The purpose of the Cuban quince ritual is not to arrange the woman for wedding, but for sex-life and you may thru it, possibly to reproduction and you may motherhood
Regarding the performances of your own quince ritual, the women’s sex isn’t directed in order to a single solitary man who would depict the girl future husband, but rather into men in general, worrying the lady reputation because a different, yet , heterosexually-established seductress. Which usually turned into clear in this per year otherwise two of the routine since the a lot of my young informants tended to become pregnant to their possession, maybe not a partner. Motherhood doesn’t need relationships from the Caribbean additionally the and make of a lady into a totally gendered, heterosexual mature woman is far more very important than their signing up for a person in-marriage. The caretaker of your own lady performs an extremely special role inside the this step, the main cause of which will be exposed on the Cuban kinship design.
Quince and you may Caribbean Matrifocality
Quince – once the a ritual produced by females, and you may remembering Cuban ladies due to the fact potentially reproductive seductresses – was linked to the Cuban kinship build, and also to the brand new matrifocal kinship structure largely common on Caribbean. 18
Kinship affairs certainly my Cuban informants were characterised by the a strong matrifocal interest, a feature which is seen to signify Caribbean communities inside the an excellent a lot more general feel. 19 When you find yourself matrifocality keeps often come appointed as a keen Afro-Caribbean family unit members setting specifically (elizabeth.grams. Clarke 1974: 75, 131; Smith 1974: xi), most other experts view it since the characterising kinship connections in the area alot more commonly (age.g. Safa 2005). I detailed zero such as for example ‘racial’ or ‘ethnic’ variations in Cuban kinship relationships, due to the fact exhibited, by way of example, by the facts extremely families certainly one of my personal informants was basically highly ‘mixed’ in terms of body the colour. Based on my fieldwork, We check Cuban kinship relations having an effective matrifocal desire much more essentially (get a hold of in addition to ibid.).
In the traditional concept of the new Caribbean matrifocality developed because of the R.T. Smith, it’s no. 1 the girl inside her role as the mommy will get the new heart of relatives (1996a: 42). While the family relations depend on the partnership within mom and also the child, dads usually have pupils in almost any additional house, whereas the ladies will often have each of their college students coping with them (Olwig 1996: 138). Men are usually named marginalised since fathers, nevertheless energy of consanguine bond means they are faithful as the sons, brothers and you will uncles (Smith 1974: xi; Smith 1996a: 14). The truth that the father is usually ‘missing’ throughout the family construction (i.elizabeth. the guy lives someplace else) creates an over-all focus on matrilateral kinship connections. 20 Your general fret of kinship interactions is found on the brand new mother is actually emphasised in the manner in which my personal Cuban informants will emphasised the main obligations of the mommy more students which have a good proverb claiming: “mom is just one together with father anyone who” (madre es la sola y padre cualquiera 2007).
From the good emphasis on motherhood, it is the girls’ adolescence ritual that’s of importance in the Cuban area. Lifecycle traditions create especially apparent the fresh main public departments away from a beneficial area (select van Gennep 1960), and they may also represent one social opinions out-of a culture (look for elizabeth.grams. Huntington & Metcalf 1979: 2). Lifecycle traditions for this reason connect for the extremely important implies on design away from kinship affairs, because included the fresh social kinds and you will viewpoints relevantly defining public lives is actually rendered particularly apparent.
Girls’ changeover toward totally gendered and you can sexual adults try main because the of its essential role because mothers from the kin design. When you are transformed into an older adult the woman is additionally changed into a possible mom. It is extreme to your girl’s mother due to the fact development of the brand new matrifocal kin classification accelerates this lady updates just like the a head out of the fresh kin classification. She actually is valued while the she will be able to state they has put several other representative able to expanding the latest matrifocal kinship design. Because of this quince is really so important for the 
women’s mother, as to why she actually is congratulated quietly of her child and tend to retains a main reputation on organisation of your own occasion. It rewards their 15 years off efforts from the increasing out of their and you may produces the lady at some stage in tomorrow, a prospective granny or great-grandmother, the brand new recognized direct regarding a good matrifocal kin classification. 21