The Ilongots are a tribe who inhabit the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains, on the east side of Luzon Island in the Philippines, primarily in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and along the mountain border between the provinces of Quirino and Aurora. Presently, there are about 2,500 Ilongots. The Ilongots tend to inhabit areas close to rivers, as they provide a foodsource and a means for transportation. Their language is the Ilongot language, currently spoken by about 50,000 people.
In Michelle Rosaldo’s study in 1980 of the Ilongots , she described “gender differences related to the positive cultural value placed on adventure, travel, and knowledge of the external world.” Ilongot men, more often than women, visited distant places. They acquired knowledge of the outside world, amassed experiences there, and returned in order to share their knowledge, adventures, and feelings in a public oratory to pass on their knowledge to others. The Ilongot men received acclaim as a result of their experiences. Because they lacked external experience on which to base knowledge and expression, Ilongot women had inferior prestige.
On the basis of Michelle Rosaldo’s study and findings of other stateless societies, anthropologists must distinguish between prestige systems and actual power within a society. Just because a male has a high level of prestige, he may not own much economic or political power compared to others that are less prestigious within the society.
Renato Rosaldo went on to study headhunting among the Ilongots in his book "Ilongot Headhunting, 1883-1974: A Study in Society and History".
As Michelle Zimbalist, this is not right. In the ilongot tribes the women is seem as natural is. In anthropology int the social arrangements of the Ilongots there was a male involvement in the domestic sphere, and correspondingly, women's participation in many public events. Thus, the balance of forces would be greater.
"Because of the early experiences of boys being lived within a close relationship with both parents as the mothers and they are relatively unconcerned about the need for" achievement "or defame women, men involved in household chores do not claim submission their wives. In social life the Ilongots show little stratification and sexual inequality but is certainly present, is minimized by the fact that women have the right and confidence to send their thoughts. Finally, we find the home gender relations on equality, cooperation instead of competition and a real intimacy between husband and wife (Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, Louise Lamphere. Woman. The Culture and Society. RJ. Paz e Terra, 1979. Collection The World today, 31) (p58). Michelle's conclusion is that perhaps the most egalitarian societies are those where no sex order authority and where the focus of social life itself is home.
Phillip, Conrad. (2005). Window on Humanity. New York: McGraw-Hill Rosaldo Michelle Zimbalist, Lamphere Louise. A Mulher. A Cultura e a Sociedade.Brazil: RJ. Paz e Terra, 1979. Coleção O Mundo,hoje.