TABPA'AN, MANGAGAI, AND MON
GIZUT: FEMALE ATTITUDES
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF INDUCED AND FORCED INTERCOURSE
We have pointed out that tabpa'an is used as a euphemism for inducing
a woman to have intercourse, the only physical forcing being used
is to constrain the woman until she agrees or refuses. The terms
mongizut and mangagai I have translated respectively as "to
get a woman to fuck" and "to make a woman", since
the initial morpheme {mV-} in each case carries the sense of causing
something to happen, to use something, to make something, which
in these two cases is sexual relations. They cover the same semantic
field except that the latter term is considered more acceptable,
more proper. And the behavior indicated in all three lexemes covers
the field from seduction to persuasive argument.
However, in the projective systems the use of these three terms
sometimes also includes the application of physical force, which
can include the tearing of a woman's blouse and causing her to thrash
about in an effort to escape.
But in terms of actual behavior we have no jural cases involving
this type of force. And there is much ambiguity in using these terms.
For example, in eliciting the story about the water hole Pinonguvakan,
a retired headman said this was a case of mangagai. The only case,
he said. A few days later I asked him for other cases of mangagai,
and he said that there were a lot of them. And he gave me an example
of one that occurred during our original field session, which we
knew was in fact miagai. Miagai indicates that both were engaged
in "having an affair", and it was not the instigation
only of the man. In this case a man and a married woman had mutually
been involved in this and had carried on for some time before being
caught.
Also in discussing the problem of forced intercourse I have statements
from most of my male informants that this never happens among the
Rungus. For example, an informant in discussing the death of a married
woman who had been raped and killed on an oil palm plantation at
some distance from the village of our research opined that she must
have resisted the attack and so she had been killed. He furthermore
thought it must have been a Filipino who had done it, as he said:
"Our ethnic group does not kill; we only wait for the desire
(on the part of the woman)." The same informant said that if
a man puts his arms around a maiden (mongogobu') when she is alone,
and she says no to the advance, he will go away as he is afraid
of having the case brought before the village moot and being fined.
At another interview he said that if a woman was accosted and did
not want to have coitus, she would pick up a stick or a bush knife
and attack the man.
Another male informant in discussing physically forced intercourse
by the various ethnic groups and races in the district stated that
it was common in the various Islamic groups, but that it did not
occur often among the Chinese, the Europeans, and the Japanese.
As for the Rungus, he said they never did it. The woman can say
that she does not agree to it, and the man will stop; this is the
adat (customary law) of the Rungus.
Another informant said that if a woman is accosted and does not
want the man's attentions, all that she has to do is call for help.
But he added that if a woman was by herself and no one could hear
if she screamed, she could be forced into intercourse.
Our discussion of forced intercourse deals with the period when
Rungus culture was in full flower and before it had been eroded
by modernization. By 1990 a married Rungus woman was actually raped
in a nearby village by another Rungus. The explanation by the headman
of our village for this event was that now houses are scattered,
since people have moved out of the longhouse, and this makes the
woman vulnerable. Also, which he did not add, is the fact that all
the cultural controls of traditional Rungus life have been lost.
But this points out the fact that in traditional society it was
not only the cultural controls that inhibited rape but also the
social organization militated against a woman being sexually attacked
because of the lack of opportunity of a woman being found alone.
Male-Female Dominance
To return to the ethnographic present of our first period of field
work, women are perceived as not being as strong as men. "How
could a woman get away if a man held on to her, as he is bigger
and stronger!", one man said. Women are also not perceived
as being able to run as fast. They are not as brave as men. They
are more afraid of the potentially evil spirits called rogon than
are men. They are more afraid of headhunters. They won't go to the
swiddens alone, nor wait to come back after dark when there are
rogon about.
There are instances of a husband hitting his wife, referred to
as momobog, "to hit with fist or a stick". If a wife complains
to her relatives about this, there will be a moot. If the woman
is beaten without cause, the husband will have to give a piece of
brassware to her father, or her closest living relative. There are
times when a female hits her husband. However, one headman stated
that there would not be a village moot over this as she is not strong
enough to hurt him, to make him sore or bruised. But later the same
informant and other men said that there are cases of women hitting
men, and this has led to her giving a piece of brassware to her
husband's father.
This relationship of dominance is mirrored in the linguistic forms
used to indicate sexual relations. The man takes the initiative;
he is the actor. The woman is the recipient of the action.
Does Mangagai Ruin a Woman's Name?
If a maiden is induced to engage in intercourse (mangagai), or
if it were to happen that a maiden was actually forced to have intercourse,
this does not ruin her reputation. It does not lessen the amount
of her bride-price, and her wedding ceremony is the same as if she
were a virgin.
However, if a maiden has agreed to an assignation, then when she
is married, the wedding ceremony held for her is abbreviated, comparable
to that for previously married people. And she will not get the
one special item in the bride-price, a piece of brassware, that
is designated for her and given to her after the wedding. The other
items in the bride-price, as usual, are used to make up bride-prices
for her brothers or may be consumed by her natal family in hard
times for buying rice.
Jural Rules for Miagai and Mangagai
If a maiden and a bachelor are caught in intercourse, whether or
not it was the result of a previously arranged assignation, they
are made to marry. If it were the result of an assignation, as I
have discussed, the bride-price is smaller and the wedding abbreviated.
However, if a maiden is induced to have intercourse (mangagai) by
a bachelor, the bride-price and the wedding ceremony are the same
as if she were a virgin, except that the young man must give to
the bride's father a small piece of brassware on top of the bride-price.
In both instances, the pig given for the marriage ceremony has
to be larger than usual, and the spirit medium receives a higher
payment for her work over the sacrificed pig because of the ritual
heat that must be dissipated in the ceremony.
If the parents of the maiden, in the instance of mangagai, do not
accept the young man, he must pay a fine of a gong to them. However,
we were not able to obtain any cases of this.
If the individuals engaged in illicit intercourse have spouses,
in addition to providing a larger pig for sacrifice to dissipate
the ritual heat, ritual payments must be made to their spouses as
well as compensation in the form of a piece of brassware.
The fine for forcing a married woman to have intercourse is two
gongs. However, again there are no cases of this that I could elicit.
It was the opinion of the headman that, nevertheless, there must
have been cases of forced intercourse in the past, or there would
not be the knowledge of the appropriate fine.
If a married man only accosts a woman (tabpa'an), he must also
give a piece of brassware to his father-in-law in addition to the
compensation he has to pay the woman's husband or the maiden's father.
Female Accounts of and Attitudes Toward Forced Intercourse
None of our female informants knew of a case of forced intercourse.
A woman can always refuse, it was maintained, and a man would always
obey the woman's wishes. It is not possible for a man to force a
woman to do anything she does not want to, it was stated. However,
it is the "behavior", the "make up" (buatan)
of men to want to try to get women to engage in intercourse. Furthermore,
if forced intercourse were attempted, the woman would scream, and
the man would be ashamed, would be afraid of suffering a fine, and
would stop, it is stated.
In marriage, if a man wants intercourse, and his wife doesn't,
he would not force it, unless he did not have bahazan. Bahazan can
be translated as "character", "honor", "integrity".
One could never say that a man forces intercourse after the married
couple have become miobas, "accustomed to each other".
One informant said that women never tell their husbands that they
don't want to have coitus, unless they are sick or menstruating.
Women always want children, and they know that coitus makes children.
Evidence of Induced Intercourse
After eliciting the story given previously of the headman needing
evidence from women who alleged that they were accosted, I asked
one middle-aged woman what could be used as evidence of mangagai,
induced intercourse. She replied but used the term miagai, which
indicates that both were equally involved rather than the term mangagai,
which marks that it was the action only of the man. She listed the
following types of evidence: a headcloth, a shirt, and the wide
belt worn by men. Also a woman can mark a man on his back with the
lime used in betel chewing.
With women denying that forced intercourse can happen, and maintaining
that if they say no their wishes will be respected, it is somewhat
contradictory that some women know of ways to identify men who attempt
forced intercourse or succeed in such. There are, of course, several
sources and interpretations for this. Woman may have learned of
these methods from the cautionary tales that are narrated. These
techniques for identifying any man forcing intercourse may themselves
be informal sanctions to prevent this, since the man can be identified.
And the discussion of these techniques may also represent a projection
of their unvoiced fears of having to submit.
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