Gender Roles and Sexuality

Where it surfaces

• II

  The swimming girls' bold, sensual behavior and their dances challenge Western notions of female modesty, while the taboo on canoes enforces a separate sphere for women.

• XI

  The behavior of the young women is seen as informal and lacking restraint, shocking the narrator's sense of propriety.

• Chapter XVIII

  The episode underscores gender restrictions in Typee society, as women are barred from canoes, and the narrator's intervention promotes a more gallant treatment of women.

• XX

  Men and women have distinct activities; the narrator observes the dances of Marquesan girls with a mix of admiration and modesty.

• XXVI

  Discusses the easy separation of spouses, the absence of large families, and the romantic intrigues of Mehevi and others, highlighting a different sexual and marital order.

• The Social Condition and General Character of the Typees

  The chapter describes women as exempt from hard labor, indulged in leisure, and courted by men, using this as a measure of societal refinement.

• Fishing Parties and Midnight Banquets

  Young girls hold the tapers during the midnight banquet, and Fayaway's ladylike consumption of raw fish is contrasted with the general habit.

• XXXI

  Women are depicted as graceful musicians and caretakers of their hair, while men engage in chanting and mock combat.