< back to Sex and Aggression index

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.


< previous     next >