Gender and Sexuality Flashcards
Sex
biological maleness or femaleness
-generally determined at birth
Gender
describes what it means to be male or female in cultural context
Boy, Girl, Man, Women: correlated with biological sex
-Culturally constructed: what it means to be male or female is determined by a culture over time / culture constructs can be negotiated, we will always have them
-Not individual: culture has to agree to create new gender
To define gender on your own is not culturally accurate. How a culture perceives what it means to be biologically male or female
-Oversimplification of these terms: anthropologists see the terms sex and gender as biological and cultural
Anthropological focus on gender
for the most part this field is not biological. They look at how cultures understand gender
Female Feticide Examples
- India: The Missing Girls
- Unnithan Kumar (2010)
India: The Missing Girls
Even those it’s in another part of the world, it still has implications on us in the west –India’s Missing Girls –the rat of females born is grossly under that of makes as mom’s will get an ultrasound of the baby and then perhaps get an abortion –female feticide. There is a growing pressure for people to have a son to continue the family lineage and care for parents. However there is also growing pressure to have smaller families Compare to the US: we abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation but we continued to hold African Americans in lower class for years afterward
Unnithan Kumar (2010)
Rajasthan – Unnithan goes into the village to talk to women who are pregnant. The first pregnancy was using safe, if it was a male or female it was generally born. But with each successive pregnancy, the chance of a girl being born decreased. The women she spoke to do it act like their decision had anything to do its male pressure, females said they were trying to make the best decision for their family. Those in the west and feminism are generally opposed to female feticide. But what is feminism really about? If it’s about females making decisions for themselves and seeking what is best then isn’t this a part of the feminist movement
We need to look at this, not with our own idea of what is right
Multiple Gender Examples
- Bakla in the Philippines
- Hijra in India
- Hua in Papua New Guinea
Bakla in the Philippines
They are generally born male but wear women’s clothes. The are seen as the in between of male and female. They are not considered gay or transvestite. Often this is seen as a way for boys or men to explore sexuality
Hijra in India
- Born male, but tend to engage in same sex- sex. Some times they are born in-between. They wear women’s clothes but are not seen as gay.
- They form communities, fictive kin. The refer to themselves using female terms and live in a kin like association. They join these groups because people that identify with this are often shunned from families as they bring shame.
- They are seen as entertainers in the culture - singers/actors/ artists, they entertain by making fun of themselves. They will show up unannounced or announced at weddings and will not leave until they are paid.
Hua in Papua New Guinea
- “Nu” - life giving substance that is embedded in all living things. For the Hua this is something that is real, not magical or mystical. Not simply symbolical. -It is something that can be transferred, it can be gained and it can be lost. A lot of the things they do can allow them to give it away or gain it.
- They believe in marriage, it’s just a different kind of structure
“Nu”
-It is often associated with growth and maturity.
-It is thought to be gaseous or liquid, or contained within these (found in what people eat or body products)
-It could possibly harmful/bad if someone receives too much of it, or it could be good if they receive it
-Women have more, and men have less
-In later years in life women are thought to have less levels of Nu, after having children and such. As they age women are thought of in a new category of “Kakora” (like men). No longer are they women, they are different and have a new role in the community
Men, as they get older lose Nu and transition to “Figapa” (like women) and take on different roles
Muslims
this culture thinks of women as sexual aggressors
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
female circumcision - comes from the idea that. You have to control and regulate women in their pursuit of sex (not in all Muslim culture or correlated with Islam)
-(Perda - the book example of trying to protect both men and women from females sexual aggression. Women are not supposed to interact with men outside of the home)
Wodaabe
semi-nomadic tribe in Africa, they move around. They spread out in kinship and family oriented groups and then they come together for celebrations as one big group. When the weather and harvest is good, they come together and do what needs to be done, even if that means marrying girls when they’re younger than 10 years old
The men compete in a beauty contest and the females pick a mate. Most of the females are married and they select a mate and go out into the bush with them for several days - VIDEO
Sexual Violence
- Sexual violence is not new, it was something used under the dictators as a way to dominate and control. ISIS wants to maintain their power and control and a way that they are able to do this is to use sexual violence. In a culture where women are seen as angelic and innocent, by going into villages and raping the women, it shames the women and the men who are supposed to be protecting. Additionally, the children that are born of this action are thought of to be a part of the biological father’s family, as a result this promotes ISIS.
- Looks at marriage under duress - marriage is horizontal (you do not marry someone above or below you) so it forms horizontal bonds. So in some cases, fathers are being forced to marry their daughters into ISIS. But, there is some benefit that the brides family is experiencing as a result
