Kinship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kinship - Essay Example The lack of technology and advanced industrial techniques has left the Semai living a life, which would be considered primitive among many of the cultures currently existing in the world today. It is due to this lack of technology that they were driven to live in the northern parts and mountains of Malaysia. In addition, this has substantially had an effect on them not only culturally, but also economically and in their lifestyle. Since they are not very technologically advanced and they live in the more remote regions of Malaysia, sustainment is a key issue (F & D Nagh, 1998). The Semai are practiced horticulturists and have learned how to adapt and grow plants in the extreme environments. This comes as a result of many years of practice and tradition to get the point where they can sustain their entire society comfortably. It can be inferred that due to the lack of technology and the isolation of the culture that this is what lead the Semai to be so peaceful. Many psychologists bel ieve that anger and violence is a learned trait in that as modern children are sometimes exposed to violence at a young age. Since the Semai are well isolated and practice a policy of nonviolence, there is not an easy way for violence to pervade into their culture. Social organization also plays an important role in the group dynamics of a tribe. Each tribe or collective culture in the world operates on a set of definitions such as their value and beliefs system, which dictates how the society acts and what each individual’s role in society is. In the Semai society, democracy and equality is promoted. Since there is no aggression and competition, this limits the chaos that appears in a normal society such as that in a city or a town of an industrialized and technologically enhanced society. By keeping to the rule of peace and no aggression, the democratic system of operating is able to function and everyone is able to coexist with one another (Moss, 1997). As stated previousl y, the social organization of the Semai is based on the fact that they are a peaceful society. They work on a policy that everyone within a tribe is entitled to a say, hence the highly democratic nature. When it comes time to make decisions involving the community, they do meet at a central location and hold a town hall meeting. There is usually one person who presides over it; they do not control it. They just make sure that there is organization to the whole meeting and that what is needed to be covered is addressed. Once again, the peaceful and equal nature of the Semai is what allows them to operate in this manner in comparison to other cultures in the world. In many cultures, even the ones that are industrialized, there are gender differences and these often create problems in society. For example, in the competitive nature associated with business in America, many females often refer to a â€Å"glass ceiling† in that there is gender discrimination as far as promotion wi thin an organization goes. In gender structuring, there are also often roles, which are considered to be gender dominated. In the case of the Semai, there is no determined gender structure, much like in their social organizatio