'It's Only A Penis': Cultural Construction Of Gender

Gender is a key concept in Anthropology. Gender is known as something you define yourself as (notes). While sex is framed as a biological concept (notes). Anthropological research on cultural variations to develop a definition for gender, in return to such casual biological predestination. The more anthropologist discovered and learned about other cultures, the more certain patterns developed. The evolutionary and ethnographic world offers an intriguing diversity of cultural constructions of gender. Essentially all societies show some amount of difference between women and men. The thoughts of gender fluidity are also correlative by studies of sexual variation. When both are compared, they give persuasive discussions about the cultural construction of both gender and sexuality. Anthropologists must investigate …show more content…
In Christine Helliwell article “It’s Only a Penis”: Rape, Feminism, and Difference, she had gone to carry out her fieldwork in the Dayak community of Gerai in Indonesian, Borneo. She talks about a man sneaking into a widower’s window and tried to rape her. But the widower pushed him off and he leaped out the window, as he did so many people saw him run down the street. The next day he was being mimicked and made fun of. While everyone acts so calm about the incident, …show more content…
Using Christine Helliwell’s article it was clear western societies assumes that rape is universal. But we know that each culture is different with similar aspects. One way is it categorizes the difference between men and women and how they see each gender in that society. Gerai devalue violence as a mark of laziness and incompetence. Western society value violence, as it is a mark of power, bravery, success and fertility. The Gerai stress social awareness and the West stress sexual and social