Est. 2022Everyday & academic sociology
SociologyMag

Linking sociological theory to everyday reality.

Home  /  Dictionary  /  S

S

Sex Totem

Academic sociological definitions of the sex-totem, including Frazer (1910) and Elkin (1933), who describe it as symbolising the solidarity of each sex.

Letter S capitalised.

Academic Definitions of Sex Totem

…[a] special sacred animal, whose name each individual of the sex bears, regarding the animal as his or her brother or sister respectively

(Frazer, 1910: 51)

The sex-totem represents the sex-dichotomy of the tribe, and symbolizes the solidarity of each sex. It is an emblem

(Elkin, 1933: 115)

[a] sex totem, [is] common either to all the males or to all the females of a tribe, to the exclusion in either case of the other sex

(Freud (cannot locate reference)

References

Elkin, A. P. (1933). Studies in Australian Totemism: The Nature of Australian Totemism. Oceania, 4(2), 113–131.

Frazer, J. G. (1910). Totemism and exogamy - Vol. 01. London: Macmillan & Co.

More in S

S

Single-Mother

Hand-curated sociological definitions of single-mother from academic research, and a look at the age at which children are implied to stop being children.

3 November 2023
S

Single-Parent

Dictionary and academic sociological definitions of single-parent, collected from research across the academic landscape for use in essays and research.

27 October 2023
S

Stem Family

Academic sociological definitions of the stem family, where one child is selected to carry on the family lineage, collected from across the literature.

11 July 2023