76 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
76 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
The methods used by primitive people to prevent conception
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were many and varied, and were dependent on knowledge of the
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relationship between sex and pregnancy. The vast array of methods
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reported in various parts of the world testifies to the universality and
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the intensity of the human desire to regulate reproductivity. These
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methods include abstinence, prolonged nursing of infants, coitus
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interruptus, the use of potions, herbs and extracts thought to have
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contraceptive powers, spermicidal douches, and, in one culture, the use
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of a rope tied around a woman's waist. These methods are characterized
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by one or more disadvantages: they interfere with the sexual act, they
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are harmful to womeen, or they are totally ineffective. If human couple
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did try to practice contraception Paleolithic, it is little wonder that
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they still resorted to infanticide.
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Recent anthropological evidence suggests that both family
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planning and population control were very much a part of the
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pre-agricultural way of life. Many anthropologists believe that
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infanticide was a widely used method of family planning by the
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hunter-gatherer. During this age, it may have involved as much as 50 per
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cent of the total number of births. Infanticide spares the mother the
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risks to her health, which until recently, accompanied abortion. It
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allowed for precision in family planning since the lives of sick
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offspring and those of the wrong sex could be terminated while healthy
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offspring of the right sex could be spared. As late as the present
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century, the Bondei of West Africa strangled infants at birth is any of
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the numerous portents and omens for which they watch are unfavorable, or
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if the infant's upper teeth come in first. In Madagascar, all children
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born on certain unlucky days were killed to prevent them from bringing
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bad luck to the parents.
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The Rendille, a tribal of camel herders in the Kenya highlands,
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use a variety of methods to keep their population within the limits that
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can be supported by the camel herd. In addition to postponing the age of
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marriage of women and sending women to be married out of the tribe, they
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kill off boys born after the next eldest son is old enough to have been
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circumcised, and boys born on Wednesdays. Among this tribe, Wednesday's
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child is indeed full of woe.
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In a number of cultures, abortion is practised among women at
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the extreme ends of the reproductive continuum. Some abort their first
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pregnancies out of a belief that subsequent pregnancies will be easier
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to deliver. Fear of pregnancy at the upper end of the reproductive age
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range is apparent in other cultures which abort pregnancies taking place
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after a certain age. In one tribe a woman must not bear children after
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her daughter's puberty, which can be delayed, however, if the mother
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wishes to wear an amulet.
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Various methods of terminating pregnancies:
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Throughout Melanesia the practice of jumping from high places
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which was also a common method of suicide was widespread. Navaho women
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carried a log around, resting it on top of their abdomens. In New
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Britain women clasped the waist on both sides, pressing and working
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their fingers into their abdomen in an attmept to expel the foetus.
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Among the Crow and Assiniboine Indians, the unwillingly pregnant woman
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lay on her back, a plank was placed across her stomach and several
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women jumped up and down on the plank until blood spurted from her
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vagina.
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In one culture the woman lay on heated coconut husks, in another
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she lay on the coals of a fire that had been doused with water to
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produce steam. Irritating substances were also used, including ground up
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black beetles and irritating leaves. In one culture, ants were made to
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bite the abdomen of the woman, who then ingested them by mouth.
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Oral preparations thought to have abortifacient properties
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abounded. The Jivaro woman was forced to take a raw egg, presumably in
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the hope that the foetus would be expelled in the vomiting that ensued.
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The Masai had a number of methods, one of which was the eating of goat
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dung which acted as an emetic. The Menomini, a group of Algonquin
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Indians who lived in what is now Wisconsin, chopped up the tail harirs
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from the black tailed deer and administered it in bear fat, thus causing
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gastric irritation and possibly uterine contractions.
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The combination of magic, along with drugs or mechanical methods
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was common in primitive cultures, and represented a healthy commitment
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to the belief that the gods can always use a helping human hand. Among
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the Hopi Indians there was a belief that a woman may abort simply by
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wishing it. Among the Dahomeyan people in West Africa, if a pregnant
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woman was ill, the foetus was formally tried. If found guilty of causing
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her illness, it was aborted.
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