W2C3: gender & age

Question 1

Two dimensions of looking at inequality:

Answer 1

Horizontal differentiation: aspects of social differentiation which do not express unequal rank – differences may be expressed through the division of labour.

Vertical differentiation: inequalities in power or rank,

Question 2

Heteronormativity:

Answer 2

the hegemonic belief that heterosexual relationships are the standard of sexual relationships, implying a binary gender aligned with biological sex and implying that any other sexual orientation, despite all cultural relativism, is different.

Question 3

Difference between sex and gender:

Answer 3

Sex: biological, not completely binary as well

Gender: social construction, more freedom.

Gender differences are codified and institutionalised socially and culturally
The social construction of gender also means that they can be changed.

Question 4

Society assign emotional states and abilities to different genders:

Answer 4

• Women speak with a higher tone than men, even though their vocal chords allow them to lower their voice. Seemingly small details that make a difference
• ‘the body itself can represent an emic map of a culture’s attitudes toward femininity and masculinity’ (Balée 2016: 95).

Question 5

Anthropology has long been blind for gender differences:

Answer 5

In older studies: people spoke about hunter-societies:

Human evolution was explained by hunting, male bias

Females were gathering -> critical studies about this. The women are not dependent on the males, because they gather food. Mothers share food with children, that’s where bonding happens. Tools were made to gather

Question 6

Cultural conceptualisations of gender are being naturalised ideologically

Answer 6

Often biological arguments are used: women are mothers and therefore can’t work as hard in companies. But the question is: is it biological or cultural?

From a society perspective some things do make sense: letting men fight, because they aren’t necessary very long for reproducing and raising children

Question 7

Judith Butler on gender:

Answer 7

• Gender is not a stable identity, or locus of agency.
• It is an identity tenuously constituted in time, through a stylized repetition of acts
• Performativity: it is performed, like theatrics
  Movement of the body, dressing etc.
• You make gender your own by repetition of acts. Not necessarily a conscious choice.
• Transgender persons have to learn to walk in a new way, for example (but they don’t have to)

Question 8

Kimberlé Crenshaw on intersectionality

Answer 8

Intersectionality ‘is used as a conceptual tool for the analysis of gender as a multi-dimensional phenomenon where multiple axes of identity (gender, race, class, ability, age) interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, creating a system of oppression that reflects the “intersection” of multiple forms of discrimination’ (Sinatti 2014: 218).

In short: how gender inequalities intersect with (originally) racial inequalities, they don’t work independently but they reinforce. Now, more intersections are added: class, age, ability.

Question 9

What explains gender inequality?

Answer 9

• Private and public
  Women carry out the domestic work (child-raising, cooking, cleaning). Men tend to be responsible for the household’s dealings with the outside world
• Dominance and submission
  Women tend to be subordinated, but it is difficult to say why. There are, however, examples where this isn’t the case. It therefore cannot be assumed to be universal
• Men:women :: culture:nature
  Man is to woman what culture is to nature: Women are regarded as undomesticated, wild, difficult to control and closer to nature and represent danger. The biological functions of the woman make it necessary to spend more time on ‘species behaviour’.
  On the other hand: women have important cultural tasks and obligations, like transmitting tradition. In some parts men are considered sexual forces of nature. Therefore this analogy is very simplistic
• Women’s world and men’s world?
  Men and women may experience the world in different way.
  Women tend to be shy and ‘muted’ and therefore difficult to engage in conversation with anthropologists. Women’s worlds are more difficult to explore than men’s.

Question 10

Age

Answer 10

• Like gender, age is a universal principle for social differentiation and classification.
• Even though it is biological, it is to some extent socially constructed. Nonindustrial states emerge as distinctly old-age oriented. In industrial and post-industrial societies by contrast, old people do not have a particularly high authority by virtue of age.
• Advanced age is often associated with deep experience, wisdom and sound sense of judgement.
• In some societies age groups form an important principle of differentiation
• Aging -> rites of passage
• In many contemporary societies, youth is valued more highly than advanced age. Can be seen as a consequence of a social form oriented more towards the future than towards the past, where change can be seen as a good thing, and where culture changes fast enough to render traditional knowledge obsolete.
• Difference between gender and age: with age, one more or less automatically changes membership between age groups