Christmas in Kalahari

552 Words3 Pages
Based on the article Eating Christmas in the Kalahari, Richard Lee attempted to purchase a large ox in order to repay the !Kung for their assistance. However, the !Kung ridiculed the ox by referring to it as an old bag of bones even though it was a large, fat ox. Public ridicule is a form of a social leveling mechanism in order to ensure an egalitarian social organization (see lecture). Lee experienced other social leveling mechanisms when the !Kung failed to express gratitude for his "gift". What is a social leveling mechanism (see lecture) and discuss two social leveling mechanisms that explain why the !Kung did not express gratitude for Lee's gift. Social leveling mechanism is a practice that acts to ensure social equality, usually by shaming or humbling members of a group that attempt to put themselves about other members. This practice is generally used in an egalitarian society such as the !Kung Bushmen. In an egalitarian society, everyone has equal access to resources and they do not want an individual to be more superior than others. In the article Eating Christmas in the Kalahari by Richard Lee, the !Kung Bushmen practice shaming the meat in the form of public ridicule as a form of social leveling mechanism toward Richard Lee. When Lee gave the !Kung an ox as a Christmas gift for their assistance, the !Kung responded by insulting the gift and said that if Lee was expecting them to eat the bag of bones and that the ox is thin to the point of death even though the ox was big and fat. Although the ox was very large in size and enough to feed everyone in the tribe, the !Kung displeased with the gift in order to balance out the social equality. The !Kung jokes that they would boil down the horns for soup because there was no meat on the ox. The !Kung did not express gratitude for the ox from Lee because the !Kung believe that the gift was arrogant. The
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