module 4 review Flashcards

1
Q

Bacha posh

A

A male identity for prepubescent females in Afghanistan that affords more freedoms in the public realm.

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2
Q

Initiation

A

The rites, ceremonies, ideas, or instructions with which one is made a member of a particular community or group.

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3
Q

Nature-Culture dichotomy

A

An explanatory model that associates women with nature through the association with the family where many “natural” or bodily functions occur, and men with culture through the association with the world of work where “cultural,” “mental,” and therefore, higher functions occur.

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4
Q

Rite of passage

A

Culturally defined activities that are associated with the transition from one life stage (e.g., boy) to another (e.g., manhood).

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5
Q

Stereotype

A

Overly simplified, but strongly held ideas, about the characteristics of males and females.

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6
Q

Symbol

A

Something verbal or non-verbal that arbitrarily and by convention stands for something else with which it has no natural connection.

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7
Q

stereotype

A

Stereotype – Overly simplified but strongly held ideas about the
characteristics of males and females

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8
Q

How is this seen in the media and in toys for children?

A

In children’s cartoons, women are still the helpless victims that
the
fearless male hero must rescue. Toys are targeted either for little
boys or little girls and are packaged appropriately in colors and
materials culturally defined as either masculine or feminine

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9
Q

Describe the Nature-Culture dichotomy.

A

An explanatory model that associates women with nature
through the
association with the family where many “natural” or bodily
functions
occur, and men with culture through the association with the
world of
work where “cultural”, “mental”, and therefore, higher functions
occur.

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10
Q

What are the three main criticisms of this dichotomy?

A

Although this model may be applicable in some cultures, its
universality has been challenged not only by those who point out that
nature-culture is a dichotomy of western thought in particular, but also
by those who provide ethnographic data to indicate its lack of
salience in other cultures around the world.
o The assumption that women are universally subordinated while
men are dominant appears questionable when viewed through the
lens of recent ethnographic analysis
o Critique of the concepts of universal subordination and of the
nature-culture dichotomy has stimulated significant research on how
gender identity and gender roles are constructed in particular cultural
contexts. Whether and under what conditions social asymmetry between men and women emerges in the process of this construction
is open to empirical investigation

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11
Q

What does the cultural construction of gender involve?

A

The cultural construction of gender in a particular society
involves definitions
of what it means to be masculine or feminine, and these
definitions vary
cross culturally

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12
Q

mong the Mende of Sierra Leone, what is the act of boys being
seized from their homes by the force of spirits considered to signify?

A

the importance of these rituals to
construct manhood by identifying a recurring cross-cultural
notion:
that “real manhood is different from simple anatomical
maleness hat it is not a natural condition that comes about spontaneously
through biological maturation but rather is a precarious or
artificial
state that boys must win against powerful odds

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13
Q

What is usually involved with the transition to womanhood?

A

Initiation rituals that prepare girls for their roles as women and
instruct
them in what it means to be a woman in a particular cultural
context
can also be found in various societies around the world.
however, the
transition to womanhood is often part of a more subtle and
continuous
process of enculturation and socialization. In a description of
hausa
socialization, Callaway (1987) demonstrates how girls in this
society
learn how to behave in culturally appropriate way

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14
Q

Among the Hausa of northern Nigeria, when do girls marry?

A

hausa girls marry young, generally upon reaching puberty. At
that time
they enter kulle, or seclusion. In seclusion, the social roles of
women
are specifically defined and their sexual activities are limited.

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15
Q

What is kulle? What is the purpose of going into seclusion?

A

seculsion
Although a hausa woman becomes part of her husband’s
family,
her place is secured only by bearing sons, and all her children
belong to her husband. hausa women are taught the expected
life
course from early childhood.

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16
Q

What attributes may be considered to constitute personhood?

A

In addition to gender, it may comprise age,
status
in the family and in the community, and physical appearance or
impairment

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17
Q

How may naming construct personhood?

A

n many cultures, naming is also an important mechanism for
constructing personhood. In the United States, for instance, the
use
of Ms. to replace Mrs. and Miss is an acceptable option. It is now
quite common for married women to retain the name that they
were born with rather than replace it with one that only gives
them
an identity in relation to someone else—their husband.
“these names both reflect and affect the transactions which
constitute a person’s fundamental social relationships and
identity. .
. . Totemic names allow both men and women to pursue
respectively their culturally defined preoccupations of political
competition and the bearing of children. The totemic names
available to men, however, convey different sorts of power and
resources than do those available to women. . . . Men seek to
augment their own power through gaining control of the names
of
others. . . . The power conveyed by [women’s] names cannot
shape social relationships as does the power of names men hold, but,
instead, ensures reproduction

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18
Q

How may personhood be encoded in the language men and
women use?

A

i many cultures around the world, speech styles differ between
men and women, whereas in others there are no distinctions

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19
Q

According to the Sambia, maleness is not biologically given but
must be induced

A

warfare, marriage, and initiation were interlocking institutions; the
effect of this political instability was to reinforce tough, strident
masculine performance in most arenas of social life. “Strength”
(jerundu) was—and is—a pivotal idea in this male ethos. Indeed,
strength, which has both ethnobiological and behavioral
aspects,
could be aptly translated as “maleness” and “manliness.”
Strength
has come to be virtually synonymous with idealized conformity to
male ritual routine.

20
Q

) What is the basis of maleness for the Sambia?

A

Men fear not only pollution from contact with women’s vaginal
fluids
and menstrual blood but also the depletion of their semen, the
vital
spark of maleness, which women (and boys, too) inevitably
extract,
sapping a man’s substance. These are among the main themes
of male
belief underlying initiation

21
Q

How does this translate into initiation rites?

A

There are six intermittent initiations from the ages of seven to ten
and
onward. They are, however, constituted and conceptualized as
two distinct
cultural systems within the male life cycle. first-stage (moku, at
seven to ten
years of age), second-stage (imbutu, at ten to thirteen years),
and third-stage
(ipmangwi, at thirteen to sixteen years) initiations—
bachelorhood rites—are
collectively performed for regional groups of boys as age-mates.
The
initiations are held in sequence, as age-graded advancements;
the entire
sequel takes months to perform.

22
Q

Is it the same for females?

A

Module 4 Review Questions 8 | P a g e
The solution is also different for the two sexes: men believe that a
girl is born with all of the vital organs and fluids necessary for her
to
attain reproductive competence through “natural” maturation.
This
conviction is embodied in cultural perceptions of the girl’s
development beginning with the sex assignment at birth

23
Q

How do the Sambia view the bond between a mother and her son?

A

ll infants are closely bonded to their mothers. Out of a woman’s
contaminating, life-giving womb pours the baby, who thereafter
remains tied to the woman’s body, breast milk, and many
ministrations. This latter contact only reinforces the femininity and
female contamination in which birth involves the infant.

24
Q

What is the belief underlying this view?

A

he father, both because of postpartum taboos and by personal
choice, tends to avoid being present at the breast- feedings.
Mother
thus becomes the unalterable primary influence; father is a weak
second. Sambia say this does not place girls at a “risk”—they
simply succumb to the drives of their “natural” biology. This
maternal attachment and paternal distance clearly jeopardize
the
boys’ growth, however, since nothing innate within male
maturation
seems to resist the inhibiting effects of mothers’ femininity. hence
boys must be traumatically separated—wiped clean of their
female
contaminants—so that their masculinity may develop.`

25
Q

How does this translate into initiation rituals? Is it the same for
mothers and daughters?

A

masculinization (herdt 1981: 255294). hence I shall refer to the
overall
process that involves separating a boy from his mother, initiating
him,
ritually treating his body, administering homosexual
inseminations, his
biological attainment of puberty, and his eventual reproductive
competence, as masculinization.
The achievement of puberty for boys requires semen. Breast milk
“nurtures the boy”, and sweet potatoes or other “female” foods
provide “stomach nourishment”, but these substances become
only
feces, not semen. Women’s own bodies internally produce te
menarche, the hallmark of reproductive maturity. There is no
comparable mechanism active in a boy, nothing that can
stimulate his
secondary sex traits. Only semen can do that; only men have
semen;
boys have none

26
Q

n terms of “selling the body-as-self”, briefly outline how the
meaning and purpose of “bodywork” has changed over the
decades.

A

the practices indivudals engage in to alter the body may Vary
ACROSS space and time, individuals use the body as a site for
modification, crafting it to fit personal and social ideals of
beauty

27
Q

Briefly describe how the body-as-self paradigm relates to the
global consumer industry.

A

Appearance driven consumer markets promote the purchase of
specific identities but encouraging individuals to buy products
intended to transform the body.
o —consumption of beauty products is motivated by a global
consumer industry that uses ixmages of bodies to suggest how a
given product enhances physical appearance

28
Q

In regards to the use of body image by the global consumer
industry, what specific purpose have these images been
constructed for?

A

To enable an individual to develop a sense of what counts as
“looking good” In these images the bodies are retouched,
airbrushed, and unlikely to exist in a natural state

29
Q

How has cosmetic surgery capitalized on this?

A

Cosmetic surgery has capitalized on this perceived link between
looking good and feeling good.

30
Q

How have surgeons justified the practice of invasive surgery for
aesthetic reasons?

A

o By asserting the importance of the body-as-self paradigm:
cosmetic surgery can improve the patient’s image of self, promoting
an enhanced sense of emotional and psychological well-being.

31
Q

In terms of “the evolution of an ideal”, how does the Miss Venezuela
pageant become a symbol of modernizing discourse?

A

Venezuela would export the worlds most beautiful women,
evidence of its fulfilment of the qualities of an educated,
cultured, and enlightened nation.

32
Q

How has the construction of “plastic” Misses produced a
fundamental shift in cultural ideals of beauty?

A

The construction of “plastic” misses through cosmetic surgery
has produced a fundamental shift in cultural ideals of beauty:
tall, extremely thin, with delicately curvaceous chest-wait-hip
measurements

33
Q

Briefly describe how cosmetic surgery resolves the paradox of a
declared preference for curvy bodies and the documented
decline in BMI.

A

uccessful pageant contestants strip their body of its natural
curves through diet and exercise and then turn to cosmetic surgery to
re-sculpt a body with 90-60-90 cm measurements.

34
Q

n terms of “measuring up”, what type of metaphors permeate
narratives of decisions to undergo breast surgery?

A

Metaphors of self-worth

35
Q

Among older women, how is the change in breast shape
perceived over time?

A

As a symbol of inevitable old age and decline.

36
Q

Using Paola’s narrative as an example, briefly describe the ways
that motherhood and womanhood intersect in contradictory ways.

A

paola construes her femininity as being subverted by
motherhood. She compares breastfeeding to a parasitic activity:
children sucked away her womanhood. She blames her children
for her lack of breasts. Breast implants will help her become more
feminine, however having the surgery will create limitations in her
ability to do “women’s work”→ doctor told her not to do any
housework or carry children right after surgery.

37
Q

What will breast implants help Paola become?

A

b ecome more feminine

38
Q

in terms of the fact “men have breasts too”, what is gynecomastia?

A

The condition of “male-breasts”

39
Q

In contrast to reasons women seek out breast surgery, why do men
elect for breast reduction surgery?

A

Men elect breast reduction surgery in order to remove what is
considered to be a shameful femininity that is not natural to the
male body

40
Q

What ultimately challenged Guillermo’s public performance of
masculinity?

A

His biological body that was coded as feminine. This inhibited
what he described as the most important aspect of a masculine
identity: the ability to engage in heterosexual intercourse without
risking further shame about his body. Made it difficult for him to
perform as a man in the bedroom.

41
Q

Given the prevalence of gynecomastia among men, and the
association of breasts with femininity, why is male breast reduction
surgery not more popular?

A

Cosmetic surgery continues to be regarded as distinctly
feminine. The increasing visibility of cosmetic surgery in popular
media, has contributed to widespread perceptions that
aesthetics procedures are the domain of women

42
Q

In terms of the dominant gender ideology in Venezuela, where
does the “ethos of machismo” stem from?

A

tems from a fear of being indistinguishable from the feminine,
and manliness becomes that which contrasts with womanliness.

43
Q

What is bacha posh (~1:30)? What does this identity allow them to
do (that they normally could not)? Why did Shabina’s father make
the decision to make her bacha posh?

A

A male identity for prepubescent females in Afghanistan that
affords
more freedoms in the public realm.
This is how she’s allowed to do things that other girls aren’t, like
going out to the streets alone and working. Every morning, she
helps
her father opened small grocery that helps feed the family.
Her father is severely handicapped. That’s why he made the
eldest of his children a bacha posh.

44
Q

How does dressing like males help escape the severe restrictions
placed on females (~4:30)?

A

In the streets and in classrooms and stadiums, many girls
pretend to be boys in order to work, to study, to walk without the
veil,
to run, to have fun and live. Gradually they learn to become
free. Few
are ready to give up this hard-earned freedom, no matter what
the
costs

45
Q

When is the bacha posh identity expected to end for an individual

A

The bacha posh children are normally tolerated until puberty but then must go back to being full fledged women, something
Jack
doesn’t want to do

46
Q

Who made the decision for Mariam to be bacha posh (~17:30)?
Who decided for Naid to change back to a female identity from
bacha posh?

A

The family legend has it that Mariam decided to be a bacha
posh
all by herself. When the Taliban were ruling over Afghanistan, the
family took refuge in Pakistan. It is here that Mariam, the
youngest
one, just a child at the time, wanted to take the role of the big
brother
and this family of only girls where the father is often absent.
s ociety forced her to change.

47
Q

ariam’s father consulted with the mullah of his mosque (~35:00).
What is the mullah’s view of the bacha posh identity? Briefly
describe the mullah’s views of bacha posh and women in Afghan
society.

A

the mullah receives us, along with Mariam’s father. He’s aware
of the bacha posh phenomenon, and objects to it in the name
of Islam.
It doesn’t make any sense. A woman cannot get freedom by
changing
clothes. It is not freedom that she’s getting, but suffering. She
loses
respect, and becomes an insult to the society.
Anyway, women are free. They can travel with their husbands.
They can go out, accompanied by relatives. There is no problem
with
all of this