Birth after Death: Men and Reproduction in Two K'iche' Maya Communities.

摘要

In the late 20th century, ethnic and economic inequalities in Guatemala led to a guerilla insurgency that was met by state military counterinsurgent forces. The genocidal violence of the civil war disrupted the reproductive trajectories of many western highland indigenous Maya communities. In this dissertation, I explore patterns of reproduction and reproductive loss in Maya communities after the Guatemalan civil war. I focus on an aspect of reproduction often left unaddressed in demographic as well as anthropological approaches: men. Working with predominantly K'iche&;I examine men's attitudes toward marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and contraception. I trace four important elements of K'iche' Maya masculinity: productivity, growth, control, and respect. I argue that these elements inform men's reproductive experiences and decisions and aid in explaining the profound ambivalence many men feel about their roles in reproduction. I tie this ambivalence to broader narratives of risk associated with reproduction that implicate men and women as well as care providers such as local traditional birth attendants. I examine patterns of contraceptive use, demonstrating that men may actively collaborate with partners in contraceptive decision making even as they confront conflicts that arise from the consequences of those decisions. Using quantitative data, I explore the impact of variables accounting for men's influences on epidemiologic models of reproductive health outcomes such as initiation of prenatal care, complications during pregnancy, contraceptive knowledge and use, and neonatal and infant mortality. I conclude with a discussion of K'iche' Maya reproductive resilience and men's changing reproductive roles in the context of that resilience.