mod 5 review Flashcards
define sexuality
sexuality can be defined as relating to sexual orientation, sexual practice, or erotic desires. Sexuality is a relatively new field of investigation in anthropology.
what did earlier accounts of sexuality focus on?
Earlier anthropological accounts discussing sexuality were often devoted to other topics with mention of sexuality being focused on exotic sexual practices in non-Western societies. One impetus for the current focus on sexuality in anthropology was the misconceptions and failed public health campaigns during the early phase of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the related realization that different societies construct their views of sexuality and the body differently and assign meanings in a variety of ways.
exs
corsets, neck rings, and foot binding, the aim of this activity is to visually expose you to different cross-cultural and historical views of beauty, status, sexuality, and the body.
How long has sexuality been a focus of research in anthropology?
How did earlier studies treat the topic of sexuality?
arly anthropological research on sexuality contributed to our
current
understanding of sexuality as culturally constructed and
learned in specific
historical contexts. In contrast to contemporary studies that
take sexuality
as their core focus, classic anthropological monographs
reported exotic
sexual practices in the course of “holistic” ethnographic
description.
Sexuality, as a topic of analysis, links the personal and the
social, the
individual and society, the local and the global. To
Americans sex may mply the body, medical facts, Freud, and erotic techniques,
but all of
these aspects of sexuality are socially shaped and sexual
activity is
inevitably regulated. Within every culture, there are measures
for the
management of sexuality and gender expression (Ortner and
Whitehead
1981: 24–25) and sanctions for those who break the rules
Is sexuality simply grounded in the body’s structure, physiology and
functioning?
although sexuality, like all human cultural activity, is grounded
in the
body, the body’s structure, physiology, and functioning do
not directly or
simply determine the configuration or meaning of sexuality.”
Rather,
sexuality is in large part culturally constructed. Feminist
theorists have
argued that historical, social, and political influences
“produce” the body.
Just as we may inquire into the culturally variable meanings of
masculinity
and femininity, we may examine the ways in which sexuality
and the body
are invested with meanings in particular societies
Is sexuality culturally constructed?
A comparative perspective informs us that the attributes of
the body seen
as sexual and erotic vary cross-culturally. Early
anthropological research on
sexuality contributed to our current understanding of sexuality
as culturally constructed and learned in specific historical
contexts
At what different levels may a society manage sexuality by
imposing sanctions?
Sexuality, as a topic of analysis, links the personal and the
social, the
individual and society, the local and the global. To
Americans sex may
imply the body, medical facts, Freud, and erotic techniques,
but all of
these aspects of sexuality are socially shaped and sexual
activity is
inevitably regulated. Within every culture, there are measures
for the
management of sexuality and gender expression (Ortner and
Whitehead
1981: 24–25) and sanctions for those who break the rules.
These sanctions
may be imposed at the level of the family, the lineage, the
community, or
the state. Indeed, Foucault (1981) has suggested that a
feature of the
recent past is the increasing intervention of the state in the
domain of
sexuality
What has research in hunter-gatherer societies revealed about
sexual intercourse?
Research in hunting and gathering societies also shows that
sexual
intercourse, while personal, can be a political act. In such
societies, claims to women are central to men’s efforts to achieve equal status
with others
(Collier and Rosaldo 1981: 291). Through sexual relations with
women,
men forge relationships with one another and symbolically
express claims
to particular women.
How do the !Kung view sex?
The !Kung believe that without sex, people can die, just as
without food,
one would starve. Shostak observes that “talk about sex
seems to be of
almost equal importance [to eating]. When women are in the
village or out
gathering, or when men and women are together, they
spend hours
recounting details of sexual exploits. Joking about all aspects
of sexual
experience is commonplace” (1981: 265). According to nisa,
“If a woman
doesn’t have sex . . . her thoughts get ruined and she is
always angry”
(Shostak 1981: 31). nisa’s characterization of sexuality among
the !Kung
suggests that for both men and women, engaging in sex is
necessary to
maintaining good health and is an important aspect of being
human.
Contrast the !Kung’s view of sex with the historic Anglo-American
view of men, women and sexuality
i contrast, for the past 150 years, Anglo-American culture has
defined
women as less sexual than men. This represents a major shift
from the widespread view prior to the seventeenth century that
women were
especially sexual creatures
How has the Anglo-American view changed from prior to the 17th
century until the end of the 19th century?
By the end of the nineteenth century, the increasingly authoritative voice
of male medical specialists argued that women’s bodies were
characterized by sexual anesthesia
Victorian ideas about
h male sexuality emphasized the highly sexed and baser nature of men
What is the Muslim view of female sexuality?
Muslim concepts of female sexuality (Mernissi 1987: 33) cast
the woman
as aggressor and the man as victim. Imam Ghazali, writing in
the eleventh
century, describes an active female sexuality in which the
sexual demands
of women appear overwhelming, and the need for men to
satisfy them is a
social duty (Mernissi 1987: 39). Women symbolize disorder and
are
representative of the dangers of sexuality and its disruptive
potentia
How do the Kaulong of New Guinea view sex and sexual activity?
t he example of the Kaulong of new Guinea further illustrates
the extent to
which understandings of male and female bodies and sexual
desires are
cultural products (Goodale 1980). Both sexes aspire to
immortality through
the reproduction of identity achieved through parenting.
Sexual
intercourse, which is considered animal like, is sanctioned for
married
people.
What is the purpose of marriage? What was considered an
acceptable recourse for a childless couple?
nimals are part of the forest and nature, so the gardens of
married
couples are in the forest. The only sanctioned purpose of sex
and marriage
is reproduction; sex without childbearing is viewed as
shameful. Suicide
was formerly considered an acceptable recourse for a
childless couple.
Sexual activity is thought to be dangerous to men and
women in different
ways: polluting for men and leading to dangers of birth for
women
How do cultures such as the Kaulong and the Mae Enga in New
Guinea view menstrual blood and/or a menstruating woman?
men’s anxiety about contact with the body of a woman is
heightened by
the understanding that menstrual blood is dangerously
polluting. A man
who had sexual contact with a menstruating woman would
risk serious
physical and mental harm. Men engage in a range of
symbolic behaviors—
for example, tongue scraping and smokehouse purification—
to cleanse
themselves of what they believe are the harmful effects of
contact with
women’s bodies.
The Mae Enga, for instance, believe that “contact with
[menstrual blood or a menstruating woman will, in the absence of appropriate
counter
magic, sicken a man and cause persistent vomiting, turn his
blood black,
corrupt his vital juices so that his skin darkens and wrinkles as
his flesh wastes, permanently dull his wits, and eventually lead
to a slow decline
and death”
How did men and women among the Yoruk Indians (pre-contact)
view menstruation?
In his reanalysis of yurok data, Buckley found that while precontact yurok
men considered women, through their menstrual blood, to be dangerous,
yurok women viewed menstruation as a positive source of power. Rather
than looking on the forced monthly seclusion as isolating and oppressive,
women viewed it as a source of strength and sanctuary
Although North American culture typically defines two genders
based on physical traits, cross-cultural evidence provides
alternative gender constructs as well as physical variation. How
many phenotypic sexes has some research suggested?
Some research suggests at least three phenotypic sexes in
human
cultures: female, male, and androgynous or hermaphroditic
individuals.
This classification refers to characteristics observable to the
naked eye
rather than to medical classifications of sex types based on
chromosomal
evidence
how many gender categories are found among the Chuckchee
and among the Mohave? Among Native North American societies,
who are Two-Spirit (at times referred to as Berdache)?
the Chuckchee counted seven genders—three female and
four male—while the Mohave reportedly recognize four genders—a
woman, a woman
who assumes the roles of men, a man, or a male who
assumes the roles of
women.
a male who felt an affinity for female occupation, dress, and
attributes
could choose to become classified as a two-spirit, sometimes
known as a
berdache
What was an option for the Kaska Indians if they had no son?
Kaska Indians would select a daughter to be a son if they had
none; after
a transformation ritual, the daughter would dress like a man
and be
trained for male tasks.
Identify three crucial elements in the Bedouin discourse on differences
between their weddings and those of others?
The three crucial elements in the Bedouin discourse on
differences
between their weddings and those of other groups are (1)
whether the defloration is public and participatory, (2) whether it involves
sexual
intercourse, and (3) whether it is seen as a contest, especially
between
bride and groom.
Note the symbolism inherent in Egyptian Bedouin weddings.
a) What is the significance of the blood stained cloth? How does it
relate to conception
The emphasis is on opening the bride’s vagina by breaking
the hymen and
bringing out or making visible what was in there. That this
opening is a
prelude to the insemination which should eventuate in
childbirth is suggested
by some practices associated with the blood-stained virginity
cloth.
It is said that if the cloth is then brought back into the room
without the bride
having exited first—if, as they say, the cloth enters upon her—
it will block her
from conceiving.6 young women are told to save their
virginity cloths; if they
have trouble conceiving, they must bathe in water in which
they have soaked
the cloth
What is the significance of the bride’s father’s cloak?
Most brides, even today, are brought from their fathers’
households
completely covered by a white woolen woven cloak (jard)
that is the essential item of men’s dress. The cloak must belong to the
girl’s father or
some other male kinsman. So, protected and hidden by her
father’s cloak,
she is brought out of her father’s protected domain and
carried to her
husband’s kin group’s domain. There she is rushed, still hidden,
into the
room (or in the past, the tent) which she will share with her
husband.
