Paiela “women‐men”: the reflexive foundations of gender ideology

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Abstract
Paiela notions about femaleness and maleness stem from an indigenous reflexive doctrine concerning the character of “women‐men” or humanity. This reflexive doctrine, that “we” are both “good” and “bad,” serves as the semantic key to a rather unique social structure predicated on a distinction between domestic and public domains and its moral entailments. The way in which gender functions as a master code of that structure is explored at length. In a concluding section, possible global applications of the analysis are proposed and, more cautiously, an explanation of the sources of women's inferiority in a certain class of societies is offered without recourse to reductionist argumentation. [gender, women's status, Melanesia, social structure, reflexivity]