South Seas. One of the most beautiful examples of this custom is found
in New Britain. From puberty until marriage the native girls are
confined in houses with a bundle of dried grass across the entrance to
show that the house is strictly taboo. The interior of these houses is
divided into cells or cages in each of which a girl is confined. No
light and little or no air enters, and the atmosphere is hot and
stifling.

The seclusion of women after marriage is common among many peoples. In
the form in which it affected western civilization it probably
originated among the Persians or some other people of central Asia, and
spread to the Arabs and Mohammedans. That it did not originate with the
Arabs is attested by students of their culture. It was common among the
Greeks, whose wives were secluded from other men than their husbands. In
modern Korea it is not even proper to ask after the women of the family.
Women have been put to death in that country when strange men have
accidentally touched their hands.[36, p.341]

The saddest outcome of the idea of woman as property was the status of
widows. In uncivilized society a widow is considered dangerous because
the ghost of her husband is supposed to cling to her. Hence she must be
slain that his spirit may depart in peace with her, as well as with the
weapons and other possessions which are buried with him or burned upon
his funeral pyre. The Marathi proverb to the effect that "the husband is
the life of the woman" thus becomes literally true.

The best known case of widow slaying is of course the custom of "suttee"
in India. The long struggle made against this custom by the British
government is a vivid illustration of the strength of these ancient
customs. The Laws of Manu indicate that the burning of widows was