In some parts of Australia there are actually sex-totems, signifying that each sex is all-one-flesh, a mystic corporation.

And, all the savage world over, there is a feeling that woman is uncanny, a thing apart, which feeling is probably responsible for most of the special disabilities--and the special privileges--that are the lot of woman at the present day.
Again, age likewise has considerable influence on social status.

It is not merely a case of being graded as a youth until once for all you legally "come of age," and are enrolled, amongst the men.

The grading of ages is frequently most elaborate, and each batch mounts the social ladder step by step.

Just as, at the university, each year has apportioned to it by public opinion the things it may do and the things it may not do, whilst, later on, the bachelor, the master, and the doctor stand each a degree higher in respect of academic rank; so in darkest Australia, from youth up to middle age at least, a man will normally undergo a progressive initiation into the secrets of life, accompanied by a steady widening in the sphere of his social duties and rights.
Lastly, locality affects status, and increasingly as the wandering life gives way to stable occupation.