UNFAIR? Colombian Guajiro Men Can Engage In Polygamy But Women Must Remain Faithful To One Partner

All over the world, cultures have practices and traditions that are not usually favourable to women. When we look at the gender dynamics among Guajiros in Colombia, however, it stirs up the question of whether their marriage customs favour women or not.

The Guajira Peninsula in far northeastern Colombia is located at the northern tip of South America. History has it that the people of this community have resisted European conquest and cultural imposition. Instead, they choose to and retain their own independence.

The Guajiros have faced discrimination and exclusion from both the Colombian and Venezuelan governments, each taking away their rights and raw materials from their land.

In turn, each community has its own government and is free from both Colombia’s and Venezuela’s laws.

This refusal to accept the culture of foreign nations is what has probably maintained the Guajiros’ practices of sexuality. This includes the idea that polygamy is only meant for men, while women have to typically remain faithful to one partner.

This practice is also seen in the mythology and folklore of the Guajiros. In these stories, erotic relations are seen between male and female deities. However, women are not given so much expression when it comes to sexual expression.

Since the 1960s, however, things have begun to change as several indigenous Guajiros started migrating to urban centres where Western cultures were practised.

One interesting part of the Guajiros customs is in the Chicimaya fertility dance that is done after the “seclusion” of girls who have begun menstruation. There, women are matched with a partner.

However, it is the manner in which the match-making is done that is even more interesting. The Guajiros have a ceremonial dance. If a woman trips a man during the dance, they must have sęx.