In cultural anthropology, a leveling mechanism is a practice in some cultures which acts to ensure social equality, usually by shaming or humbling members of a group that attempt to put themselves above other members.
[1] One commonly given example of a leveling mechanism is the ǃKung practice of "shaming the meat", particularly as illustrated by the Canadian anthropologist Richard Borshay Lee in his article "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" (1969).
[2] When Lee gave the ǃKung an ox as a Christmas gift, the ǃKung responded by insulting the gift, calling it a "bag of bones" and joking that they would have to eat the horns because there was no meat on it.
Lee later asked a man named Tomazo why his gift was insulted in this way.
Lee asked what he meant by this and was told: "Yes, when a young man kills much meat he comes to think of himself as a chief or a big man, and he thinks of the rest of us as his servants or inferiors.