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Seychelles SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Class and Social Structure
Several indexes of social status operate. The first is
color.
Although almost all Seychellois are so racially mixed as
to defy
classification, light skin remains a status feature
because
authority in Seychelles has been traditionally vested in a
white
plantation owner or manager, or later in British
officials. Skin
color, according to anthropologist Burton Benedict, is
distinguished in Seychelles by the terms blanc
(white),
rouge (red), or noir (black), all of which
are
applied relatively depending on the speaker's own
pigmentation.
Economic achievement and material possessions are equally
important signs of social status.
According to Benedict, Seychellois are highly status
conscious and are anxious to improve their social
positions.
Possessions, particularly land and substantial homes, are
important indicators of status and prestige. Fine
clothing, cars,
jewelry, and watches are similarly regarded. A willingness
to
spend freely is, among men, a means to impress others.
Persons with light skin enjoy greater prestige, but the
skin
shade does not reliably determine social status or
position of
power in society. Lighter-skinned persons find it easier
to
advance to managerial or supervisory positions. It is
considered
advantageous to marry a lighter-skinned person, although a
wealthier man of dark skin or a darker-skinned woman with
property may not experience such discrimination. Social
tensions
based on race are almost unknown, and persons of differing
racial
types mix freely in schools, business, and social
gatherings.
A feature of the Seychellois social system is the
prevalence
of sexual relationships without formal marriage. Most
family
units take the form of de facto unions known as living
en
ménage. One result of this practice is that nearly
threefourths of all children born in the islands are born out
of
wedlock. Most of these children are, however, legally
acknowledged by their fathers.
The institutionalization of en ménage unions as
alternatives to legal marriage can be attributed to
several
factors. The expense of socially required wedding
festivities,
trousseaus, and household furnishings can exceed a year's
income
for a laborer. Widely separated economic status of
partners, a
mother's wish to retain the earning potential of her son,
or a
previous marriage by one partner may be impediments to
marriage.
The difficulty and expense of divorce also tend to
discourage a
legal relationship. Although frowned upon by the church
and civil
authorities, en ménage unions are generally stable
and
carry little stigma for either partner or for their
children.
Among women of higher status, prevailing standards of
social
respectability require that they be married to the men
with whom
they are living. Sexual fidelity is not as likely to be
demanded
of husbands, who often enter into liaisons with
lower-class
women.
Data as of August 1994
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