Anthropology: Gender

Front 1

Sex

Back 1

Biologically based on the genitalia one is born with.

Front 2

Gender

Back 2

A codified and institutionalised way of behaviour that corresponds to the social and cultural expectations of that gender.

Front 3

Androcentric

Back 3

Social agents are seen as social men.
Neglecting to take gender into account when doing ethnographical work. A perspective.
From Greek andros, meaning man.

Front 4

Gendered division of labour

Back 4

Certain jobs are given to a specific gender. A specific example is the hunter-gatherer society, where men typically are hunters, and women (usually includes children) are gatherers.
Hunting is seen as more prestigious and ritualised, although women’s work contribute more nutrition that hunting does.

Front 5

Private sphere

Back 5

Linked with femininity: reproduction – childbearing, unpaid labour, and invisibility.

Front 6

Public sphere

Back 6

Linked with masculinity: productions of goods and services, paid labour, leaders, and visibility.

Front 7

Patriarchy/matriarchy

Back 7

Children are generally seen as relatively sexless, and socialisation therefore aims towards gendering them. In some societies, gender-specific rites of initiation/passages must be passed before fully welcoming a child/adolescent into a gender. One example is circumcision.