The reason for the brand new Cuban quince ritual is not to prepare their to have relationships, but for love life and you will via which, probably so you can breeding and motherhood
On shows of one’s quince routine, the women’s sexuality is not brought to help you a-one single boy that would show their future husband, but rather towards boys typically, worrying their reputation since the a separate, yet , heterosexually-situated seductress. It will turned into evident inside a-year or two of the routine given that many of my more youthful informants tended to conceive to their fingers, maybe not a partner. Motherhood does not require wedding throughout the Caribbean therefore the while making off a woman to your a fully gendered, heterosexual mature girl is more important than the girl joining a person in marriage. The caretaker of the woman takes on an extremely special role inside the this action, the reason behind and that’s uncovered regarding the Cuban kinship construction.
Quince and you may Caribbean Matrifocality
Quince – because the a ritual made by girls, and you will honoring Cuban females since the probably reproductive seductresses – is linked to the Cuban kinship construction, also to the fresh matrifocal kinship framework mostly prevalent in the Caribbean. 18
Kinship relations among my Cuban informants was in fact characterised by a robust matrifocal desire, a component that’s proven to denote Caribbean communities from inside the an effective a great deal more standard sense. 19 When you find yourself matrifocality provides commonly been designated since the a keen Afro-Caribbean relatives setting specifically (age.grams. Clarke 1974: 75, 131; Smith 1974: xi), almost every other experts view it once the characterising kinship affairs in the area a great deal more extensively (elizabeth.grams. Safa 2005). I listed zero for example ‘racial’ otherwise ‘ethnic’ variations in Cuban kinship relationships, while the shown, as an instance, by reality most family members certainly my personal informants was extremely ‘mixed’ in terms of surface the color. On the basis of my personal fieldwork, We view Cuban kinship affairs to have an effective matrifocal interest way more generally (see along with ibid.).
About ancient concept of the newest Caribbean matrifocality designed from the R.T. Smith, it’s first the woman in her role as mommy gets the new heart out of members of the family (1996a: 42). As the friends are based on the connection between your mommy in addition to guy, fathers often have people in almost any some other properties, while the ladies usually have each of their people coping with them (Olwig 1996: 138). Guys are commonly thought to be marginalised because fathers, although power of one’s consanguine bond means they are dedicated just like the sons, brothers and you can uncles (Smith 1974: xi; Smith 1996a: 14). The truth that the father is sometimes ‘missing’ from the family 
relations design (we.elizabeth. he lives someplace else) creates a standard emphasis on matrilateral kinship connections. 20 That the standard fret out of kinship relationships is on the newest mommy try emphasised in the way in which my personal Cuban informants have a tendency to emphasised the key obligation of the mommy over college students that have a proverb saying: “the caretaker is only one in addition to dad anyone who” (madre parece la sola y padre cualquiera 2007).
Of the solid increased exposure of motherhood, this is the girls’ adolescence ritual which is worth focusing on in Cuban neighborhood. Lifecycle traditions build particularly visible the newest central personal divisions out-of a people (find van Gennep 1960), plus they also can show the very first social values off a culture (look for e.grams. Huntington & Metcalf 1979: 2). Lifecycle traditions for this reason hook inside the very important means towards build out of kinship relationships, since the included the new personal categories and you may philosophy relevantly defining societal lifetime is rendered such as for instance evident.
Girls’ transition towards the fully gendered and intimate people try main since of its essential character while the mothers on kin design. When you’re changed into a mature adult the lady is additionally changed into a potential mom. This is certainly extreme on the girl’s mommy due to the fact growth of brand new matrifocal kin category speeds up her updates due to the fact a head from new kin class. She is cherished because the she will be able to claim to keeps delivered various other user able to expanding the matrifocal kinship build. Therefore quince is so important for new women’s mommy, as to why she actually is congratulated quietly regarding the girl girl and you can commonly retains a main updates regarding the organisation of one’s affair. This perks their 15 years away from effort throughout the elevating out-of their and you can makes her at some stage in the future, a prospective granny or great grandmother, the latest recognized head out of good matrifocal kin category. 21
