Codes of Sexual Morality and Adolescent Conflict in Samoan Society - Report Example

1 Your s of Sexual Morality and Adolescent Conflict in Samoan Society Samoan Society, like every other society that was colonized, has passed through stages of development that have been affected by these Anglo-European influences. Looking at the old codes of sexual morality and adolescent conflict in modern-day Samoan Society today, it will be interesting to notice that a lot have changed since this Micronesia country regained its independence. In those pre-colonial days, girls were expected to honor their bodies; this means that they should not expose their flesh in the public. This code of sexual morality was so deep within the old Samoan Society that some girls were even surprised when they happened to see the full picture of their bodies as expressed in this statement: “When I saw the insides of a woman’s vagina for the first time, I was not alone.” (Figiel 1). As girls advanced into the state of adolescent, they were so rustic in those days that the only way they could identify a girl with good hygiene is the absence of her body odor, as indicated in this expression about Afi—the most cultured lady in her community: “Boys paid her money to smell her pants. Grown men paid her money, too, just to smell her panties and bra. Some were even allowed to smell her panties while she was menstruating…if she was in the 2 mood for it.” (Figiel 2). In essence, the old Samoan communities, before the arrival of colonists, thrived on sexual purity and the respect for girls’ chastity. Most of the time, the chastity was rewarded by public admiration and praise for showing discretion about issues related to sexual matters. A girl with good moral and hygiene in those days became the envy of her friends and associates as recounted by some of Afi’s acquaintances: “Unlike us who were clean-clean always. And proud, too, of the fact that we saved lunch money to smell of Wella Apple Shampoo…which in turn led to none of the boys or men asking us if they could smell our panties …let alone our bras.” (Figiel 4). On the other hand, looking at the Samoan Society through the spyglass of the colonization, one could perceive that there typical changes in the areas of sexuality and the adolescent conflict that girls go through. One important American bequest to the Samoan communities is Christianity, and the advent of missionaries into this Micronesia country has caused some social shifts in religious and social connection to Christianity. Girls are growing up in Samoan communities showing more respect and recognition to their pastors, and not even their fathers or other members of their extended families. There are accounts of girls living in their pastors’ quarters, and from there engaging in all sort of behavioral maladies—for example, one eloped with a man from the pastor’s house; one ran away from her abusive father to live with the pastor; one decided to start a love affair from the pastor’s house (Mead 113). This development points to a disturbing trend whereby Samoan girls suddenly find themselves in a new freedom that allows them to do whatever they want. 3 As in every other nation where freedom exists, the new Samoan Society has become liberalized culturally and psychologically as girls identify their unique identity and recognize that they are different, in some ways, from the other people in their societies, as shown in this expression: “I am a girl. I am short. I have long hair. I love my sisters and all the people. I know how to weave baskets and fishing baskets and how to prepare paper mulberry bark. I live in the house of pastor.” (Mead 176). The statements above reveal something quite interesting about the modern-day Samoan girls: they could identify their physical appearances at younger age than before; they exhibit familial love among their relatives; they discover the importance of working hard in order to show to their societies their adolescent; and, finally, they live in the house of pastor, enthralled by the wonder and magnetic power of Christianity, which provides them the rare liberty. Comparing the two accounts of both the old and new Samoan Society described above, it is clear that the Samoan girls have been subjected to greater Anglo-European influence that has, in some ways, modernize their world. They have definitely lost their pristine beauty as a local girl; they have embraced the modern lifestyle that allowed to choose and act upon their own instincts. Running away from their households to live in the pastors’ houses could be likened to disappearing from the blindness of the old age into a bright new dawn of civilization. Although, this social or sexual transformation may not go well with the elderly people in Samoan societies, but these pleasure- 4 seeking girls are protected, at the pastors’ houses, from domestic violence of their biological parents who may want to instill in them the old sexual mentality. The good thing the modern lifestyle has imbued in the girls must be appreciated, which is understanding the significance of being hardworking. They love the jobs they do, and seem to be proud of their little achievements. The elderly people in Samoan Society may not agree with everyone that modernization has done their communities any good: today, the girls have no respect for their own bodies as they sleep with one man after another; they elope with men without the permission of their parents; they engage in other disgraceful actions which the previous code of morality may have totaled rejected. Most old Samoans may have considered modernization as a huge decaying process that has brought their societies to ruination over the past decades. Therefore, people of the old generation would never be grateful to the colonist, the missionaries and pastors that came to transform their communities into their current deplorable condition. In conclusion, the old and the present dispensations in Samoan Society have nothing special in common: the old code of mannerism forbids sexual immorality that reduces girls’ glory to nothing; it rebukes the rabid practice of sexuality that borders on prostitution and the lack of respect for elderly control. Surprisingly enough, one would have expected Christianity to encourage the Samoan girls to live more modestly and put 5 their bodies in a position of honor and not of fleshly decay. But the pastors have surprisingly turned themselves into agents of Devil, permitting the girls to disrespect the social order and pursue their selfish desires! Is not that outrageous? This may not be that unbelievable because churches and their pastors in America have done little or nothing to encourage women to dress modestly and not expose their flesh too much. So, why not Samoan girls doing the same thing? Everywhere in the world, two or more different cultures or civilizations are always in collision, and these have produced a total breakdown in law and order. The two writers looked at the issue from different perspectives: and it is evident in their accounts that they strongly supported their own personal opinions about the stories they are telling. But the question everyone should be asking is this: why should pastors provide such an avenue for Samoan girls to sin against God and disrespect their own parents and their societal norms and orders? Works Cited Figiel, Sia. Where We Once Belonged. New York: Kaya Press, 1999. Print Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001. Print Read More