2 The different locations, religious views and overall upbringing of each of these titles has an effect on their relationships with others, their diets, and overall how they will function as and in society. From infancy, adolescence, and old age, the patterns of life and how each individual is treated will change. The first title looked at in this course is Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman. Nisa is a ethnography that follows the life of a woman named Nisa who is a member of the ! Kung tribe, living in the Kalahari Desert in Africa. Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman was written by Marjorie Shostak who started a fieldwork project on the !kung in 1969, it lasted approximately two years and then resumes during Shostaks second visit in 1975. She extensively researched the !Kung and their culture to best represent Nisa and all of those who made an impact in her life. Nisa’s story is told in first person as spoken during the interviews with Shostak. Nisa goes through a number of struggles throughout her life. Some of Nisa’s earliest memories are from trauma, for example !kung children spend several years nursing and have an abundance of close contact with their mothers, when the mother becomes pregnant again, the breast-feeding child must stop, which is an unwelcome change for many. Nisa constantly cries are being forced from the breast and when her parents scold her for her behavior, Nisa goes to live with her grandmother but eventually returns to her parent’s hut. There are many other examples of Nisa’s family life being rocky. There is commonly sibling rivalry, children arguing and Nisa’s parents also argue and fight from time to time. Throughout the village and even in the huts there is little to no privacy. The !Kung children often see their parents having sex not that far away from them. At a decently young age, children begin to experiment with sex play, often starting with a partner of the same sex first and later moving on to heterosexual play. In Nisa’s case, she plays sexually with her cousins as there is minimal children in her social group. Nisa
