Sexuality and Gender

1. Sexuality and Gender Anthropology 330 Kimberly Porter Martin

2. Basic Terms Gender refers to the way members of the two sexes are perceived, evaluated, and expected to behave, in other words, the social and psychological aspects of maleness and femaleness. Sex refers to the biological aspects of maleness and femaleness

3. Sexual Characteristics • Primary sexual characteristics • Secondary sexual characteristics • Sexual dimorphism

4. Sexual Behaviors • Cultures vary with regard to what behaviors are practiced and how they are restricted • Eg. Kissing is universally practiced in western cultures, but is unknown in some traditional cultures (eg. Africa) Some 650 million people live in societies that do not kiss.

5. Sexuality Heterosexuality Homosexuality Bisexuality …attracted to members of the same/opposite sex? …having sexual relations with members of the same/opposite sex? Male homosexual activities in Greece & Rome Male homosexual activities in New Guinea

6. Rules Governing Sexual Behavior • All societies restrict sexual behavior in some way. • Only 5% of the world’s cultures limit sexual behavior to marriage • Many rules about sexuality seem aimed at the control of womens sexuality and fertility by men • The severity of punishment for violating rules varies, with Honor Death at one of the extremes of the spectrum • Clitoridectomy removes the source of sexual pleasure in women throughout the Middle East and some parts of Africa

7. Restrictions on Sexual Behaviors Pre-marital activity Sexual activity before marriage Samoan “sleep crawling” Honor Death • http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/player.html?channel=1805 Marital activity Sexual activity within marriage Post-partum sex taboos Extramarital activity Sexual activity outside marriage. Gabra example (women have affairs and give gifts of yoghurt to their lovers)

8. Enforcing Sexual Prohibitions: Honor Death • Honor homicide occurs across the middle east and usually involves stoning the woman, however the man may be stoned to death as well. Here a man is being stoned to death. The woman is already dead (red circle) • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7708169.stm

9. Western Gender Categories U.S. culture recognizes only two genders Female female genitalia = female identity = feminine behavior = desire male partner Male male genitalia = male identity = masculine behavior = desire female partner

10. Multiple Gender Systems Other cultures recognize up to 5 genders based on: Sex - Anomalous genitalia at birth Gender - Incongruent gender identity Gender Role – eg. Female husbands Sexual Orientation Perceived androgenous qualities Perceived cross gender qualities

11. Some Other Genders & Gender Systems Hijras – India and Pakistan Fa’afafines – Samoa Sadhin – Himalayas (sex f, gender role m) Kathoeys – Thailand (sex m, gender role f) Two Spirit – N. America (berdache, muxe) Waria – Indonesia 5 Gender System – Bugis, Sulawese

12. This Hijra man, who presents himself as being “like a woman,” is an excellent example of the socially constructed basis for sexuality. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/index.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szZu-OKjqpo&feature=related In 2005 Indian passport application forms were updated with three gender options: M, F, and E (for male, female, and eunuch, respectively).[15]

13. Gender Ideology • Beliefs about gender that shape how society treats people from different gender groups • Eg. Women as polluted and dangerous • Island of Menstruating Men, Wogeo, New Guinea

14. Dualism in Gender Ideology • Theories that hypothesize that men and women are polar opposites both biologically and culturally • Nature vs. culture • Domestic vs. public • Reproduction vs. production • In Bangladesh, men are associated with the right side and women with the left side (r=purity, l=pollution, r=good, l=bad, r=authority, l=submission

15. Gender Roles • The things that are normally done by a particular sex • Division of labor • Power and social control • Religious belief systems

16. Western Shifts in Gender Roles • This baseball player engaged in child care in the locker room is just one example of changing gender roles in the United States. • Women are moving into traditionally all male careers like firefighting.

17. Hunting large animals Fishing as a primary task Tending large animal herds Mining, smelting, and metalworking Conducting warfare Boat building Working wood and stone Clearing/preparing the land for crops Making musical instruments Making nets and ropes Division of Labor:Generally Male Tasks

18. Division of Labor:Generally Female Tasks • Childcare • Collecting fuel and water • Food preparation • Gathering wild plants, fruits, and nuts • Making clothes • Household maintenance

19. Division of Labor: Both Genders • Fishing as a secondary task • Tending small animals • Planting and harvesting crops • House building • Making certain craft items • Local market trading

20. Strength Explanations • Men can mobilize great strength and bursts of energy • But women do heavy tasks as well

21. Compatibility-with-Child Care Explanations • Women handle tasks compatible with child care (especially at breast-feeding) • Tasks are interruptible to tend to child (such as cultivating local fields); tasks do not take them away for long • Tasks do not place children in danger. • However, most of the marketers are women, who spend a long time away from home (such as these Guatemalan natives). • Women often exchange child care with other women.

22. Male Expenditure Explanations • Men usually engage in dangerous work (or warfare) • Loss of men is less disadvantageous to society’s survival than loss of women, who have reproductive power Exceptions • Atga (Philippines): Women hunt (lower left) • Yahgan: fish in rough seas and own their own boats

23. Gender Stratification • The universal tendency of women to be in a subordinate position in their social relationships with men. • Results from a combination of material and ideological factors • Devalues females and prefers males (eg. Female infanticide)

24. Gender Stratification • In some societies women are excluded from certain areas that are “for men only,” such as this all men's bar in Perth, Australia. Purdah in Middle Eastern Countries

25. The Masai of Kenya • The Masai are a pastoral society, exclusively herdsmen. • Men own the cattle, and also the women they procreate and marry as chattel property. • Women do all the work around cattle—milk them, draw their blood, use their dung for construction material, and a host of other jobs. (upper photo) • Theirs is a polygynous society (one male, two or more females), and the women move to the men’s residence at marriage. • They own no property; cattle pass from father to son. • The Masai are traditional warriors; warfare emphasizes male cooperation. • Many other pastoralist societies have similar patterns

26. The Maasai of Kenya • The Maasai are a pastoralist group • Men own cattle and wives property • Women do all the work relating to the herd (milking, drawing blood, using dung for housebuilding) • Patrilineal, patrilocal, polygynous • Women own no property

27. The !Kung of Namibia • Women in !Kung hunting and gathering bands contribute around 80% of their bands subsistence; because of their knowledge about plants, their input in decisions where to move to next is considerable and there is little gender stratification.

28. The Iroquois of North America • Where women own property, they tend to dominate the local households • Iroquois women were cultivators, owned land and longhouses (interior depicted in the lower picture), and so had much influence in tribal affairs • They voted for council members, could force removal of a member they didn’t like, but did not sit on the council themselves.

29. Zapotecs of Juchitan • Patrilineal • Women control family finances • Women market all the goods that are produced in the family • Women take no part in politics, but have lots of influence

30. The Minangkabau • The Minangkabau culture values women’s ways of doing things, which emphasizes seeking input from everyone and talking things through. • Among the Minangkabau of west Sumatra, decision making among wives and husbands is relatively equal and cooperative.

31. Gender Stratification and Education • This boy from Gambia (west Africa) is much more likely to attend school than his younger sister.

32. The Feminization of Poverty • Refers to the high proportion of female-headed families below the poverty line, which may result from the high proportion of women found in occupations with low prestige and income. • This is not just a western phenomenon; it is true across all types of societies.

33. Violence Against Women • Physical violence against women, the result of gender ideology,continues to be a problem in the United States.

34. Example of a Dowry Death Attempt • Roopa is a 17-year old victim of India's rapidly increasing phenomenon of dowry related attacks and homicides. Her inlaws forced acid down her throat when her parents refused to pay dowry. Her insides are all burned out and she's fed through a tube. She has lasted 3 months now and its hard to know how long she will live.

35. Study Guide Sex Gender roles Gender Strength Primary sexual characteristics Compatibility with child care Secondary sexual characteristics Male expendability Sexual dimorphism Division of labor Heterosexual Gender ideology Homosexual Dualism Bisexual Gender stratification Sexual Restrictions Female infanticide Sleep Crawling Gender equality Honor death Maasai Clitoridectomy !Kung Post partum sex taboo Iroquois Gender Minangabau Multiple gender systems Feminization of poverty Hijra Violence against women Gender ideology Dowry Death