Fon Mission Team

SOCIAL STRUCTURES AMONG THE FON OF BENIN

Culture Report Nancy Vogt

Family

The Fon family is comprised of father, mother, children, and very often the father's other wives and their offspring. The extended family on the father's side is also often included when one talks of one's hennu (family). This is comprised of the father's parents, uncles and their wives, and brothers and their wives. The family structure is strongly patrilineal.

Sexual Relations

Most Fon who were interviewed considered sex education the be the responsibility of the father or uncle for boys and the mother or aunt for girls. Most also stated that the children also "learn" from their friends.

Several interviews attested that for a girl to stay a virgin before getting married is rare. One interviewee stated that in the past the girl would be at least 18 but now the younger generation starts as soon as the girl starts her period . To find a male virgin above the teen years is even more rare. A village girl is more likely to remain a virgin until marriage. Despite the supposed low percentage of female virgins, when one marries, she is questioned about her virginity and her previous sexual partners. If she found to be a virgin she is highly respected by the husband's family. She occasionally receives gifts for this. Most attested that the royal family are rarely virgins before marriage and rarely are faithful to their spouses after marriage. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant she usually tries to abort the fetus (by a doctor or herself) if she can not or does not wish to get married. An interesting note* The gods and ancestors see premarital sex as bad.

Since polygamy is an accepted form of marriage, sexual relations occur between the man and his various wives. The working out of sexual relations between a husband and his various wives seems to be a personal decision by the family. The man may favor one wife and thus spend more nights with her, or perhaps if one wife is pregnant or nursing, he will seek the companionship of the other(s).

Sexual Taboos

Faithfulness in marriage is considered positive for both husband and wife (wives) although it is considered practically normal for the man to be adulterous even while have several wives. If a woman is discovered to be unfaithful to her husband she is punished and usually sent away, it is also said that her children will die.

Various sexual taboos exist among the Fon they are: Incest does occur. The only examples given were those of a man being guilty. When discovered he is brought to the market nude and they beat drums while parading him for all to see. I was told they will beat him until it rains.

• A sister of the wife is usually not permitted to marry into the brother in law's family, particularly a brother to the husband.

• Sexual relations between family members other than a husband and his wives is forbidden and seen as incest.

• Rape is seen as a serious offense. The offender will be beaten and put in prison. He may also be poisoned.

Kingship Patterns

Consanguineal is the pattern of kinship where one is bound by blood relations. Biological relations of course include children of the same mother and father, and the biological family of both parents.

Affinial is the pattern of kinship where one is bound by contract. This includes the marriage ceremony where even non Fon may be included into the family group.

Appellations is a very common occurrence among the Fon. Any male family member or even a close friend may be called "brother". An older male family member may be described as "uncle" when in fact his is a cousin or nephew. The same occurrence is present with females being "sister", but is seems less frequent. Most people seem to specify "this is my younger aunt, or this is my cousin" for female relations.

Individual Responsibilities

Father/ Husband Takes responsibility for the economic standing of his family. He may be a farmer or may work in town at a business. If he can not or does not provide for his family he is seen as having failed in his responsibility. He helps to care for and discipline the children. He may be in charge of various animals around the house though this is most often the wife's task.

Mother/ Wife She may have her own business, usually involves selling items in the market or on the side of the road. Her income from these ventures is hers to do with as she wishes unless the husband has failed to provide food, clothing, medicine, or school supplies for the children. Most interviewees stated that she usually spends the money on the family needs.

The mother is said to teach the morals to the children. She is the primary care giver of the children. She, unless a daughter or niece is present and old enough, does the cooking, laundry, purchasing of household needs, keeps the house and court yard clean and any other needed household chores.

Children start very young having various responsibilities. As young as four they may be required to after their younger siblings. They help clean the house and court yard, they help with cooking, and some sell items in the market.

Nature of Relationship

Husband/ Wife The husband is always seen as the economic provider of the family though the mother may contribute to the household funds by selling or by some other means of commerce. The husband is also the protector of the family. It is his responsibility to be the head of religious affairs and to make the necessary sacrifices to the family spirit or ancestor.

Parent/ Child again the father is head over all unless he is absent from the family. There are cases where the child is given to a patron (or a family member) either as an apprentice or just as a helper. This is to alleviate the family's economic burden of caring for and feeding the child.

Living Location

The family compound is patrilocal. The wife, upon her marriage, goes to live with her husband's family. On a compound one may find the grandfather, his brothers, the father, his brothers, and the brothers of the husband himself along with all their wives. Due to plots of land becoming smaller with the dividing up among the males in a family, one most often finds only the husband with his wives and some of his brothers with their wives.

The husband and his wife and their children share the same hut/ house with the husband and wife sharing sleeping quarters differentfrom the children's. If there are several wives, each will have her own house and the husband may choose to have his own or may reside with his favorite wife.

Fields are usually close to the living quarters, but some families have large amounts of land and these plots are sometimes fartherfrom the family compound.

Marriage

Marriage is seen as the uniting of a male and female for the specific purpose of having children. To unite two families or lineages is seen as a secondary purpose. Children are often the deciding factor in a marriage. If a couple does not produce children within a certain time frame the family members on both sides begin to counsel the two parties involved to seek the advice of the bokono. When the "guilty" party of the non producing pair is discovered and steps are taken to become pregnant, if these fail, the other party often seeks divorce or with the man, simply takes another wife. A barren woman is shamed. The pride of the woman in to be able to announce the large number of children she has brought into the world (Azalou Tigbé).

The chief of the village or family may be the officiating member if an actual ceremony takes place. If the groom and bride to be are "Christian" they may seek to be married by a priest or pastor of their church, especially if the marriage is the first for both of them. In the villages there will often not be a ceremony, but simply after the dote is paid, the parents of the girl will set a date when she may move in with her new husband.

In the past, and perhaps still in some families (mostly in the village) an old paternal aunt would accompany the couple to their residence and remain outside until morning. If the girl was a virgin , the aunt would gather the cloth and the mother of the bride would keep it as leverage against the husband if there arose any disagreement or slander about her purity.

Mate selection seems to be widely a matter of personal taste. Family members may introduce or suggest possible mates for their "children". In most families, as the men seek to court the girl she is free to choose whoever she wishes to marry. Occasionally male friends exchange sisters to marry. As well, a girl may be promised to marry someone before her birth or when she is young. If when she is older, she refuses this man, her family may disown her or force her to marry against her will. A woman may take another wife for her husband if she is barren in order to have children in her name and honor. When the father dies, his brothers or sons can take his wives in marriage (except for the son's own mother).

Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder as no one could define what the Fon see as beautiful or handsome. Some (after much discussion) were able to give two examples such as white teeth and lighter skin.

Dissolution may occur for many reasons. As stated above, the absence of children is the number one reason to seek another mate. For a man, he may also seek a divorce due to dishonesty, laziness, or argumentativeness in his wife. For a woman she may seek a divorce for reasons of brutality, lack of financial support for her and /or the children, or drunkenness. Family members and friends will try to reconcile the couple and Daa (the chief) may be called on as well.

The Dote is paid by the man to the parents of the girl. The parents may and usually do ask for all of the following items with more or less depending on the financial status of the man: money, cloth, alcoholic drinks, rice, beans, tobacco, cigarettes. The male also provides clothes, household items, jewelry, money, and toilette articles for his future bride near the time of the ceremony.

Both Polygamous and Monogamous marriages are found among the Fon. Most women who were asked, were against their husbands having more than one wife. It seems that the younger generation is more often choosing monogamy though the divorce rate is increasing. The evangelical churches do not permit polygamy amongst their members, some do however make the exception if the convert was polygamous before, he then may become a Christian but not be a leader in the church.

Birthing

When a woman discovers that she has missed a period or two she will tell her mother, perhaps some close friends and her husband. It is always joyful news if she is married. The more children the better, and twins are highly prized among the Fon. A woman and her husband usually consult the shaman early in pregnancy and she is given a bracelet or cord for her waist for protection against sorcery. At 7 months they will again consult him to see how the child will come (easy birth or not) and if they need to do anything more.

In this generation, more births are occurring at the village maternity clinics where a trained nurse and/or doctor may be present (as well as a midwife). Only if the husband can not pay the fee for the clinic will the wife give birth at the house. Depending on the woman and the medical personal that are present she may choose to have her mother or an aunt or friend with her. The husband is never present during the actual birth. He is usually outside waiting, accompanied by family members and friends.

During the birth the woman and man call upon their "god" or perhaps several (his family's god, her family's god, as well as various ancestors). If a promise (a votive sacrifice) has been made to insure safe delivery (usually in the event of previous unsuccessful births or pregnancies) and if this occurs, the man goes to sacrifice a rooster or goat etc.

Naming

This cultural item is the first we missionaries have seen a need (along with the Christians in the church) to replace with a Christian substitute. In a non Christian environment various activities may take place depending on the family's economic situation and the traditions associated in their particular area. The ceremony itself usually takes place on the eighth day after the birth (1 week to the day). Friends and family members are invited. The parents and the child are dressed up in their best clothes. The ceremony is under the direction of the oldest woman in the quartier who receives no payment for this function. Under tradition the baby can not leave the hut until he /she is officially brought out to meet the world, otherwise it will become sick.

During the ceremony the baby is given its names and is given a prophesy concerning its life, for example "You will marry well and have many children", or "You will be rich if you work hard." One name will often be the catholic saint whose name coincides with the day of the birth, whether the family is catholic or not. The parents may also choose to name the child after an ancestor. Afterwards the parents of the child provide food and drink for the guests and the guest give gifts for the child, most often money. Some families shave the head of the child after the ceremony. It is not at this time that the shaman is asked which spirit indwells the child, this event comes 1 to 3 years later. After the ceremony some families will take the child to the field or to the water if they are fishermen by trade, to instruct the child of his lot in life to follow in the steps of his/her father or mother and ancestors.

Social Stratification

Status Systems

Among the Fon there is an open system. One may achieve great wealth and status through hard work or other circumstances. There is not a set system of status, though all those interviewed attested that most stay in the "lot" they were born into. Villagers stay villagers, are farmers or fishermen and are poor. Those in town are businessmen or have a job such as mechanic or welder or carpenter. Their wives may sell items in the market or from house to house.

Therefore, it seems that job and living location play a large part in how easy or difficult it may be to advance socially and financially. It seems that most social classes do and must interact with each other to a large extent. Those who would be an exception to this are the government officials and upper class people in Cotonou as well as some royal family members.

Vocational Guilds

All vocations I asked about had the following in common: apprentices, set prices, common money source, help given to a member in time of need, president and treasurer, sacrifices. The vocations that are included here are: mechanics, carpenters, masons, welders, tailors, butchers, forgers, chauffeurs. Each of these groups to varying degrees form a group to dissuade independent workers.

Each patron has his/her own number of apprentices, but there are general rules that the group makes concerning the knowledge necessary to "graduate", the time of lthe graduation (liberation), and the common knowledge of one anther's apprentices. Note* If an apprentice is banished from one patron another patron in the guild can not take him/her on as their apprentice.

There is competition from one carpenter to another or one mechanic to another but there is usually a range of prices that is acceptable. Price setting seems to be up to the individual within a certain acceptable range. Each guild may have a common money source in order to buy equipment, or help a member if he is ill, or his family if he dies. Each month individual members contribute to the common fund. There is a president and treasurer who are both accountable for the money. The president of the guild is also in charge of making sacrifices to the "occupational vodun" for the group. Some items for the sacrifices are supplied by the apprentices others from the group members themselves.

There is also another group who does not share all the above qualities: the sellers (usually women). Women who sell the same commodity sometimes pool their money to buy their produce in bulk from a far distance (example; if a certain fruit or vegetable is cheaper to buy in the villages, the women may pool their money to share the expense of transportation). I was told time and again that the first women to arrive at the market will set the prices for that day, however; everyone bargains so this process of set prices is still unclear. If a woman in the group has a child, becomes gravely ill, or dies, the others will pool their money to buy gifts for her children. If she dies they will not work until after her burial.

Secret Societies

The secret societies include: revenants, those given to fetishes (voudunsi), the leopard group, magicians, and the shaman. To enter most of these groups one takes a vow of silence about the secrets of the group. He or she will drink a potion undergoing an ordeal to prove their vow. They will give money, alcoholic drinks, and chickens for sacrifice. For the revenants some get blindfolded and beat to scare them into silence. I was told the story of a chief of the revenant who had an only son, one day his son, home from school, saw his father and friends dressing to prepare to the revenant "outing" the man killed his son to keep their human identity a secret.

* For more info see the culture report on Religion

Royalty & Court

The royal family in Abomey is especially revered still today as well as the king at Kinta and Porto Novo who are said to have strong magical powers. The president of Bénin will occasionally ask their opinions on certain matters that concern their towns. Many people fear and/or dislike the royal family calling them spoiled, arrogant, revengeful, and dishonest.

It is said that the females of the royal family have to pay a type of penance one a year for their sexual episodes, it seems they are expected to naturally be promiscuous, even if not. Marriage fidelity was not said to be a known quality of male or female members of the royal family.

View of Culturally Marginal People

The physically disabled seem to be taken well care of. Those who can not walk have wheel chairs and in Bohicon belong to a coop that raises vegetables to sell. I have seen many in town with both metal and wooden crutches, leg braces, and foot platforms. These items, to my speculation are bought or given by government or private donations (i.e. the catholic church). The mentally handicapped on the other hand, are taken care of by their family if at all.

When older they roam the streets receiving their food from whoever will give to them. They are recognized by their long matted hair and their brown torn and dirty clothing (males). The few females I have seen that seem to be in this state wear brightly colored yet dirty clothes (often many layers on top of each other) and are adorned with lots of bracelets and charms. I have seen the women digging in the garbage heaps looking for food. There are always rumors known by most in town, of how each individual became crazy by the working of gri gri done by a jealous person.

Villagers stay villagers, are farmers or fishermen and are poor. Those in town are businessmen or have a job such as mechanic or welder or carpenter. Their wives may sell items in the market or from house to house.