The Reification of Women

The exchange of women, a phenomenon observed in tribal societies in many different areas of the world was a leading cause of female subordination. Women's biological vulnerability and childbirth led tribes to procure more women from other groups. This tendency toward the theft of women led to constant inter tribal warfare. Another consequence of this theft of women is that the conquered women were protected by the men who had conquered them or by the entire conquering tribe. In the process, women were thought of as possessions as things. They became reified while men became the reifiers because they conquered and protected women’s reproductive capacity are first recognized as a tribal resource then acquired as the property of a particular kin group.