mod 6 review Flashcards
What is the focus of cross-cultural research on the sexual division of labour in different modes of subsistence?
Describe the range of women’s productive activities in societies; assess the implications of these activities for the status of women.
Briefly describe the typical hunter-gather or foraging society. How is the division of labour between men and women typically characterized?
most egalitarian
hunter and gatherers are not common
-found in isolated regions and possess simple technology
- characterized by division of society; men hunt, women gather
What four reasons have been proposed for this division of labour?
The variability in the supply of game,
* the different skills required for hunting and gathering,
* the incompatibility between carrying burdens and hunting,
* the small size of seminomadic foraging populations.
What trend do we see when gathered foods contribute more to the daily diet?
women have higher status
In societies where the gathered foods contribute more to the daily diet than hunting, women and men share equal status
When hunting and fishing provide the bulk of the diet, how is the status of women impacted?
In societies where hunting and fishing predominate (e.g., the Inuit), women have a lower status
Is the division of labour where men hunt and women gather sharply defined? Give two cultural examples where this is not necessarily the case.
mong the Tiwi, Australian aborigines, both men and women hunt and gather. Tiwi culture emphasizes the equality of men and women in society.
Among the Agta of northeastern Philippines, women enjoy even greater social equality with their men than among the Tiwi.
Briefly describe the typical horticultural society. What trend do we see regarding the status of women in matrilineal horticultural societies?
-Cultivation is carried out with simple hand-tool technology and slash-and-burn methods of farming
-Women play important roles in the production.
-Many horticultural societies are matrilineal and in these societies, women tend to have higher status than in patrilineal societies.
In other horticultural societies such as the Hua, what two factors may provide the basis of male domination over women?
Male control of valued property;
male involvement in warfare
Briefly describe the typical intensive agricultural society. In these types of societies, what is one explanation for the decline in female participation in agriculture and the increased domestic workload?
Intensive agriculture is based on the use of the plow, draft animals, fertilizers, and irrigation systems.
The female domestic workload tends to increase when root crops are replaced by cereal crops and when animal labor replaces manual labor.
- Cereal crops require more extensive processing, and field animals must be cared for. Both these activities fall to women. In addition, the kin-based units of production and consumption becomes smaller, and this too adds to the burden on individual women.
How is a woman’s value re-defined in this circumstance?
by reproductive abilities rather than productive
Define bridewealth and dowry.
b`ride wealth is a compensation to the bride’s parents or her kin for the productive and reproductive rights of the bride; dowry, as a form of inheritance, provides a bride with land and other wealth and helps her to attract her husband.
Briefly describe the typical pastoral or herding society. Who is typically in charge of the care, ownership, and management of the herds?
Some pastoralists are fully nomadic, moving their entire communities in accordance with the demands of the herd. Others are involved in cultivation and are therefore transhumant. They engage in seasonal migration. Among pastoralists the ownership, care, and management of herds are generally in the hands of men
What type of descent and residence pattern do we typically see with pastoralists?
Although there are exceptions, male domination of herding tends to be reflected in other aspects of social organization—the near universality of patrilineal descent and widespread patrilocal residence.
How are pastoral societies generally characterized in terms of gender?
Pastoral societies are also generally characterized by patriarchy and dichotomization of the sexes, both symbolically and socially.
What type of subsistence strategy do the Agta employ?
Agta women are substantial contributors to the daily subsistence of their families and have considerable authority in decision making in the family and in residential groups.
Participate in all the subsistence activities that men do (trade with farmers, fish in the rivers, collect forest plant foods, and may even hunt game animals)
Agta women are substantial contributors to the daily subsistence of their families and have considerable authority in decision making in the family and in residential groups
Explain the division of labour among the Agta
a modest sexual division of labor does exist (considerable variation is found among groups)
In terms of subsistence, what are the roles and tasks for women among the Agta?
Women in one area frequently hunt game animals. They also fish in the rivers with men and barter with lowland Filipinos for goods and services.
- The tasks are not identical
Are these activities the same for men?
No. Although in Isabela most women do not hunt with bow and arrows, with machetes, or by traps, most are willing to assist men in the hunt (not uncommonly will help carry game out of the forest)
The authors discuss the validity of the idea that there is gender equality among the Agta. In regards to the role of women in Agta economic activities, what two questions do the authors consider in determining gender equality?
May we accept a causal relationship between percentage of food production and equality? Are Agta males and females actually “equal?”
What are two avenues the authors use to address the question “Are Agta males and females are actually ‘equal’ ”?
First, one might explore a definition of equality, surely a culturally loaded concept. Since Agatha women have authority over or control of the economic gain of their own labor, they may be equal in this critical domain. Equality must surely be equated with decision making power and control of one’s own production.
- The second avenue of equality validation by the scientist may be to examine the female’s control over herself in noneconomic matters. These could include selection of marriage partner, lack of premarital sexual intercourse proscription, spacing of children, ease of divorce and polygyny rules.
