gender and sex gender sex and culture the importance of gender roles defining gender as already detailed sex is about the physical attributes of women and men gender is about the cultural attribute

However, women handle tasks involving heavy labor (!Kung), fishing (Yahgan of the Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America), herd large animals (Masai), clear land (the Iroquois[r]

Gender, Sex, and Culture

Defining Gender

As already detailed, sex is about the physical attributes of women and men

Gender is about the cultural attributes derived from the biological differences between the sexes

The second sociological constant of kinship is male dominance

Once considered widespread, the assumption of male dominance, recent research suggest, is problematic and is more statistical than absolute

After looking at the male dominance question, we examine the gender division of labor and its

The Question of Male Dominance In a project on matrilineal descent, David Schneider and Kathleen Gough with others used male dominance as a working assumption: How can societies that trace their descent through females accommodate males in whom authority over the group is vested

They sought, and in some cases found, ways whereby men have an interest in their sisters’ reproduction

although incest tabus prevent them from mating with them

Recent research suggests that in many societies, women played greater roles of authority than

previously thought

The Question of Gender Status: A Short History

In the nineteenth century, evolutionists such as Lewis Henry Morgan postulated a four-stage model of society:

The first stage was sexual promiscuity The second stage was matriarchy; it was evident who the mothers were but not the fathers

The third stage was patriarchy: by Roman times the father owned the wife and the children as property.

The fourth stage was the nuclear family of Victorian England and the “modern” U.S., the hallmark of civilization

Recently, Evelyn Reed has documented the case for this phase of human history in her Women’s Evolution from Matriarchal

Clan to Patriarchal Family That issue

Cases of Male Dominance: 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 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.

Cases of Female Influence: The ! Kung of Namibia and the Iroquois

Women elsewhere have much more say in their society

These !Kung gatherers contribute

around 80% of their bands subsistence; because of their knowledge about

plants, their input in decisions where to move to next is considerable

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

The Question of Matriarchy: The Zapotec Women of Juchitán

Another case study are the matrilineal Zapotec of Juchitán, a Mexican village on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (top)

The women control the financial affairs of the household; a household under the financial control of men is a household headed for ruin. Again they not participate in council affairs The reason; the women say they have better things to than to argue about issues that could be resolved in five minutes

Yet they reject the idea that they are matriarchal; they see themselves as administrators.

Women also contribute most of their household income through marketing (bottom photo).

Division of Labor: Background

In nonindustrial communities, almost all households are involved in the primary sector: agriculture, herding, foraging.

The main divisions of labor are based on gender, age, and part-time crafts.

Gender Division of Labor: Definitions

The gender division of labor may be defined as an arrangement whereby men perform some tasks and women others

Three basic questions are related to this division: Does every society have different work for males and females? The answer is generally yes

Do the women and men divide work in similar

ways? It depends on the society, its environment, and its technology

Gender Division of Labor: Gender-Exclusive Tasks

Men generally handle heavier tasks that

are often dangerous

They generally engage in warfare and usually exercise political leadership

Women generally handle domestic duties

and rear children

Gender Division of Labor: Shared Tasks

Either or both genders perform handicrafts: weaving, leatherworks, pottery, basketry, and others

Both genders tend and milk cattle and other herd animals, plant the fields, tend them during the growing season, and

harvest the crops

Gender Division of Labor: Explanations

There have been three main categories of explanations to predict how labor is allocated cross-culturally

Strength explanations attribute heavier tasks to

the males’ relative superior strength

Compatibility-with-child-care explanations

have women handle tasks that can be interrupted

Male expendability explanations: a group can

Strength Explanations

Men are said to be able to mobilize strength in quick bursts of energy Matches most tasks done by males, including hunting, clearing land (upper left), and heavy construction

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 not take them away for long

Tasks 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)

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 Shortcomings: Women also take on dangerous tasks

Atga (Philippines): Women hunt (lower left)

Gender Division of Labor: Evaluation of Explanations

We have seen in this series that most, if not all explanations, account for all cases

This applies to all generalizations in the social sciences

We are dealing with volitional beings, and the job of anthropologists is to develop further hypotheses to explain the exceptions—or come with new

hypotheses to better explain the facts

Conclusion

Sex is the first organizer of human society This is filtered culturally through gender Gender labor and status depends on cultural factors