ANT Midterm Flashcards
What is gender ?
A process of social construction that structures every aspect of our lives because of its embeddedness in the family, workplace, etc.
Manly hearted women
biological females who work and parent as a man
- can take wives
sex
biological differences between bodies that are made up of anatomy
funetes theory
biological sex is not simply defined or uniform
gentials are not reliable indictators of sex
feminism
refers to the thoery on equality of all humanlind
first vs second vs third waves of feminism
first - women obtained vote
second - female discrimination and continues today
third - concerns with women and genders issues globally - think second only benefits white heterosexual wome n
queer theory
challenges heterosexuality as natural
envisions a world where gender and sexual identity are open and fluid and labeling is considered destructive
barbara voss
how sexuality was rediscovered by archelogist. She identifies four themes in the archelogoy of sexuality
1. reproduction mangement
2. representations
3. sexual identities
4. prostitution
third genders
cultural consturctions of gender that recognize additional genders apart from men and women
two spirited people
- They held important roles in traditional Native American cultures
- Two-Spirt people have male and female within them
- Gay is not interchangeable with Two-Spirit, although some Two-Spirit people are gay.
- Gay refers to sexual orientation; two spirit people embody two genders.
hijras
- The recorded histor y of hijras goes back to antiquity, and they have ser ved as culturally signif icant ritual per formers.
- They traditionally lived in communes and underwent an extensive initiation process that included castration.
- Today, hijras are of ten stigmatized, and relegated to begging and prostitution.
- In 2014, India legally recognized hijras and transgenders as a third gender, but same-sexual relations are prohibited
gender as a cultural evolutionary process
a. There was in the past a matriarchal period (women dominated) and it was overturned by the emergence of patriarchy (males)
b. The overturning by men resulted in many social inequalities, including the subordination of women
gender as performance
The theory, often associated with Judith Butler, that gender is not something one is, but something one does—an ongoing set of actions or performances in line with societal expectations.
intersectionality
recognizes that various aspects of identity influence and are influenced by each other
- Helps us understand how gender or another social category works in a society because it attempts to capture the complexities of identity
material culture
Material Culture refers to tangible human products of society. Everything from cities to personal adornment (beads, buttons). All human societies produce material culture.
anthropology
(the study of human condition through time) studies the past through material culture.
- The earliest preserved evidence of material culture are stone tools dating around 2,500, 000-2,000,000 years ago.
why is material culture important to study of gender
- Gender and gender relations are often expressed in material culture
- Provides evidence of the practical and physical effects of gender upon people’s lives
- Inform and guide our learning about gender differences
how are objects related to gender
- Objects help us make connections:
1. public with private
2. past with present - People often construct their identity through
objects - Objects may be understood differently
depending upon the context
how do we recognize gender objects
some objects evoke gender roles and stereotypes more than others ex. High heels or a neck tie
how does an object become gendered
- Our perception of the objects characteristics
- Repetition association with particular objects
- Stereotypical coding and images
archeology
study of past through artifiacts
bioarcheology
the scientific study of human remains found at archaeological contexts
- They look at biological and social factors that affect human bodies in their examination gender
petroglpyhs
images carved or engraved into the rock
pictographs
images made with paint or some pigment
Ideology in archeology
- Ideology in archaeology refers to beliefs and symbolism associated with a group of individuals or a society
cognitive archeology
the study of ideology is often reffered to cognitive archaeology which covers more than the study of religion - Covers all past ways of thought and symbolic systems like how people planned cities, what material goods people valued, etc.
difficultities of studying archeology
- Archaeology has traditionally focused more on economic aspects of life subsistence and technologies.
- Trying to interpret ideas from material remains is quite challenging.
- There will always be multiple interpretations of what an artifact or image drawing may have meant to the people who produced it.
archeological resources imbue with ideologies
- Cave or rock art
- Venus figurines
- Nazca lines–World-famous lines in the flat desert in Peru that are made by sweeping away the topsoil. The Nazca created a web of white lines in the shapes of triangles, zig-zags,and rectangles. Some are in the shapes of monkeys, birds, and plants.
- Stonehenge—A site consisting of a circle of huge stone pieces believed to have been of ritual significance in Southeastern England dated to be about 3000-2200 BCE.
Nazaca lines
Roadways to important areas;
* Indications of water courses under the desert;
* Ritual paths for pilgrimages or ceremonies;
* Calendrical markers
* Von Däniken- airfields built according to the instructions of extra-
terrestrials
rock art shows:
gender roles
life cycles and puberty rites
the cosmos
the marriage scene
interpreted as depicting sexual intercourse
most publicized rock art image s
challenges of rock art
- artist did not always depict gender and sex
- not necessarily straight forward
man, the hunter hypothesis
men were responsible for development of human characteristics - food sharing, cooperative communication, division of labor
- inspired by word war II popular image of american family life
woman the gatherer
gathering activies of women made major contributions to diet of hunters and gatherers
gathering hypothesis
The premise of this theory–gathering preceded
hunting, therefore women had a primary rather than a
secondary role in human subsistence.
paleoanthropology
study of human origins and evolution from hominid fossils
- tendency to collapse biological sex with gender
lucy
Lucy was identified as female due to her smaller size relative to other Australopithecus afarensis fossils, which were presumed to be male.
australopithecines
first definite hominids
greater mobility than apes
teeth different
bipedal locomotion
signs of early hominids in africa
hadar very dry and barrion region where things like lucy showed up
- where the first family was found of 200 bones that represented 13 individuals
Adrienne Zihlman feminist paleoanthroplogist critique of lucy
Adrienne Zihlman critiqued
* The way males and females were portrayed in
exhibitions that developed from “first family”
findings, depicted women in an inferior light as
possessions of men.
* She questioned the sexual dimorphism
hypothesis that it could have been a parent
versus a teenager, or they may have represented
different species.
* Sexual dimorphism is today something that
needs to be proven, not just assumed.
lower paleothic
early stone age
1. oldowan
2. acheulian
oldowan and acheulian
pebble choppers and hand axe
Milks on the Atlatl
The atlatl was an equalizer
among hunting/gathering
societies
* Made hunting easier for
men and women because
it reduced the importance
of body size and strength
* Even children could have
been successful hunting
with an atlatl
homo sapiens
- neanderthalensis - 130,000 to 30,000 years ago
- homo sapien spaiens - 50,000 years ago to present
upper Paleolithic
Creative Revolution began about 45,000 years ago, includes
* Proliferation of new and diverse tools stone technology as well as
tools made from ivory, bone;
* New tools permitted movement into diverse geographic locations
* Appearance of Cave art and portable art decoration
* Language in form of speech is believed to have developed during this
time;
upper paleolithic tools
Projectile points (a tool with a sharp point usually mounted to a
spear),
* knives, drills, scraping tools, burins (engraving tool), etc.
* Tools were also made from ivory, bone, and wood such as harpoons,
eye needles,
bows and arrows, spear-throwers among others.
venus figurines
Statuettes of depicting female bodies carved in
stone, bone, ivory, and modeled in clay. One of
the most curious, and controversial art forms of
the Upper Paleolithic.
* They are fascinating because the sculptors went
to a great deal of trouble to illustrate the sexual
features of female humans
venus of brassempouy
Is distinguished from other Venuses
because it has a face, and more
realistic qualities.
* Appears to wearing headgear
interpretations for venus figurines
- (1) a mother goddess cult;
- (2) pornography
- (3) self-representations
- (4) multiple uses—from toys to mourning
artifacts
mother goddess
The idea that there was goddess that represent
motherhood, fertility, or embodies the bounty of the
earth.
* People worshiped these goddesses, and some hold
that these societies were matriarchies (female
centered).
cylinder seals
to sign business deals,
* to show ownership of goods,
* to sign treaties, letters and
marriage contracts.
* They also had a magical use and
worn as amulets for protection.
* Some made of semi-precious
stones or gemstones conveyed
this magical protective use.
Inanna in ancient world
connected to rain and love
sexuality in ancient egypt
Men were believed as creators of new life
* Women were the receivers ( the receptacles) of
new life
* Interpretation based on mythologies that suggest
male fertility had an androgynous character which
made conception possible
* Women were expected to be sexually aggressive so
that men could create new life
offering to goddess inanna
vase depicting naked
men carrying bowls and
baskets of farm goods to
the Inanna
