Anth 3 Flashcards
Gender/Sex definition
Sex: biological differences
Gender: cultural constructions of male and female characteristics
Sexual Dimorphism
differences in physical size between males and females (typically males larger than females
Third sexes
Contradict dominant male/female gender distinctions by being part male and female or neither male nor female
Cultural and Non cultural
Ex: Hijras in India; basically a male crossdressers, culturally recognized as 3rd gender role in society
Ex: Two spirit; plains Indian group, biological male who adopts female roles, spiritual purpose in society
Intersex and transgender
What are 2 cultural examples of 3rd genders
Hijras in India and
Two spirit in plains indian
What are 2 examples of thrid genders that aren’t cultural
intersex and transgender
Gender Norms
social rules regarding what is appropriate for each gender to do
how girls/boys are expected to act
Gender Roles
expectations about what is appropriate behavior for each gender
EX: mother roles vs. father roles.
Gender Stereotypes
Generalization of people
Arapesh
Men and women both acted as Americans expect women to act
- mild and nurturing
Mundugumor
Men and women both acted as we expect men to act
- fierce and aggressive
Tchambuli
Men act as we stereotype women
- concerned with appearance
Women acted as we stereotype men
- Energetic, managerial, less emphasis on apperence
Margaret Mead and Gender roles
Discovered three different Papua New guinea villages, where there was a lot of variation in masculinity and feminity in populations that were so close to eachother
3 societies: Arapesh, mundugumor,tchambuli
Gender stratification
Unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power, prestige, human rights, and personal freedom) btw men and women
Public-domestic Dichotomy
Contrast between womens roles in the home and men’s role in public life, with a corresponding social devaluation of women work and worth
correlations between Sexual division of labor
women are still unequally paid in the workforce compared to men and are socially seen as performing less paying jobs
Gender Stratification and modes of produciton
the way of organizing production, a set of social relations through which labor is deployed to energy from nature by means of tools, skills, and knowledge
What are the modes of production
foraging
pastoralism
horiculture
agriculture
industrial
Foragers
little gender stratification, gendered division of labor, less of a public-domesic dichotomy, status of men is noticeably higher only when their contribution to subsistence is greater
Horticulturalists
more complex division of labor and more gender distinction, status of men is higher when women contribute much more or much less to subsistence
Agriculturalists
more gender stratification, more complex division of labor and political control, status of men is higher when they contribute more to the general as well as the household economy
- women are considered a risk
industrialists
Gender stratification persists. Division of labor is complex but not inherently dependent on gender differences, so it is more flexible. the status of both are higher when they contribute more to the household and general economies.
patriarchy
political system rueld by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights
sexual orientation
a persons habitual sexual attractoin and activities with person of the opposite sex, same sex, or both
rosie the riveter
during ww2 nation that women were biolgically unfit for hard physical labor faded
Recent shifts in gender norms and roles
- changing attitudes of homosexuality and ‘gender transition’
- changing attitudes towards male sexuality/violence
- changing attitude towards female secuality/passivity
- use of new gender models as a form of post colonial social control and ethnocentric cultural critique of non-western people
power/authority
power- the ability to exercise one’s will over others
authority- the formal, socially approved use of power
webers three dimensions of stratification
wealth- economic status
power- political status
prestige- social status
Political systems and correlations band, tribe, chiefdom, state
Band- small, kin-based; “First among equals
Tribe- big men/village hed
chiefdom- between tribe and state; chiefs regulate regional economy
state; autonomous political units
Band
foraging economy, local regulation, small, kin-based groups, commonly found among foragers (ex: !Kung), division of labor based on differences in age and sex, have flexible membership and egalitarian informal relations among members, social system is based on kinship, reciprocity, and sharing, band leaders as “first among equals” (leadership is among people with esteem or prestige, lack formal authority or power to enforce), don’t have system of law have societal norms
tribe
horticulture/pastoralism economy, local/tempory regionla regulation (ex: yonmami, kapauku, masai) division of labor and forms of inequality: based on differences in age and sex, kinship is increasingly lineal in orientation.
no formal government and no reliable means of enforcing political decisions, no clearly defined social classes, limited authority an dlead through persuasion, achieved status
Chiefdom
productive horticulture/pastoral/agriculture economy, permanent regional regulation. like bands and tribes, social relations in chiefdoms are based mainly on kinship, marriage descent, age, generation, and gender, unlike bands and tribes, chiefdoms have differential access to resources, and permanent political structure, more pronounced forms of inequality and more elaborate division of labor, some families and lineages are considered superior to other chiefs regulate a regional economy through chiefly redistribution , high and lower ranks using kinship but more radical forms of inequality
State
agriculture/industrial economy, permanent regional regulation; autonomous political units with social strata and a formal government, power, wealth, and prestige are monopolized by the ruling elites and by functionaries who depend on elites for support, superordinate-controlled state, subordinate-complled to give states labor and loyal social stratification is codified in law
Inuit song duels
way of settling conflicts; alternative to murder; men sing offensive songs to one another; wife may not return
Achieved/ascribed status
acieved: social status that comes through talents, actions, efforts, activities, and accomplishments, rather than ascription
ascribed- social status that people have little or no choice about occupying, fixed or permanent status
headman
in tribes, a person who hold a powerless but symbolically unifying position in one village; may exercise influence but has no power to impose sanctions, achieved, not permanent, present in tribes
big man
in charge and supporters in several villages, achieved, regulator of regional political organization, figure often found among tribal horticulturalists and pastoralists.
the big man occupies no office but creates his reputation through entrepreneurship and generosity to others. neither his wealth nor his position passes to his hiers. achieved status through hard work and generousity
pantribal sodalities
social grouping which is not determined by family membership, spanning over several villages, present in tribes
office
permanent political position that must be refilled when it is vacated due to death or retirement, ascribed, position, present in chiefdom
chief
Head of a chiefdom, ascribed status based on seniority of descent first born child inherits status, endogamy (marrying within own group) popular in chiefdoms
