Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo attended Harvard University and recieved her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology in 1972. From there she went on to be an Assistant Professor at Stanford University and conducted research in northern Luzon, the Philippines, between 1967-1969.
In 1968, she studied the Lingo people and their practice of headhunting. In her study of the Lingo headhunting practices, she was surprised by their actions; they were peaceful people by all other respects. She found that it was emotional, “men said they took heads when they had a ‘heavy heart’ or felt angry or strong pressures”(Headhunting). In 1974 she went back for more study of the Ilongot. While there, she learned of their belief that young men who took heads, gained the spirit of the victim. This act allowed the young men to wear hornbill earrings, which commanded a show of respect from the elders. They could also propose marriage after their act of beheading. Ilongot men were said to have more passion than women and taking a head ‘quieted their spirit and restlessness’. Rosaldo wrote many articles and a book about her studies in the Phillippines. The book was published in 1980 and was titled Knowledge and Passion: Ilongot Notions of Self and Social Life.
Rosaldo went on to study women in culture and society and wrote several articles about this subject as well. She contributed to books and co-edited the book Women, Culture, and Society with Louise Lamphere in 1974. She is known in feminist studies for her contributions on this topic. She co-founded the Program in Feminist Studies at Stanford University. Michelle Rosaldo died from an accidental fall while excavating in the Philippines in 1981.
Head Hunting in Southeast Asia. www.seasite.niu.edu/crossroads/russell/headhunting.htm . June 20,2000
Lamphere, Louise and Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, editors. Women, Culture, and Society. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. 1974.
Written by Amanda Murtha
Edited by Marcy L. Voelker, 2007