Martha C. Ward, in Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island, writes on a number of aspects of gender and sex which reflect the general notions of Pohnpei culture and society. There is a strong coherence to this vital society, and in part this remains true in the era of increasing modernization because areas of gender in the social and political structures contain aspects of both order and freedom. In other words, there is a harmony between tradition (with respect to gender roles and powers, such as males running politics, and women determining clan ranking) and freedom (sexual activity).
The society is strongly structured politically and socially and, with respect to the political aspect, men rule. Women have vital and well-defined roles to play, to be sure, but the political aspect of the society is run by men. Gender considerations in this sense favor men:
In fact, the most important key to understanding this culture turned out to be the pervasive traditional political system. . . . Each district is headed by a man called the Nahnmwarski, sometimes translated as king, but more accurately as Paramount Chief or High Chief (14).
Descending from the High Chief are a series of positions filled by men exclusively, again reflecting the male-dominated nature of the political aspect of this society.
The social structure, on the other hand, is determined by women. Ward warns us not to misunderstand the social structure and the role of women in its determination. She differentiates between matrilineal and matriarchal:
. . . Like kinship systems in many other world societies, the Pohnpeian clans are matrilineal. That is, clan membership is reckoned through the female line. All Pohnpeians, male and female, acquire their clan status from their mother who got it from her mother and so on back to a mythical ancestress (18).
Matrilinear clan determination is chosen because one always knows who one's mo...