EXAM Flashcards
Why are females and males generally assigned different tasks?
- One of the most striking is in primary subsistence activities: Males almost always hunt and
trap animals, and females usually gather wild plants. - Role assignments have a clear cultural component, we speak of them as gender roles.
- many societies divide up work in similar ways, universal/ near-universal patterns
Four theories:
- Strength Theory
= The idea that males generally possess greater strength and a superior capacity to mobilize their
strength in quick bursts of energy because of greater aerobic work capacity.Men: lifting heavy objects, throwing weapons, running with great speed.
Women: none of the activities females usually performCriticism: can not readily explain all the observed patterns, example: collecting wild honey, making
musical instruments, does not require physical strength. Women do hunt in some societies
-> suggesting that differences in strength cannot play a very important role - Compatibility-with-child-care Theory
= Suggests that for much of human history it would have been maladaptive to have women take
on roles that interfere with their ability to feed their children regularly or put their child in danger
while taking care of them.- Biological reasons make women responsible for breast feeding. Men can not breast feed.
- The tasks women perform may also need to be ones that can be stopped and resumed if an
infant needs care. - Infant care almost always woman’s work
- theory may explains why men usually perform such tasks as hunting, trapping, fishing, collecting
honey, lumbering and mining -> those tasks are dangerous for infants to be around, difficult to
coordinate with infant care. - may explain why men seem to take over certain crafts in societies that have full-time
specialization - Full-time specialization and production for trade may be less compatible with child care.
Criticism: does not explain, however, why men usually prepare soil for planting, make object out of wood, or work bone, horn and shell.
- Economy-of-Effort Theory
= May help explain task patterns that the strength and compatibility theories do not readily
address. Suggests that it would be adventurous for one gender to perform tasks that are
located near each other. Men: making wooden musical instruments because they generally
lumber. - Expendability Theory
= The idea that men, rather than women, will tend to do the dangerous work in a society because
the loss of men is not as great a disadvantage reproductively as the loss of women is called the
expendability theory- reproduction need not to suffer as long as most fertile women have sexual access to men,
for example if the society permits two or more women to be married to the same man.
- reproduction need not to suffer as long as most fertile women have sexual access to men,
= each theory has weaknesses, theories about the way societies divide up their work can be little more than guesses.
Why are females and males are generally assigned different tasks?
-> Strengthen theory?
Strength Theory
= The idea that males generally possess greater strength and a superior capacity to
mobilize their
strength in quick bursts of energy because of greater aerobic work capacity.
- Men: lifting heavy objects, throwing weapons, running with great speed.
- Women: none of the activities females usually perform
- Criticism: can not readily explain all the observed patterns, example: collecting wild honey, making
musical instruments, does not require physical strength. Women do hunt in some societies
-> suggesting that differences in strength cannot play a very important role
Why are females and males generally assigned different tasks?
-> Compatibility-with-child-care theory?
Compatibility-with-child-care Theory
= Suggests that for much of human history it would have been maladaptive to have women take
on roles that interfere with their ability to feed their children regularly or put their child in danger
while taking care of them.
- Biological reasons make women responsible for breast feeding. Men can not breast feed.
- The tasks women perform may also need to be ones that can be stopped and resumed if an
infant needs care.
- Infant care almost always woman’s work
- theory may explains why men usually perform such tasks as hunting, trapping, fishing, collecting
honey, lumbering and mining -> those tasks are dangerous for infants to be around, difficult to
coordinate with infant care.
- may explain why men seem to take over certain crafts in societies that have full-time
specialization
- Full-time specialization and production for trade may be less compatible with child care.
Criticism: does not explain, however, why men usually prepare soil for planting, make object out of wood, or work bone, horn and shell.
Why are females and males generally assigned different tasks?
-> Expendability Theory?
Expendability Theory
= The idea that men, rather than women, will tend to do the dangerous work in a society because
the loss of men is not as great a disadvantage reproductively as the loss of women is called the
expendability theory
- reproduction need not to suffer as long as most fertile women have sexual access to men,
for example if the society permits two or more women to be married to the same man.
Relative Contributions to work:
Primary subsistence activities?
The food-getting activities: gathering, hunting, fishing, herding and agriculture.
Relative contribution to work:
Secondary subsistence activities
Less attention has been paid to gender contributions towards:
The processing and preparation of food for eating and storing
-> the meat is brought home (cut up or carried whole), skinned, cleaned, prepared for cooking and cooked. Prepared for distribution and/or storage, preparing clothing or tools.
Gender stratification
- The degree of unequal access by the different genders to prestige, authority, power, rights
and economic resources. - Societies differ in the degree and type of gender stratification.
- Differences between females and males appear to reflect cultural expectations and experiences
Gender differences
Differences between females and males appear to reflect cultural expectations and experiences.
Sex differences
Differences between females and males appear to reflect cultural expectations and experiences.
How might the relative status of women and men be measured? What are some of the findings on cross-cultural variations in status by gender?
- few signs of inequality: women are somewhat more restricted than men with respect to
extramarital sex. - status of women varies from one society to another,
- status can have different meanings for people = How much value society confers on females.
versus males, authority, rights. = slightly different
- women’s status will be high when they contribute substantially to primary subsistence activities
(Low status if society depends on hunting, herding, or intensive agriculture.) - where warfare is important (men = higher status)
- centralized political hierarchies (men = higher status = dominant role in politics)
- Women will have higher status where kin groups and couple’s places of residence after marriage
are organized around women.
- In pre-industrial societies, women have generally lower status in societies with more political hierarchy
- Education increases status
Relative status of women (gender stratification)
= unequal access by different genders to prestige, authority, power, right and economic
resources, appears to be cultural universal.
Societies differ in the degree of and type of gender stratification.
- Because many of the differences between females and males appear to reflect cultural
expectations and experiences (gender differences) and (sex differences) for biological differences. - There appears to be variation in the degree of gender stratification from on society to
another. - Less complex societies, however, seem to approach more equal status for males and females in
variety of areas of life. - even egalitarian societies usually give males greater access to some rewards.
The Relative Status of Women: Explain variations in stratification from one society to another
- One of the few signs of inequality: women are somewhat more restricted than men with
respect to extramarital sex.
Theories:
1. One of the most common theories: women’s status will be high when they contribute substantially
to primary subsistence activities
- Men will be more valued and esteemed than woman where warfare is particularly important.
- Men will have higher status where there are centralized political hierarchies, since men usually
play the dominant role in politics. - women will have higher status where kin groups and couples places of residence after marriage
are organized around women.
- In pre-industrial societies, women have generally lower status in societies with more political
hierarchy. - Cultural complexity (stratification) is associated with women having less authority in the home,
less control over property and more restricted sexual lives in pre-industrial societies!
(Not yet understood) - Education almost always increases status and pursues other interests; women with more children
less influential.
Status: has different meanings, value, rights, authority and power
Martin Whyte: does all these aspects of status vary together - he thinks they do not.
We cannot talk about status as a single concept - Rather, it seems more appropriate to talk about the relative status of women in different spheres of life.
Cultural Regulations of Sexuality - Reasons for sexual restrictiveness
-> Research has shown that societies that are restrictive with one aspect of heterosexual sex
tend to be restrictive with regard to other aspects.
- varies from society to society: cross cultural variations
- attitudes an practices can change over time
- Societies that forbid abortion and infanticide for married women, are likely to intolerant of male homosexuality: societies that would like to increase their population.
- greater restrictiveness toward premarital sex tends to occur in more complex societies. Societies that have hierarchies of political officials, part-time or full-time craft specialists, cities and towns, and class stratification.
- premarital sexual relationships might lead a person to become attached to someone not considered a desirable marriage partner, parents want to prevent their children from marrying underneath them. Unsuitable sexual liaison might result in pregnancy, controlling mating, virginity is emphasized in rank and stratified societies
- Premarital Sex: approved and encouraged in some societies/ disapproved
- Sex in Marriage: privacy, outdoors, night preferred - not everywhere)
- Extramarital Sex: not uncommon in many societies, cross-culturally most societies also have a
double standard with regard to men and women with restrictions on women being considerably
greater, universally inappropriate) - Homosexuality: Perhaps because many societies deny that homosexuality exists, little is known
about homosexual practices in the restrictiveness societies.
Research has shown that societies that restrictive with one aspect of heterosexual sex tend to be restrictive with regard to other aspects…
- Societies that are frown on sexual expression by young children also punish premarital and extramarital sex.
- Furthermore, such societies tend to insist on modesty in clothing and are constrained in their talk about sex.
Reasons for Restrictiveness
- Population size
-> Indicator that intolerance may be related to a desire for population growth is that
societies with famines and severe food shortages are more likely to allow homosexuality
-> Homosexuality is less tolerated in societies that would like to increase their population - Social inequality
- > greater restrictiveness toward premarital sex tends to occur in more complex societies
Patterns of Marital Residence
- Patrilocal residence:
A pattern of residence in which a married couple lives with or near the husband’s parents. Often.
Locally exogamous. - Matrilocal residence:
A pattern of residence in which a married couple lives with or near the wife’s parents. They usually
Move not too far away, they often marry women who live in the same village = not exogamous;
men often more authority. - Bilocal residence:
A pattern of residence in which a married couple lives with or near either the husband‘s
parents or the wife’s parents. May occur out of necessity - societies that have recently suffered a
severe and drastic loss of population because of the introduction of new infectious diseases.
Where the couple will have the best chance to survive. - Avunculocal residence:
A pattern of residence in which a married couple settles with or near the husbands mothers
brother (uncle) - Neolocal residence:
A patent of residence where by a married couple lives separately, and usually at some distance,
from the kin of both spouses. Related of a money or commercial economy. Money seems to allow
couples to live on their own. Independence and avoiding conflicts and tension. - Unilocal residence:
A pattern of residence, patrilocal, matrilocal or avunculocal) That specifies just one set of relatives
that the married couple lives with or near.”
Lives in with or near: creating a extended family
-> not all societies have such groups. In some political organizations take over many of these
functions.
Polygamy
Plural marriage; one individual is married to more than one spouse simultaneously.
Two types of polygamy: Polygyny and Polyandry
Polygyny
One type of polygamy. Allows a man to be married to more than one woman at the same time.
A mark of great wealth or higher status in many societies. .
- > sororal polygyny: man marries to two or more sister,
- > nonsororal polygyny: who are not related
Harmony, no jealousy and conflict between them:
- Whereas sororal co-wives nearly live under the same roof, co-wives who are not sisters tend to have separate living quarters.
- Co-wives have clearly defined equal rights in the matter of sex, economics, and personal possessions.
- Senior wife’s often have special prestige, which may compensate the first wife for her loss of physical attractiveness.
Why is polygyny a common practice?
- Social benefits
- economic and political advantages
- provide plenty of farm labor and extra food that can be marketed,
- Tend to be in influential in their communities and are likely to produce individuals who become
government officials, - wife’s can help with childcare, household work, provide companionship and allow more freedom to
come and go, - shortage of marriageable Males
- Men can have more children
- Maximize genetic variation Of the children
-> men in societies marrying at an older age.
What is fraternal 1.polyandry? 2. nonfraternal polyandry
- The marriage of a woman to two or more brothers at the same time. When the husbands
are brothers. - Marriage of a woman to two or more men who are not brothers.
Explanation: shortage of women, Excess of man is rare cross-culturally, minimizes population growth, adaptive response to Limited resources, minimize the number of mouths to feed and therefore maximizes the standard of living of polyandrous families.
Unilineal Descent - Variation in Unilineal Descent system
Affiliation with a group often through decent links of one sex only.
-> can be either patrilineal descent:
Children in patrilineal systems in each generation belong to the kin group of his father and so on. More common
Your mother and your mother’s parents do not belong to your patrilineal group, but your father and his father (and their sisters) do. Some cousins are excluded.
-> Matrilineal descent:
Kin of both sexes related to them through women only. In each generation, Children belong to the kin group of their mother.
Ambilineal Descent
The rule of decent that affiliates Individuals with groups of kin related to them through man or woman.
Decent groups show both female and male genealogical links.
Sometimes: double decent or double unilinear descent:
Whereby individuals affiliate for some purposes with a group of matrilineal kin and for other purposes with a group of patrilineal kin.
