Gender, Kinship and Lifecycle Rituals in Cuba

Abstract

This report discusses the efforts of state powers to inflict large-scale societal transformations on local gender and kinship by exploring the relationship  between matrifocal gender and kinship structure and the socialist state in Cuba. Cuban gender and kinship relations are approached not only by examining the kinds of daily social interactions that took place amongst ‘lower-class’ Havanian informants, but also via the types of lifecycle rituals celebrated in Cuba:  Catholic baptism, girls’ quince-party, weddings and funerals. The report indicates an intriguing contrast between the, in-practice, very mother-centred gender  andkinship relations, and the revolutionary state symbology manifesting an idea of a metaphoric patriliny. Keywords: Cuba, gender, kinship, matrifocality, life-cycle rituals