1450 



HORMONAL REGULATION OF BEHAVIOR 



This model for a hai)py life is seriously 

 interfered with by the very high sterility 

 rate and the uneven death rate, so that fam- 

 ilies are small rather than large, young 

 boys may be left responsible for 4 or 5 

 dependent women or children, or old men or 

 women be left with no one to care for them 

 in their old age. The poverty and burden of 

 hard work which accompanies such inequal- 

 ities, natural disasters, particularly rain and 

 hail, and finally death, to which their re- 

 sponse is a series of ceremonies to get rid 

 of the dead as thoroughly as possible, are 

 the principal blemishes on a way of life 

 which otherwise demands little except food, 

 drink, sex, and warm unintense friendliness 

 and tolerant respect from others, all of which 

 the cultural arrangements are adequate to 

 supply. 



Sex relations with one's betrothed and 

 with other permitted persons usually begin 

 right after betrothal, around the age of 12. 

 Menstruation is believed to follow inter- 

 course, and intercourse with a l)etrothe(l 

 spouse is believed to settle the marriage 

 down. In response to this belief, young girls 

 sometimes resist consummating the mar- 

 riage for several years, in spite of scolding, 

 shaming, and bludgeoning from their elders. 

 The Lepchas regard sex as comparable to 

 eating, regrets aging which mean dimin- 

 ished appetites, and report remarkable 

 potency in their sex relationships in which 

 there is little foreplay and no romance be- 

 yond the excitement of an accidental en- 

 counter. After children are born, adultery 

 — that is, copulation with other than poten- 

 tial spouses, which now include wife's 

 younger sisters, real and classificatory — 

 is forbidden as it might endanger the lives 

 of the children. 



The child is believed to be constituted 

 initially of semen and vaginal lubricant 

 (which is regarded as the counterpart of 

 semen) ; blood plays no role except to indi- 

 cate pregnancy. Intercourse is regarded as 

 beneficial and is continued right up to de- 

 livery ( and resumed very shortly after- 

 ward). At a later period in gestation, the 

 child is believed to absorb food through a 

 sort of nipple in the womb, and its growth 

 is not believed to deplete the mother. After 

 the fifth month it is believed to be com- 

 pletely formed even to hair, and from then 



on the parents must observe an elaborate 

 set of taboos, notably precautions connected 

 with various work activities. The sex of the 

 child in the womb can be changed by an ex- 

 change arranged with another pregnant 

 woman. For the birth itself, only strong mil- 

 let beer is prepared. The birth takes place in 

 the outer room of the two-room house, the 

 living room-kitchen, and all members of the 

 family may be present, but no strangers. 

 Any relative may assist the woman by 

 squatting behind her and pressing on her 

 breasts and belly. Anyone who knows how 

 may cut the cord. For 3 days after birth the 

 child is treated as if it were still in the 

 womb. The stillborn and infants who die 

 are immediately reincarnated as devils who 

 attack other children. When it is necessary 

 to wean a recalcitrant older child because a 

 younger sibling is born, the breast is 

 smeared with the excreta of the new infant. 

 The older child is told that the new infant is 

 a devil. 



Young children under 3, wearing no other 

 clothing than the shawl in which they are 

 loosely wrapped, are carried on the back. 

 Cliildren under 3 are carried a great deal of 

 the time. Toilet training begins at 3 months 

 when infants are taken out to the balcony, 

 but the disgust level is very low and very 

 little effort is put into actually training 

 them. The children are passive, unrestless. 

 pliant. When a child is somewhere between 

 3 and 5, the mother gives it a little haver- 

 sack which is kept continually filled with 

 food and from which the child learns to 

 share food with others. This early generosity 

 is in accord with the whole emphasis of the 

 society on giving, sharing, making presents, 

 giving feasts. Sex play is active and open 

 during childhood, but masturbating after 

 puberty is denied. 



From the age of 6 or 7 both boys and girls 

 are expected to share in the work of the 

 household, girls somewhat more than boys, 

 and by puberty they are expected to be able 

 to assume an adult's work burden, although 

 genuine maturity, ability to take respon- 

 sibility and initiative, lack of diffidence and 

 shyness are not expected vmtil a man is 

 about 30. Women mature somewhat earlier 

 under the greater pressure of adjusting 

 themselves to strangers. Respect is accorded 

 to age and to the re})resentatives of exter- 



