Namibia and Mexico: Comparison
The purpose of this paper is to compare the way residents of Mexico and the Bushmen of Namibia live. The topics being compared are the social institution of the family, stratification of gender and income distribution. While Mexico and Namibia are very different they do have some similarities. These differences are probably caused by the difference in the type of society they are: Bushmen being a hunting and gathering society, while Mexico is an agricultural and industrial society. By comparing two cultures to each other a better understanding of them can be achieved. Social Institutions: Social Institutions are organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs. (Sociology 118) Mexico and Namibia share a few of the same social institutions like family, but while they might be the same institutions they don't always fulfill the same purpose. A family is a set of people related by blood, marriage (or some other agreed upon relationship), or adoption who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society. (Sociology 349) The Bushmen live in tribes of their family. While Mexicans tend to live with a nuclear family and very often with some extended family too. Within b
Sense the Bushmen believe in equality and sharing wealth is divided up rather equally. Men are employed much more then women and they more likely to be paid more. (Global Sociology 151) Women gather roots and other plants to eat, cook, build shelters, make ornaments and look after the kids. (Sociology 213) In Mexico though the stratification seems much more intense, while the Bushmen's is quite minimal. The other job a mother is suppose to do is to care for everyone in her family and make them feel better. Another way the way the Bushmen make this system more fair is by giving ownership of the kill to whoever owns the arrow that killed the animal. As children grow up they usually financially support their parents, and if the child is working by the time they are 20 years old, they will most likely have paid back their parents for the cost of raising them. (Global Sociology 87) In the bushman culture everyone is considered equal and no one has authority over anyone else, not even parents over their own children. This includes politicians who embezzle money from taxes or foreign aid and not using it to help the real needy Mexicans. This system also allows the worst hunter to be able to gift meat some time. (Global Sociology 150) Maybe one reason women are viewed more equal is that both genders are bringing food, and in general women provides around 75% of the tribes food. (Global Sociology 88) In the bushman culture men and women have very different roles but they are view as equally important. Men are assumed to be better just because of their sex.
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