a man from her com m unity, she has gone from being under the control of her father to being under the control of her husband. Although the father and matriline still retain some con trol over her, her new husband receives the major control over her daily life. Previously, the mother may have been able to influence some of the decisions made about her daughter through her husband. The new marriage effectively destroys most of this influence. As the Walbiri prac tise mother-in-law avoidance and a young or old man must literally flee at the sight of his
5. Meggitt (1974:57) states that if a girl is very young (between the ages of seven or eight) for the first year or so, the couple will live in the young girl's parents' territory to lessen the unhappiness of the mother.
mother-in-law (Meggitt 1974:15 3-154), the mother of his wife is not able to exert any direct pressure upon her daughter's husband.
Whilst a form of female solidarity does exist, it is a tenuous bond. Most male alliances, as earlier discussed, are backed with prescribed behaviour and obligatory aid or exchange; female alliances are based on a common problem or kinship. It is interesting to note that the mother- daughter bond, which is affective and prescribed, is not broken by a dispute. Instead, they may be separated by distance. A t the very least the mother loses some amount of her personal power in deciding the future of her daughter to the girl's husband. This does not mean that women do not form social groups; on the contrary they do. However, their formations are on a much smaller scale than men's. Whilst men's stress obligation and assistance, women's stress friendship and primary female kin. Women will assist each other in fights and exchange gifts. However, in all but the mother-daughter and sister relationships, the friendship precedes the obligation. These female bonds are more tenuous than the male ties. In the case of kinship bonds, obstacles can be placed in the way. However, the second tie is dependant upon friendship; if the friend ship is broken, the support and exchange is stopped.
No woman can stand on her own in Walbiri society. Men, as earlier stated, tend to put their concerns before women's. Women do not have a large enough social group to put any pressure on men to fulfil their responsibilities to them. In addition, no framework exists to allow women to unite as a group. Thus, women must remain within the limits set by society and especially the men who have vested interest in them. This ensures some protection and modicum of security. Because women are important in Walbiri society, the men receive a great deal in return for their protection.
W O M EN AS OBJECTS FOR C O N T R O L
Women not only provide children, child care and the majority of food, but through these actions ensure men status within their society. Children are important to men. Regardless of the pain that fathers are said to feel when their daughters are claimed by their betrotheds, the taking of the child cements a bond between the men. Not only does bestowal in marriage of a girl child create a bond between tw o men, it reinforces the relationships of all men involved (i.e. MB, MMB). In addition, women by performing the more time consuming acts of child rearing and food gathering (including the preparation of food) allow men the time needed to reinforce their complicated network of male ties. As women are so important to men, I suggest that women cannot be allowed to make their own decisions. If women made their own choices, an already complicated system would be further complicated. Men would no longer be able to manipulate through the already existing male channels. Instead, they would have to negotiate not only with men, but also with women. This, given the male belief in the superiority of their