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207 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Ethnical Periods (Lewis Henry Morgan)
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19th Century Societal Evolution
• Societal evolution viewed as progressive (from savagery to civilization). • Evolution = advancement of “mental and moral powers through experience.” |
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Theory of Societal Evolution (morgan)
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Theory: Humans progress to civilization through stages of savagery and barbarism.
Method: Compare societies at different levels of evolution to reveal universal evolutionary path. Assumption: “living fossils” reflect what more advanced societies looked like in the past. |
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Morgan’s Argument
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• Identifying a society’s ethnical period allows evolutionary study of societal development.
• Societies can be compared irrespective of time |
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Societas (morgan)
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(based on kinship)
– Gens (patrilineal clan) as basis of organization. Complexity evolves thru phratry (descent group of related clans), tribe, and confederacy of tribes. |
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Civitas (morgan)
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(based on territory/property)
– Township/ward as basis of organization. Complexity evolves thru county/province, nation. Individuals dealt with through property relations |
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power
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the ability to exercise one’s will over others.
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authority
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the socially approved use of power.
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Service’s Sociopolitical Typologies
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Very simplistic scheme, but useful to describe some general principles.
Correlates with economic typologies. Implies unilineal evolution. |
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Sociopolitical Correlates
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• Band (Egalitarian)
– Band leaders are “first among equals” e.g., the best hunter. Lead by example. No power or authority. • Tribal Cultivators – “Big Man”, Village Head through personal characteristics w/kin backing. Lead by example and by generosity. Limited power and authority. • Chiefdom – Chief: permanent political office sanctioned by religion. Much power and authority. |
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Social Stratification
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Society divided into socioeconomic strata with differential access to resources and stratum endogamy (elites marry elites, commoners marry commoners).
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Three Dimensions of Social Stratification (Max Weber)
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Economic Status (based on wealth). Political Status (based on power). Social Status (based on prestige)
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States
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“an autonomous political unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes, draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws.”
High level of stratification and specialization. |
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States: Formal Means of Social Control
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Population Control, Judiciary, Enforcement, Fiscal. Leaders have much power and authority to enforce compliance.
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Hegemony (Antonio Gramsci)
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• Dominance of one social group over another by means of an ideology that justifies why a stratified social order (e.g., by socioeconomics, race/ethnicity) is in everybody’s best interest.
• Explanation for how a diverse, complex society can be dominated by one social group. • Coercive rule is expensive and unstable: • Better option is to persuade subordinates that social order is in everybody’s best interest. • Ideology (state level; political) creates illusion that relations between dominant and subordinate groups are mutually beneficial. Goal: get subordinate groups to comply with stratified social order without using coercion |
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Resisting Hegemonic Power (James Scott)
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Public Transcript: Public interactions between powerful and subordinate.
Hidden Transcript: Critique of power by the subordinate group that occurs in domains hidden from the eyes of the dominant group. Weapons of the Weak: Hidden transcripts can be transformed into public expressions against hegemony. Resistance that is disguised rather than openly defiant. |
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social control: formal means
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Expressed through law as rules and regulations against deviant behavior. Conducted by governments and organizations using law enforcement mechanisms and other formal sanctions such as fines and imprisonment.
--Usually used by governments or other organizations that hold power (ability to exercise will over others) and authority (the socially approved use of power). Explicit “contract” between government and people. |
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social control informal means
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Exercised without explicitly stating rules; expressed through custom and norms using informal sanctions such as criticism, disapproval, guilt, shaming, discrimination.
--Moral Injunctions, Gossip & Ostracism, Satire, Education/Propaganda, Shaming/Humiliating |
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Learning the Nightmare (Henry)
Schools as Institutions for Enculturation |
“Drilling” (rote learning) replaced by less rigid forms of teaching.
Old rules replaced by new rules. Function of education is not to foster creativity, but to instill conformity. “American classrooms . . . express the values, preoccupations, and fears found in the culture as a whole.” |
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The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict (Bowen)
Problematic Assumptions |
Ethnic identity is ancient and unchanging (a primordialist view).
Ethnic identities motivate people to kill and persecute others. Ethnic diversity inevitably leads to inter-ethnic violence. |
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Problem: Ethnic Conflict = Ethnic Hatred? (bowen)
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Implies ethnic conflicts engaged in by those who are less modern, more primitive (irrational) and tribal (savage).
Implies that violence is natural characteristic of some ethnic groups, ignores that violence is consequence of political processes and actions. These groups are naturally violent. Ignoring political processes |
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Constructivist View
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Pre-colonial: ethnic/tribal identity rarely important in everyday life.
Identity related to birthplace, lineage, wealth status Identity is fluid, could change through social and spatial mobility and within lifetime Colonial powers and post-colonial states formed more rigid “ethnic identities”. |
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Tutsis and Hutus
Pre colonial |
Spoke same language
Practice same religion Frequently intermarried Fluid categories (a Hutu could become a Tutsis) |
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Tutsis and Hutus: Colonial
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Belgian colonialists created “racial” distinction (Tutsis taller, smarter, wealthier).
Identity solidified through census/identity cards. Tutsis privileged for indirect rule. Colonial discrimination created Hutu identity and created Hutu cause. Fixing a persons identity Post clononial independence Struggle for power Competition Role of leaders in demonizing the other Identity basis of who to kill (1994) Belgian colonial regime Tutsi was raised about Hutu and created problems |
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Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
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Tamil and Sinhalese: Different religion (Hindu/Buddhist), different language, different culture.
Yet coexisted for centuries. In order to rule, British colonialists: “relied on hardened and artificial notion of ethnic boundaries.” “created new social groups and identified them by ethnic, religious, or regional categories.” Fluid categories in past and british colonial regime creates regid categories to benefit sinhalese |
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Tutsis and Hutus: Post-Colonial
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Colonial administrators created strong notions of Tamil/Sinhalese identities.
Colonial administrators created Tamil cause by establishing system that discriminated. Tamils responded by creating LTTE in 1976 (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). War for separate state raged 1976 – 2009. One group was elevated at the expense of the other |
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John bowen
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Ethnic groups form in response to colonial and post colonial polices that created shared interests (political autonomy, access to education/jobs, control over locl resources)
Conflicts are not caused by ancient ethnic or tribal loyalties |
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Top-Down Conflicts
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Ethnicity used by leaders to mobilize people.
Step 1: Instill sense of ethnic hatred through propaganda (Rwanda, Serbia, Sri Lanka). Step 2: Encourage/coerce people to participate in persecution. Its is political |
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Ethnic Diversity Inevitably Lead to Ethnic Conflict?
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Countries where one ethnic group controls and dominates others are more prone to violence (Sri Lanka, Rwanda).
Countries where power is dispersed among ethnic groups are less prone to violence (Malaysia, Indonesia). Really about political processes --top down, driven by leaders who want to do it for their own gain |
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Birth of Biometric Security (Maguire)
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Recognizing humans on basis of physical or behavioral traits.
Physical Traits (face, fingerprints, iris, hand geometry, DNA, body odor). Behavioral Traits (handwriting, voice pattern, gait |
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biometric security
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Record a characteristic (e.g., “mug shot”, fingerprint) and enter it into a database.
Disseminating the database creates a method for tracking individuals. |
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Maguire's research agenda
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Biosecurity research dominated by technical fields (e.g., encryption).
Move beyond debates on efficacy of technology by focusing on historical and cultural dimensions of biometrics. Explore genealogy of biometric security to show it as “an invisible chain that held past populations in strikingly contemporary ways.” What are the social ramifications of widely deploying such technologies? |
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Governmentality (Michel Foucault)
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Methods used by governments to produce citizens who act in accordance with government policies or objectives.
The ideologies and techniques through which subjects are governed. |
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Panopticism (Michel Foucault)
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“He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection.”
With biometrics and biosecurity the body becomes both a target and instrument of control. Observation tower in center, walls contain cells of inmates who can be easiy scrutinized by guards --Knowledge of measurements induces self-control, measurements make body target of control. |
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Alphonse Bertillon
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Concern about urgban population and crime
Photographed, finger-printed and collected other data on criminals Cards with individuals’ biometric data pioneered by bertillon |
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William Herschel
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—early fingerprinting
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Biometrics and Utopian vision
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Every human being should be partially signalised…It would then be possible to find any persona at once whenever desired, whether for its own good or that of society at large, in whatever place he might be and however he might alter his appearance or name. Crime would thus be rooted out, elections purified, immigration laws effectively enforced . . .
Publisher’s introduction to Bertillon’s Signaletics, 1896 |
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controlling population
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Movement enhanced for some (e.g., quick screening at airports) and obstructed for others (e.g., those on no fly list).
UK smart border Facilitate rapid movement for some; deter, detect and remove others |
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expanding uses
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“As citizens get used to biometric identification in their dealings with border control the association with criminal behavior will diminish and people may be more prepared to accent it for other purposes as well.” (European Parliament Report, 2005)
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Say “Cheese” (Shearing and Stenning)
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Mechanisms for social control built into park.
“Private corporate policing.” Corporation that has a product. Want to manage it so that they can get through and enjoy it “Control strategies are embedded in both environmental features and structural relations.” Control becomes consensual. Inducing cooperation by “depriving visitors of a resource they value.” “People today are seduced to conform by the pleasures of consuming the goods that corporate power has to offer.” Don’t notice that you are being controlled Minimize disorder by constant instructions, physical barriers, employee surveillance Gardens Props and characters are agents of social control Posing with mickey mouse (staged intimacy veils extraordinary control) Managing the dinsey image: photo shoots |
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A.R Radcliffe Brown
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Colonial administrator turned anthropologist.
Scientific anthropology: search for universal laws to explain human behavior. Proponent of British Functionalism: social structure key framework for comparative analysis. Goal to understand how social institutions function. Worked in Africa |
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Joking Relationships: “Permitted Disrespect”
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Asymmetrical. A required to tease B; B required to take no offense, B not permitted to tease A
Symmetrical. A and B tease each other; neither takes offense |
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disjunction
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Husband is outsider to wife’s family. Divergent interests = potential conflict.
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conjunction
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Wife’s continuing relationship with own family. Interest in her welfare = potential conflict.
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formal relationship (conflict avoidance)
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Extreme mutual respect. Limitation on direct contact. Example: if a man avoids his in-laws he avoids potential conflicts with them
Elder in-laws (wife’s father, mother, elder brother/sister). |
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joking relationship (conflict avoidance)
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Mutual disrespect, playful antagonism prevents hostility.
Younger/same aged in-laws (wife’s siblings). |
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Theoretical insight
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Joking relationships “are modes of organising a definite and stable system of social behaviour in which conjunctive and disjunctive components . . . are maintained and combined.”
Joking relations have a function |
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descent group
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A social unit whose members claim common ancestry.
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descent
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Unilineal (Patrilineal, Matrilineal) or Bilateral
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Consanguineal Kin
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blood” relatives
Parents, but not step parents or adoptive parents Brothers and sisters providing one common biological parent Uncles and aunts—some but not all |
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Affinal Kin
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thru marriage
--Step parents, step brothers/sisters, some aunts and uncles |
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Fictive Kin
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thru affection
--God parents, “uncle” Charlie, adoptive children, foreign exchange “parents”, sorority “sisters”, fraternity “brothers” |
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Unilineal
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traced through either parternal or maternal lines
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bilateral
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traced through both paternal and maternal lines
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marriage
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Affinal relationships formed thru marriage.
Difficult to define (varies cross-culturally). “a union (usually socially recognized thru ritual) between a man and a woman such that the children born to the woman are recognized as legitimate offspring of both partners.”(Royal Anthropological Institute, 1951) Definition excludes same sex marriages and plural marriages |
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patrilocality
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when couple marries they move to husband’s household/community.
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matrilocality
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when couple marries they move to wife’s household/community.
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neolocality
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when couple marries they establish new, independent residence.
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incest
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Marriage/sexual relations with a close relative.
Details of taboo differ (cultures define who is or is not kin differently). Sibling and first cousins as incest Cultural def. and legal definition are different Nepal cant marry someone in lineage. –patrilineal descent |
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bridewealth
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Paid to bride’s family by groom’s family. Compensates bride’s family for loss of family member.
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dowry
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Paid to groom’s family by bride’s family. Compensates groom’s family for burden of accepting their daughter.
Provide bride with economic security |
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sororate
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The custom whereby a widower marries the sister of his deceased wife.
--Mostly only happens if first wife doesn’t bear children |
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levirate
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The custom whereby a widow marries the brother of her deceased husband.
Look over kids |
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endogamy
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the custom of marrying within a social group to which a person belongs.
--Age group, race, religion, socioeconomic class, level of education |
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exogamy
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the custom of marrying outside a social group to which a person belongs.
--Kin group(incest), gender? |
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family
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Difficult concept to define due to cross-cultural variations.
“a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabitating adults.” (Murdock 1949). excludes: Societeies where spouses do not co-reside Same sex couples. Single parent families, couples without kids |
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family
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“a group of two people or more related by birth, marriage, adoption, and residing together.”
No mention of gender |
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family of orientation
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Family in which one is born and grows up. Critical relationships = parents and siblings.
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family of procreation
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Formed when one marries and has children. Critical relationships = spouse and kids.
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Family System (William Skinner)
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Customary, normative manner in which family processes unfold.
Processes include: marriage, succession, transmission of property (inheritance), co-residential arrangements, roles and statuses. Conjugal (Nuclear). Stem (Extended). Joint (Extended). |
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Conjugal
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2 generations, neolocal marriage
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stem
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2 plus generations, 1 marriage per generations, majority of inheritance to those who remain in household
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joint
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2 plus generation, 2 plus marriages per generation, majority inheritance to those who remain in household
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american family system
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How do we envision the “ideal” family?
Maximum two generations (parents + kids). Monogamous, neolocal marriage. Equal inheritance among siblings regardless of gender. |
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james dobson
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state of the family—institution of the family has continued the downward spiral…
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Changing Household Arrangements
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More people cohabit. More people form same-sex unions (other non-family households). More adult children still live with parents. More people live alone (delayed marriage, aging and spousal deaths). More people live as single parents (due to divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing).
Statistics only tell part of the story. Looking at processes rather than just compositions. The system remains the same but we go through more transitions along the way |
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Mosuo ((Lu Yuan and Sam Mitchell)
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example of matrilineal society.
– Matrilineal descent; Female-headed households; No formal marital unions (sisi = “walking back and forth”); Informal unions based on love, no dowry; Children raised by mother and her brothers; No social or economic obligations between father and children |
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Advantages of “Walking Marriage”
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• All siblings (brothers and sisters) contribute to the welfare of the household.
• No potential conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. |
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savagery
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promiscuous intercourse--Mosuo
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barbarism
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formal marriage, but few rules
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civilization
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monogamy
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polyandry (goldstein)
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one woman with 2 or more men
tibetans perspective --means to ensure family unity --conserve household resources Corollary and consequence Many women excluded from marriage Low fertility and population growth |
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polygyny
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1 man with 2 or more women
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Tibetan family system
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Patrilocal post-marital residence
Women marry out, men stay at home Patrilineal inheritance Inheritance at marriage, not at parental death Men inherit the land and animals from their fathers Women inherit jewelry, some animals |
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Tibet sociocultural norms
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– Patrilocal post-marital residence. Women marry out, men stay at home.
– Patrilineal inheritance. Men inherit the land and animals from their fathers. |
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Tibet-stem family system
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2 plus generations, 1 marriage per generation, majority of inheritance to those whoe remain in household
sister leave house when married woman brought in marries sons need to rid of any daughters that stay in house—find her a way to stay in close proximity but away 2 daughters sent out arranged one son sent out for marriage by choice one daughter kept near choice or nonmarriage |
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phala
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eldest of the husbands==father
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agu
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younger brothers (unlces)
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sexytime solutions for multiple dicks
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parents of the marriage arrange schedule of bone session
wifes decision on who to visit |
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The Persistence of Polygamy (Egan)
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• 1890s: Mormon church denounced polygamy (actually, polygyny) and Utah outlawed the practice (condition of statehood). 20,000 – 60,000 today people live in polygynous families. Polygyny survives in “clans”.
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Opponents of Polygyny
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• Lack of female autonomy. Early (child) marriages = pedophilia. “Incestuous” unions (e.g., first cousins). Appointed marriages (often large age diff.). Statutory rape.
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Supporters of Polygyny
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• Men are evolutionarily wired for multiple sex partners. Men have natural urge for diversity of mates. Polygyny keeps sex within marriage, legitimizes offspring. Polygyny offers “sense of security” and “sisterhood” for modern women (+ sharing the domestic duties).
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Arranging a Marriage in India (Nanda)
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• Most marriages are arranged by parents.
• Arranged marriages are contrary to the American ideal of individualism and the notion that a successful marriage is based on romantic love. • Dowry given by bride’s family to groom’s family. |
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tibetans
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changsa(marriage)
kha tug (their mouth’s met) |
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Nanda's Points
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Marriage = family (not individual) decision
Emphasis on quality of bride’s family. Emphasis on extended family values. Modern aspirations; traditional values. |
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Matrimonial Ad
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Ad posted by family member, not the girl.
Specifics about caste and occupations. “She respects elders.” Modern education, “believer in family values.” |
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parental decision
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• “My marriage is too important to be arranged by such an inexperienced person as myself.” (Sita, college graduate). Contrast with US: Anxiety over being popular.
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Examples of Same-Sex Marriage
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• Native American Berdaches (men who take on female social roles).
• Nandi of Kenya (women marry women to perpetuate matrilineal descent group). • Azande of pre-colonial Africa (men who can’t afford wives marry other men). |
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Sex and Consequences (Wood)
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• Institutionalized homosexuality always has negative consequences.
• Males secretive and exclusive; women devalued and marginalized (Etoro as evidence). • Sanctioning homosexuality leads to pedophilia. • Societies where homosexuality is the norm have low birth rates. |
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wood methodological point
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striving to understand a different culture/lifestyle by examining member’s beliefs and motivations. Does not preclude one from making moral judgments
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Focus on the Fridge (Blackman)
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• From luxury to necessity; nearly universal in US households.
Visions of modernity—had to have a fridge Always a women standing by the refrigerator |
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Middle-class refrigerator as “ritual space” (from Maschio)
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• Place where objects acquire special qualities and convey special meanings.
• A place to display family history and familial affection. • A place to display the family’s domestic and moral values. • A command and control center for organizing the family’s domestic routine. |
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Refrigerator Rights
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• Who is allowed inside is a measure of kinship, social distance, and age.
Magnets—creating domesticity by displaying values of what the home should be Would you walk into another person’s house, go to their refrigerator, open it up and help yourself? If you have refrigerator rights, it means something about the relationship Is your reluctance based on tacit or explicit cultural knowledge? When are you old enough to help yourself to the refrigerator?? Not having to ask permission means you’ve crossed an age threshold |
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sex
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biological differences that are more or less unalterable (e.g., Y chromosome in males, different genitalia).
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gender
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the traits that a culture assigns to and inculcates in males and females (social and cultural construction of male and female characteristics).
socially constructed |
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Margaret Mead (1901 – 1978)
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• Student of Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict.
– Culture and Personality: How does culture determine personality of the individual? • Popular writer; public face of anthropology (1930s-70s). |
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Boas’ Historical Particularism).
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• Cultures can only be understood with reference to their particular historical developments
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(Benedict’s Culture and Personality).
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• Each culture shapes personality of individual
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Margaret Mead
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there are some values out there that become firmly engrained in political, religious, and art and literature systems
those values end up becoming your values |
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Mead
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• Gender roles, stereotypes, and stratification are socially and culturally constructed
--Comparative approach to reject notion that all differences between men and women are innate (biologically determined) --If innate, male/female differences (eg. Temperament) should be universal (founding all societies) and invariable (remain the same through time) |
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The Social Construction of Gender (Lorber)
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• Something we take for granted in everyday social practices and interactions.
• We “do gender” without thinking. We notice it most when encountering “disruptions” (things that go against our ingrained expectations). |
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Gender Construction (lorber)
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• Starts at birth (dressing, naming): sex category becomes gender status.
• Once gender is evident, people treat that individual accordingly. • Gender behaviors and roles change (constantly created and recreated through social interactions). • If they were natural (biologically determined), then they would be immutable. But . . . – They vary cross-culturally. They vary across time within a culture. |
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Gender Roles (lorber)
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The tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes.
Women do more sustain/educating tasks Men do more recreational/entertainment activities |
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Gender Stereotypes (lorber)
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Strongly held ideas about the characteristics of males and females.
men like cars, tools, DIY project |
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Gender Stratification (lorber)
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Rights and responsibilities allocated according to gender (ordering of society).
• What men do is often valued more highly (education; economic activities; politics; etc.). • Gender ideology legitimates stratification. |
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Domestic-Public Dichotomy (differentiation between home and outside world).
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– Strong differentiation correlates with more gender stratification (higher status for men).
All 3 part of one system Interact with, and reinforce each other Culture is integrated—one change in the system with lead to other changes in the system Women were valued as member of the labor force in the late 1800s Early 1900s strong domestic-public dichotomy Women were depicted as the weaker sex 1940s-women reentered the labor force-WWII- men went away rosie the riveter—women depicted as strong Later women were pushed out of labor force-men returned (1950s-60s) |
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transgender
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Intersex individuals who have both male and female biological traits. Individuals whose gender identity is different than biological sex and gender identity assigned in infancy. “Biology isn’t destiny; people construct their identities in society.”
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Hijra
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• Member of the “third” gender in India (seen as neither male nor female).
• Often are intersex (genitalia is neither exclusively male or female). • Low status, marginal members of society. • Make living by performing at weddings and birth ceremonies (association with fertility) |
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aven
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people who choose to live asexual lives
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tibet
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nuns and monks shorn of gender markers like hairstyle and clothing
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Sex & Social Control: Formal Means
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– Jim Crow Prohibitions; Statutory Rape; Bestiality Laws; Sodomy Laws
Laws against inter-racial sex and marriage No sex with person deemed under age No sex with non humans No oral or anal sex |
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Sex & Social Control: Informal Means
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How do informal means of social control influence sexual behaviors?
How would your peers judge you if you were dating a 60 yr old? How does information about STDs affect sexual behaviors? How does the fear of being “outed” affect public displays of affection? |
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Sex and Culture
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Culture and Nature: cultural traditions convert natural acts into cultural customs.
• Sex is a natural act (procreation) surrounded by a variety of cultural customs. • Cultural expressions with sex as the ultimate goal Music, scents, non-verbal communications Learn seduction through observation Explicity offering sexual benefit to customers |
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A Woman’s Curse? (Small)
Menstruation |
• Transition from adolescence to womanhood. Continual reminder of female reproductive potential and role. Customs take negative forms (taboos).
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Taboos
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• No sex; can’t cook or touch food; can’t visit sacred place or attend ritual; can’t touch men’s items (e.g., tools, weapons); segregate self from rest of family . . .
• Effect: such taboos “set menstruating women apart from the rest of their society, marking them as impure and polluting.” |
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Beverly Strassman’s Hypothesis
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• Lack of menstrual cycle implies woman is either pregnant, lactating (recently had baby), or menopausal (can’t have any more). Continuous lack of menstrual cycle implies woman is sterile. Therefore, “information about menstruation can be a means of tracking paternity.”
• Dogon Context: info about paternity critical – descent passed through male lineage. |
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The Taboo
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• Established by men. Backed by supernatural forces. (belief that menstruating woman’s contact with alter brings calamity)
• Internalized and accepted by women until released from belief (e.g. religious conversion) Most of human history: comparatively few menstrual cycles (110/lifetime) Late menarche (16-18) Many Pregnancies (cycles cease) Lactational amenorrhea (cycles postponed) Today: 350-400 menstrual cycles Early menarch (12-14) Few pregnancies Lack of lactational amenorrhea Connection between regular ovulation and cancer? |
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Female-Selective Abortion in Asia (Miller)
Commonalities? (Korea, India, China) |
Normal sex ration at birth 105 males/100 females
Imbalanced sex rations is india, korea, Pakistan, china Chinas male to female sex ration has been increasing since 1960s (117 in 2000) East coast of china have highest male-female sex ration West coast of chine where family planning isn’t nearly as strict—regular male-female ratio Poor, rural males are having trouble finding wives Punjab (north) is high ratio while south is normal If family has a boy, next child born bit more likely to be a girl If family has a girl, next child born is much more likely to be a boy Family strives to have a boy so will abort girls make male ratio go up • All are strongly patriarchal (males dominate economic, political, social, and ideological spheres). • Kinship system emphasizes male relatives, separates females through marriage (patrilocal). • All have strong preferences for sons (for varying cultural & economic reasons). |
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Gender Ideology (Gender and Female-Selective Abortion)
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Women cannot perpetuate the family lineage (patrilineal descent).Male offspring valued more highly than female offspring
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Gender Roles (Gender and Female-Selective Abortion)
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Men more valuable to parents as farmers/wage earners and caretakers; women reside with in-laws (patrilocality).
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Gender stratification (Gender and Female-Selective Abortion)
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men hold more power (but how will unbalanced sex ratio affect this?) Men dominate economic, political, social and ideological spheres
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Sex-Ratio
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• Male dominated sex ratio correlates with high level of violence.
• Human Rights Issues: can gender be considered a “birth defect”? USA: Korean, Indian, Chinese immigrants Sex ratio of first born is normal Sex ratio of 2nd birth is abnormal if first born is girl Sex selective abortion Pre implantation genetic diagnosis Similar trends not evident among whites, blacks Rural china’s one-child policy= one child (if first is son) and two children (if first is daughter) According to Lihong Shi Many rural parents now choosing not to have second child if first is daughter Changing valuation of social and economic roles daughters can play in family |
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Measuring Up To Barbie (Urla and Swedlund)
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• • Fueled by profitable industries (cosmetic, weight loss, fashion, etc).
• • Feminine bodies “never feminine enough”. • – Constant need for refining, reshaping. • • Barbie’s influence: • – “an incredibly resilient visual and tactile model of femininity for pre-pubescent girls.” |
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history of barbie
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Developed during Cold War
• • Symbolized: Aspirations of prosperity, domestic containment, rigid gender roles One barbie sold every 2 seconds Every owner has 7 dolls Enculturation through direct ransmission and observation: instilling the “beauty myth” |
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Barbie gendering kids
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• • Learning
• – Connection between personal appearance and “happiness”. • – Connection between appearance and acceptance among peers. • – Teaching lessons about grooming for social events (proms, dates, weddings). Accessorizing barbie Socializing into consumer culture • • Learning cultural capital of name brands • • Learninng connection between fashion/taste and social status Anthropometry of Barbie Barbie and shani deviate significantly from “army norma” Taller and thinner Similar to runway model ideal |
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Barbie points
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• • Choosing body type is pervasive feature of consumer culture.
• • Keeping control over body (conforming to gendered norms) have become signs of “individual’s social and moral worth”. • • Playing with Barbie leads to internalizing values of ideal body size/shape. • • Girls link Barbie’s body shape with her popularity and glamour. • • Inability to realize the ideal negatively affects self-esteem. |
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Conflicting messages about barbie
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Does Barbie represent tyranny of fashion industry and uncritical acceptance of gender norms?
• • Does Barbie represent female empowerment: an independent female with a body shape that is distinctly non-reproductive? Generder roles, ideologies, and stereotypes enacted and inculcated within the context of children’s social events |
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Rituals of Manhood (Herdt)
Warfare and Masculinity |
• “Warfare used to be constant and nagging among Sambia, and it conditioned the values and masculine stereotypes surrounding the male initiatory cult.”
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Manliness (herdt)
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• Strength “pivotal idea in male ethos”. Masculinity performed on battlefield. Boys enculturation = ideals of masculinity.
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Gender Ideology/Stratification (Herdt)
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• Women: dangerous and polluting inferiors. Men considered superior in physique, personality, and social position.
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Gender and Enculturation (herdt)
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• Babies nurtured by women (mothers). Children raised by women (if female), by men (if male)
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becoming male (herdt)
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• Nature provides male genitalia, but manliness induced through ritual. Manliness not biological given
• Maternal attachment inhibits manly growth: separation from mother essential (wiped clean of female contaminants so masculinity can develop), ritual insemination to rid body of female contaminants and induce puberty. |
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Lessons (herdt)
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• Ethnographic example of society that draws major distinction between genders.
• Example of how gender is constructed among males though initiation rituals. – Emphasis on manliness. – Gender stratification (reflected in ideology, roles, status, power and authority, etc.) More gender stratification in patrilineal descent and partilineal societies |
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Ladies” Behind Bars (Coggeshall)
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• Gender redefined in prison context.
• Male and female gender roles emerge in all male society. • Males create females (the ones who are weaker), then dominate and subjugate them. |
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Gender and social stratification (Coggeshall)
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• Example of how gender is culturally constructed.
• The caricatures of men/women that are created reflect gender concepts in society at large. |
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Wrestling with manhood (coggeshall)
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• WWE very popular among young white males.
• Soap opera for guys (story lines). • “Anything that is popular reveals something larger about our society, about deep seated values.” |
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happy and escalating violence (coggeshall)
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• What are the social repercussions when extreme violence is presented as harmless fun?
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Making Men: Glamorizing Bullying (coggeshall)
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• Gender Role: real men expected to be physical, defined as a bully.
• Reinforce weakness of others through physical and psychic domination. • Issue: Why does the audience identify with the bully and not sympathize with the bullied? |
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normalizing gender violence (coggeshall)
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• Continuous scenes violence against and humiliation (sexual) of women.
• Violence against women presented in a way that arouses men. • Gender Stratification: Men’s violence against women normalized, justified, and rationalized. |
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Big picture: manhood
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• Similar themes of domination and gendered violence emerge in:
– Wrestling With Manhood (entertainment) – Ladies Behind Bars (containment) • What does this apparent pattern say about gender construction in the US? |
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control based on economic system
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– Ability to withhold resources necessary for survival.
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Control Based on System of Authority
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– Authority may be vested in political offices, kinship relationships, religious ideologies that give some people power over others.
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control based on direct force
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– Those who are stronger dominate the weaker.
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Egalitarian Society
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• “Social equality can be said to exist when everyone in a society has the same rights and perceived social value.”
• Social equality as goal in Western political philosophy (Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx). • Presented as a goal, not a reality. |
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Competitive Egalitarianism
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Equality of opportunity, but not outcome. Theoretically, every individual has equal chance for success.
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Noncompetitive Egalitarianism
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Equality of condition or outcome. Leveling mechanisms ensure that resources are shared equally.
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Gender Egalitarian Society
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• “a society in which neither males nor females, as groups, controlled the actions of the opposite sex or the terms by which their actions and characteristics were judged.”
• Definition does not imply that men and women act the same or perform identical roles. • “as groups” leaves open possibility that individuals can exert control, e.g. wife/husband. |
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Domestic-Public Dichotomy (Rosaldo)
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– In all societies domestic/public spheres are separate; women confined to domestic.
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Nature/Culture (Ortner)
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– Women associated with nature (childbearing/rearing).
– Men associated with culture (religion, politics, art). |
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Man the Hunter (Friedl)
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– Among foragers men provide and control distribution of meat (source of power and prestige).
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Previous speculation:
Gender Egalitarian Societies? |
• Women “autonomous” in foraging societies.
• Therefore, women autonomous in our evolutionary past (implies unilinear evolution?) • Property ownership = male dominance. • Conjugal families = wife dependent on husband. |
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deference effect
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is it socially acceptable to admit such an opinion to a strange even if you believe it to be true?
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batek
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• Orang Asli (“original people”); small population (800).
• Foraging, horticulture (when induced), and trade. • Contentious relations with Malays (history of slave raiding) and the state (history of meddling). Malaysia Malays (majority) Indians (labor/admin – british colonial legacy) Chinese (mercantile diaspora community) Orang asli (original people) Majority of population is muslim |
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batek demography
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• High infant and childhood mortality (25%).
• Low fertility? (common among foragers) • Low population density (people per km2). • Low population growth allows continuation of foraging lifestyle as long as there is enough rainforest to exploit. |
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Batek: establishing reliabality
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How long did the authors live among Batek?
Written in first-person or third-person? Do the authors speak the language? Note extensive usage of indigenous terms. How well did the authors establish rapport? No dramatic story (e.g., Geertz, Chagnon). Gradual acceptance, genuine affection. |
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Batek research methods
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Participant observation, work diaries, in-depth interviewing
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gender ideology
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Is there a moral, political, or religious ideology that elevates one gender and denigrates the other?
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Gender roles
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Is there a distinct division of labor by gender? Is there a rigid barrier between gender roles? Is the labor of one gender valued more highly?
Example: Who provides childcare? Does this inhibit one gender from pursuing other roles? |
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Gender Stereotypes
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Are there strongly held ideas about male and female characteristics? What males/females can or cannot do? What is appropriate/inappropriate?
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Gender Stratification
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Are rights and responsibilities allocated according to gender? Does one gender have more power and authority than the other gender?
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Batek views on gender
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Social Classification; Origin Stories/Myths; Physiology; Clothing/Body Decoration; Religion/Ritual
Triangulation---look at different sources of evidence |
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Gender and social stratification (batek)
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Personal names not always gender specific.
Gender-specific terms in reference to married couples (mother/father, grandma/grandpa, aunt/uncle, wife/husband). Many kinship terms reflect relative age, not gender (e.g., “younger sibling”, “elder cousin”). |
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gender in origin stories (batek)(
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No evident ideology that denigrates one gender or posits moral superiority of one gender.
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Physiology of gender
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Batek recognize physiological differences, but don’t consider them to be very important.
Souls considered the same. Men’s breath stronger (blowpipe); men stronger so can climb trees better (gathering fruit/vines). Blood smells different, but menstrual blood NOT considered polluting. Does NOT inhibit domestic or ritual tasks. Contrast Sambia of New Guinea (Herdt article), Dogon of Mali (Small article) |
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Gender in religion/ritual (batek
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Superhuman beings usually male/female couple.
Both men and women can become shamans. Both men and women can do blood rituals to appease superhuman beings. Neither men nor women considered guardians of religious knowledge or experts on religion. |
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Personal autonomy (batek
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Do whatever you want as long as if doesn’t impinge on obligation to help/respect others.
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respecting others (batek)
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Egalitarian ethic: everybody “equal in their intrinsic value and therefore worthy of respect.”
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Helping others (batek(
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Able-bodied adults are key: obligation to help children and the elderly or disabled.
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Sharing food (batek)
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Interdependence: expressed by passing food back and forth in camp regardless of need.
Obligatory (not voluntary) act: does not give power to food getters over food recipients. |
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nonviolence/noncompetition (batek)
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Aggression/physical coercion unacceptable. Stronger cannot coerce weaker.
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Power and authority (batek)
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How are ethical principles enforced?
No formal means of social control (authority structure) to punish wrongdoers. Informal means? Numerous informal means Moral injunction *by superhuman means) Gossip and criticism “backed by the implicit threat of the withdrawal of social support” Ostracism |
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Conjugal family (batek)
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basic residential unit.
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Camp group (batek)
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several conjugal families that camp and move together (fluid membership).
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river-valley group (batek)
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camp groups that exploit same watershed.
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batek kinship and descent
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Same terms used for maternal/paternal relatives.
what you call your father's brother? what do you call your mother's brother? Don't consider one lineage more important than the other |
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batek marital norms
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Serial Monogamy (via divorce/spousal death).
Love marriages, no formal ceremonies. Incest taboo (siblings or half siblings, parents, uncles/aunts, nieces/nephews). Neolocality (own lean-to in proximity to parents of either spouse). |
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batek
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batik marry batik (ethnic, but som emery chinese or malays)
batik marry in age group, but there can be exceptions batik practice gender exogamy (no homo relations) incest taboo (must marry outside immediate family) |
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batek divorce
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Casual (move into separate shelters) and frequent in early adulthood.
Economic self-sufficiency and food sharing meant wife not dependent on husband. Children (except infants) can live with mother or father. |
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platonic male-female interaction (batek)
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Do we consider it appropriatee for a married man or woman to socialize with a member of the opposite sex?
can you thin kof societies where a woman is discouraged from going outside the home unless accompanies of husband or male relative? batik are free to go out with members of opposite sex Batek are a gender egalitarian society |
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Batek gender egalitarian
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blowpipe hunting
girls learn, not prohibited primarily a male task Lee: hunting is a high-risk, low-return subsistence activity, while gathering is a low-risk, high-return subsistence activity trade is a male dominated activity |
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batek emic perspective
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Intrinsic cultural distinctions that are meaningful to the members of a given society.
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etic perspective
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Extrinsic concepts and categories that have meaning for scientific observers.
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batek emic perspective
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Gender differences exist that affect division of labor. But emphasis on physiological rather than mental or temperamental differences.
Men’s breath stronger (blowpipe hunters); Only women can nurse kids (infant care). Key Point: “The Batek value system did not give high prestige to some jobs while devaluing others.” |
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Growing up batek--personhood
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Recognition of personhood varies cross-culturally (Morgan).
When fetus develops hands and feet Tohan sends life-soul “causing it to breathe.” Child given “original name” after birth. |
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Gender valuation batek
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Many societies value offspring differently according to gender (see Miller article).
Batek: No apparent difference. Bilateral descent; couple can live near/help either set of parents. North Indians: Girls are expensive because they marry out and require dowries ChineseL Girl cannot perpetuate lineage |
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batek parenting
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Mothers and Fathers share childrearing duties. Childrearing is NOT a gender role.
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batek teaching values
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Enculturation through direct transmission: the value of sharing food.
Children of both sexes socialized out of aggressive behavior. Key Point: “men were not supposed to be aggressive and dominating, nor were women expected to be deferring and meek.” |
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Nature vs nurture
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Is male aggression “human nature”? If so, why isn’t it universal?
Is aggression a learned behavior? Do males acquire the tendency to be aggressive through enculturation? (see also Herdt on Sambia). |
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Gender and enculturation (batek)
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No gender segregation (boys don’t just play with boys; girls don’t have “cooties”).
Boys and girls play “blowpipe hunting”. Boys and girls play “digging tubers”. Boys and girls play “fishing”. Gradual change from mixed-sex playgroups to single-sex work groups. age 12-13 boys accompany fathers on hunts. taught how to stalk and shoot age 12-13 girls collecting tubers with mothers. Taught how to identify root plants No rituals formally inducted children into prescribed adult roles (contrast with Sambia – see Herdt). |
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Batek economic security
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Everybody can contribute to food supply; Everybody can participate in food sharing; No woman is dependent on a specific man (father, husband, brother, son) for survival; Ability to divorce without economic hardship.
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batke dispersed authority
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Leadership roles open to men and women; Leadership based on persuasion/consensus; No possibility for coercion.
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batek nonviolence
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Suppression of physical aggression inhibits possibility for male dominance.
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batek encapsulation
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Result of being surrounded and politically dominated by more numerous and powerful people?
Result of a society being surrounded and politically dominated by more numbers and powerful people causes people to become egalitarian within their group |
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batek 1990s
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Any land that is not privately owned = state land.
Batek rights to land not recognized. Logging Plantations (e.g., rubber trees). |
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batek coerced assimilation
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Pressure to settle and farm; to convert to Islam; to adopt Malay cultural norms.
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hypothesis
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Settling the Batek would result in a rise of gender inequity.
More rigid division of labor, more rigid gender roles, assimilation of Malay gender ideology. |
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batek reaction
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Still prefer foraging lifestyle.
Changing subsistence: more reliance on trade, development of horticulture within forest, men contribute more to food supply than women. Why less foraging less more cultivation?A lot of land is being taken out of their control. Population density increases-->foraging on less land, have to switch to horticulture batik in the middle of foraging and horticulture |
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batek change in gender roles
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Store-bought clothing: women wash.
No bamboo = no rats for women to hunt. Gill netting/spear fishing for men only. However – persistence/continuation (for the time being) of gender egalitarianism. Wives acting subservient to husbands. Men gather in living room; women in kitchen. Husbands “order” wives to make tea. |
