Devon Bennett

November 24, 2003

Life of a Community

            Men live because they are going to die. Or perhaps they die for having done so much living. It is the fact that humans are subject to death that creates the desire to live, and to make the most of that life. “The collective experience that life and nourishment result from terror, the encounter with death and destruction, binds the mystai together and adds a new dimension to their lives.”[1] The surety of death and the completely indefinable thereafter instills in man the need to survive, to prolong his life and make it mean something. This drive to find purpose in life is the very thing that makes communities successful. Interacting one with another and working together, members accomplish more than would have been possible individually. Having interacted, they leave an impression such that, though the body may go the way of the elements, the memory lives on in the community. Their discoveries and wisdom live on in the succeeding culture as one generation builds upon the innovations of the last. If continuity of life is ensured, men have a purpose. The citizens of a community employ many factors and variables in determining the definition of that purpose, and the extent of their contribution to it. The roles of men and women are based on their gender differences and joint capability of producing new life in the form of children. Food and its consumption take on a major role in public ceremonies for their inherent life-giving trait: nourishment. The advent of religion has, since the dawn of civilization, given mankind hope that there is truly something after death, and a renewal of life is possible. The factors of sex, religion, and food contribute to the creation and endurance of communities as mankind struggles to find purpose, meaning, and validation in his own existence.

            It must be stated and remembered that all modern civilizations had a beginning, and all of humanity has a single origin. “Man could recognize that he still is what he once was long ago, that his existence is defined by the past.”[2] It holds true that now, as in the beginning, men and women have separate and distinct roles and contributions in the organization of communities. In his search to pinpoint this origin in relation to Greek anthropology, Walter Burkert illustrates that in the very first tribal units the men hunted while the women raised children. “Hunting is man’s work requiring both speed and strength; hence the male’s long, slender thigh. By contrast, since women must bear children with ever larger skulls, they develop round, soft forms.”[3] Middle Eastern tradition has for centuries publicly segregated men and women. “I had elected to live like the women of El Nahra – in relative seclusion behind walls, not meeting or mixing with men.”[4] Throughout fishing towns of northern Europe , men fished as women tended the home. “Daughter of the second officer of a maritime ship. Her mother was the hub of a family life.”[5]  The scene of early American politics saw nothing but male participation. National government in the United States did not even allow voting rights to women until the 19^th amendment was passed in 1920: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”[6]

            The question of why this sexual disparity exists is answered in the intrinsic value of women to society. Childbearing provides lineage, continuity of life, rendering a woman’s role as mother indispensable where the future of the community is concerned. Birth into a specific community is one of the strongest points of inclusion across the globe. “Those born in the Federative Republic of Brazil, or those born abroad of a Brazilian father or a Brazilian mother” are considered legal citizens of the Republic.[7] The Greek portray women as nigh unto deity in goddess statues, accentuating those feminine qualities associated with childbirth. “The goddess is portrayed with her legs spread wide so as to give birth.”[8] Virgins are even sacrificed as perfect offerings to ensure victory in war, and consequent survival of community. “Erechtheus’ daughters offered themselves up for sacrifice. Their death guaranteed success in the subsequent bloodshed and victory in battle.”[9] Iraqi groomsmen will only take a girl to wife if she is found to be sexually untouched, the distinguishing quality of a ‘worthy bride’. “The women surged into the compound to see the bloody sheet displayed by the bride’s mother and the groom’s mother, incontrovertible evidence that the girl was a virgin and a worthy bride.”[10] The African American tradition brought to the New World , and present at least through the early twentieth century, also placed women in the home. “Janie had breakfast halfway done when he bellowed from the barn… ‘You don’t need mah help out dere, Logan . Youse in yo’ place and Ah’m in mine.’”[11] In other words, it is her task to provide for and nurture the next generation to guarantee that communal identity carries on into the future. The exclusion of women from the political anarchy surrounding the adoption of the American Constitution can even be seen as implying this end, as the inalienable rights referred to by its author are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. “They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty , and the Pursuit of Happiness.”[12] Tradition here does not make a place for women in public or politics. A women’s place has already been well defined: her contribution to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is that of childbearing and the later rearing of those children in the knowledge and support of the democracy.

            The placement of women on this proverbial pedestal need not be limited to physiological reasoning. The Greek maiden sacrifices were indeed voluntary, and based not solely upon the power of procreation, but also in the communal belief in a higher power of protection. “In the religious ritual and the resultant worship of a god, the cohesiveness and continued existence of a group and its culture are best guaranteed through one supreme and permanent authority.”[13] Religion, like propagation, unites the community in the sense of providing for the future.  “Practically all human cultures are shaped by religion; this indicates that religious ritual is advantageous… for the continuance of group identity.”[14] If there is a supreme power controlling the elements otherwise uncontrollable by man, this being can be entreated to bestow blessings upon mankind, both in the mortal and immortal future. “People act collectively as though an invisible, quasi-human being were present whom they must worship.”[15] The very title of Zora Neal Hurston’s work leads to the inference that Their Eyes Were Watching God. While her characters’ practice of a recurring day of worship is not as deeply rooted in faith as are other cultures’, there is definitely a tie to Christian dogma and divine dependence. “Joe Starks hadn’t been dead but nine months and here she goes sashaying off to a picnic in pink linen. Done quit attending church, like she used to.”[16] Janie’s blatant disregard for the accepted actions of a lady in society was seen as a deviation from religious code, as well as moral obligation to her deceased husband. Religion is likewise inherent in Muslim and Islamic cultures as they employ many types of spirits to influence the course of events throughout the community. “They purchased charms to make cruel husbands kind, indifferent ones loving, to prevent divorce, to keep new babies safe from the Evil Eye.”[17] Even the Declaration of Independence, the mother document of a country promising religious freedom and separation of church and state, is not void of allusions to the heavenly Being and its parental traits. “The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”[18]

            Exploring towards the death of members of the community and the religious implications thereof, identity and tradition find many of their meanings steeped in funeral rites and rituals. The celebration of martyrdom fuels the Shiite-Sunni division in many Iraqi villages. “Shiite communities commemorate Imam Hussein’s martyrdom. Hussein’s death contributed to the split into Shiite and Sunni sects which persist in Islam to this day.”[19] Not only the Greeks, but also many predating civilizations enshrined their deceased ancestors, aligning the bones in a natural order as if to force rejuvenation of life. “The gathering of bones, the raising of a skull or stretching of a skin is to be understood as an attempt at restoration, a resurrection in the most concrete sense.”[20] Burial rights were used as a form of inclusion/exclusion[21] after the hurricane in Florida . “They makin’ coffins fuh all de white folks. ‘Taint nothin’ but cheap pine, but dat’s better’n nothin’. Don’t dump no white folks in de hole jus’ so.”[22] The human preoccupation with the afterlife suggests a common belief that the deceased are either able to return from wherever death has taken them, or that they now have some influence on those people left behind, as a result of having passed to a higher sphere of existence. Tying past with present, and both with future, funeral traditions, or even the general treatment of the dead, build a lasting distinctiveness of community, offering a heritage man can bestow upon his posterity, and a purpose for his having been alive.

            Religion is not, however, the only characteristic bonding individuals into communities. The use of food in public settings is used as a near religious form of communal gathering. “Thus the inner circle of participants [of the sacrifice] is brought together in a communal meal, transforming horror into pleasure.”[23] Many religious rituals may never have endured so long without the inclusion of the feast or banquet. Here the perhaps ill ‘horror’ of sacrificial carnage is transformed into the ‘pleasure’ of dining. Any activity not having a direct effect on societal living can be transformed into a necessity if food is involved. Celebration of the arrival of electric light to Eatonville’s streets would not have been as gratifying without the accompanying feast. “Y’all know we can’t invite people to our town just dry long so. I god, naw. We got tuh feed ‘em something, and ‘tain’t nothing’ people laks better’n barbecue.”[24] When residents of Tarrnby have little more to do than aimlessly converse, refreshment is provided, and food becomes a social contribution. “In Tarrnby we found ourselves captives of coffee hours. These dominated socializing on the island. Fending off the ritualized consumption of sweets proved to be the number one field challenge in Tarrnby.”[25] The preparation of sustenance can even be a means of demonstrating cooperation and teamwork, as in the feast days of Ramadan, celebrated throughout Iraq and other Islamic nations. From the senior wife supervisor to the official butcher, daughters and cousins peel squash, chop spinach and prepare other needful things for the feast of Ramadan.[26] If one is either eating, or providing for another to eat, that is an achievement towards continuity of life and an act of communal service.

            Not only is it pertinent to define sex, food, and religion as key parts of society, but also to demonstrate the difficulty inherent in addressing each separately. The three are so interlaced that it is unclear as to whether one is more ancient or more important. “The most widespread element in funerals—so obvious it may seem hardly worth mentioning—is the role played by eating, i.e., the funerary meal.”[27] Feasts are present in religious rites dating as far back as records exist. The role of men, women, and God is defined repeatedly by religious dogma. “A society can exist only by means of common concepts and feelings which, in turn, are developed through society’s effect on the individual.”[28]

            In an intricate weave of the shared qualities in a society is found a paradox concerning the origin of communities. The structure of a community is identified in its characteristics as they are a benefit to its members. However it is the members that create the community before any structure can exist. Do the members, therefore, come first and build a community, or does the community make and shape the lives of its members? In examining today’s communities, those with higher population growth and density are clearly more productive, having a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than other countries with sparsely populated communities. The United States of America and Brazil , with the largest single-city populations and the fastest growing demographics, possess the highest GDP of the nations herein studied.[29] But people move to these large cities, in theory, because the GDP is high, and the people are earning well.[30] The solution to this paradox is presently unimportant, as it matters only that both factors exist: members shape their community, and are shaped by their community as well.

            Belonging to a community provides men with a sense of accomplishment, having been part of something greater than anything attained independently. ‘The needs of the many outweigh the need of the few or the one;’ ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’—both are excellent adages in describing the profit of collective habitation. The means by which communities achieve success—by creating purpose and unity through religion, social banquets, and familial structure—are intrinsic to their persona and function. These three aspects, distinct yet combined, define the position of mankind and his reason for living. They illustrate the contribution offered and the benefit gained through communal life; that is, as men and women live and work together, their legacy leads to greater levels of productivity and purposefulness of life.