Anthropology Flashcards
Rite of Passage
A ceremony, ritual, or event that marks an individual’s passage from one stage of life or status to another.
What are the three stages of a rite of passage?
STIR
Segregation Stage:
Separation from the rest of society and and their original status.
Transition/Liminal Stage:
Change between old and new takes place, this may be guided or unguided depending on culture.
Incorporation and Reintegration:
Returning as a new person and integrating yourself into the group. Assumes new responsibilities and behaviours. Formally recognized by the rest of society in new status.
Identity Moratorium
A status in which an adolescent is in crisis and unable to accomplish tasks necessary to becoming an adult, and explores other youth subcultures.
Sex
The biological characteristics of a person based on their XX or XY chromosomes, genitals and other physical characteristics determined by genes.
Gender
Defined by a person’s culture.
- Associated symbols
- Classifications of what is male or female
- Relative value of the genders
- Behavior patterns/gender roles
Third Gender
Includes people who are:
Inter-sex: have both male and female sexual characteristics or organs
Trans-gender: having a gender identity contrary to their biological sex
Homosexual: sexually attracted to people of the same gender
Technological Diffusion
The adoption by one culture of a technology of another.
Perception
The process of how an individual takes information visually and with the other senses.
Saphir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language not only labels reality but also shapes our cultural reality. The structure of the language that one thinks in influences the thoughts that they have.
Euphemism
A word or set of words used to indirectly describe an uncomfortable of inappropriate concept or idea in a socially acceptable way.
Body Language
Conscious or unconscious movements of the body that communicate a certain emotion, meaning or idea to a member of the same culture (as some body language is not universal).
Cultural Relativism
Every individual sees another culture through the lens of their own. You cannot compare two cultures as they are different and relevant in their own way. Each culture has internal rules at its core that make sense to it social, cultural and environmental situation.
Functional Theory
Everyone and everything has a function. Each idea, belief, action, social institution and/or relationship in a culture has a function that meets a need of the culture’s people. Relies on interdependence among people and its parts of society for a culture to succeed.
Cultural Materialism (last 50 years)
General and complex components that make up a society are developed and influenced by the environment and the materials that are available within it. If a material does not provide some advantage, then it will dissolve.
Feminist Anthropology (1970s)
Was once only the voice of women but now looks to understand society and anthropology through the lens of gender roles and how/why gender groups are oppressed. Understanding promotes change.
