Crystal MendozaKristen GomezKaitlin BurkeGeorgia Huston

Adolescent PsychologyDr. Sara Villanueva2 December 2013

MOSUO CULTURE

Introduction- Origins•Population: 40,000 people.•Lugu Lake in Southern China•Known as “The Kingdom of Women” - matriarchal community. •Tibetan Plateau•No standing army • Isolated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTrARDa8BU

Mosuo Women- China

Physical Milestones of the Mosuan culture

•Age of Sexual Autonomy•Age of puberty•Physical Maturity

• (Most information is with a hetero couple)

Additional Biological Variables•Diet•Lifespan•Education•Isolation•Health

Gender Roles•Walking Marriages—women have more power•Family Responsibilities—men have less responsibility •Children live in maternal household

Ceremony Life

•Ceremony occurs at 12-14-years-old•“Skirt Ceremony” for girls•“Pants Ceremony” for boys

Cognitive Domain•Synaptic Pruning—”use it or lose it” principle• Agrarian society with emphasis on family-focused relationships

•Gender roles vary significantly• Both girls and boys are taught to value, seek, and enjoy sexual activities•Women do majority of physical/manual labor

Language and Education•No written language—all history, culture, and religion passed down orally• Formal education system extremely underdeveloped• Clash of traditional rural/familial education with formal education• Very few students graduate from high school, few-to-none attend college

Belief Systems

• Tibetan Buddhism• Four Noble Truths

1. Presence of Suffering2. Desire brings Suffering3. Suffering can be ended through achieving Nirvana4. Steps to Nirvana are known as the “Noble Eightfold Path”

• Daba • “Original” religion of the Mosuo culture, has been largely

replaced by Buddhism in recent history• Nature worship• Daba priests still called to perform special events

Closing• Uniqueness of the Mosuo CultureoWalking Marriages/ Women

as head of householdo“Skirt” and “Pant” Ceremony to

mark the age of adulthoodoVariation/reversal of gender roles in the household

•Western World vs. Mosou culture• Tourism in the area has recently boomed.• The modern is growing around the ancient.

ReferencesComing-of-age Ceremony. (2011, June 29). Retrieved November, 2013, from Lugu Lake,

Mysterious Women's Kingdom website: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/yunnan/luguhu/2011-06/29/content_12799765.htm

Gong, B., & Yang, C.-L. (2012, June). Gender differences in risk attitudes: Field experiments on the matrilineal Mosuo and the patriarchal Yi. In Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and Competition, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.06.010

Journeyman Pictures, & ABC Australia. (1995, October). Mosuo Women- China [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTrARDa8BU

Long-term and sustainable Projects for the Mosuo Minority. (2013). Retrieved November, 2013, from Hidden China website: http://www.hiddenchina.net/web/eng/unterstuetzung_mosuo_support.html

Mosuo: A mysterious matriarchal group in china. (2003). Retrieved November, 2013, from China Culture website: http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_curiosity/2004-05/11/content_47041.htm

The Mosuo Culture. (2006). Retrieved from Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association website: http://www.mosuoproject.org/main.html

Mosuo of China. (n.d.). Retrieved from JoshuaProject website: http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=18610&rog3=CH

Shaitly, S. (2010, December 18). Is China's Mosuo tribe the world's last matriarchy? Retrieved November, 2013, from The Guardian website: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/19/china-mosuo-tribe-matriarchy

Stacey, J. (2009). Unhitching the Horse from the Carriage: Love and Marriage Among the Mosuo. Utah Law Review. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=6c0be89a-c7b7-41eb-9be5-9815e7da024f%40sessionmgr12&hid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=59997723