Anthropology 202
Gender
Roles in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Spring
2010 TTH 11-12:20
W2-42
Dr.
Diane Freedman
Office:
CCP W2‑40, phone
E-mail:
dfreedman@ccp.edu
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/DFreedman/
Office: TTH 10-11am, 12:30-1pm; by appt.
Course Description and Goals
This course
covers perspectives on women, men and gender roles from the perspective of
anthropology. We will examine women's
and men's roles in a variety of social institutions, including those of
marriage and the family, education and socialization, the sexual division of
labor, politics, religion, and health care delivery. Our sources will be ethnographies, which are
books by anthropologists based on original long-term research in specific
societies. Our data will come from both
American society and non-western cultures.
By examining the strategies women and men use to cope with complex lives
in varying contexts, we will develop an awareness of ourselves as gendered
actors in our own social and cultural system.
We will also focus on the ways that the categories of race, class,
gender, and sexual preference affect the way we view the world and effect our
self-perceptions. An underlying theme
will be the drive to understand our personal experiences as men and women in
the light of broader theoretical issues. Topics to be covered include: non-human
primate sexuality and the evolution of gender roles, archaeological research on
gender roles in ancient societies, comparative analyses of contemporary
cultures, and studies of the impact of colonialism on indigenous peoples. The goals of the course are to examine the
socially constructed nature of gender roles and to explore the extent to which
gender affects access to opportunity, power, and resources in our society and
others.
Required Text
Text: Brettell, C. & C. Sargent, eds. 2009.
Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. 5th. Edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Written Assignments
1. Response
Essay:
A short essay of 3 - 4 typed pages is required. It will be based on a series of questions on
the readings, both text and handouts, Web sites, and class discussions. Due FEB 16.
2. Ethnography Research Paper: A short (5 typed pages) paper is required,
based on library research. Choose an
ethnography on a contemporary non-western society that you would like to
investigate, and then focus on one aspect of gender roles in that society. You can get ideas for both societies and
topics from your text and readings. We have a good selection of ethnographies
in the CCP library. Your paper must be
based on ethnographic sources. Check out
the availability of research materials on your topic and develop a thesis
statement that presents your position on the topic. For example, if you are interested in women's
economic roles, you might choose the Trobriand Islands of New Guinea, where
women play an essential part in economic exchange in rituals. I must approve your topic, thesis, and
references. Your paper must be properly
cited and referenced using
The research paper is worth 100 points--the same point value as your
exams. To help you approach your
research in an organized way, I have set a series of prewriting assignments;
your final paper grade will reflect your adherence to these dates:
Research Paper dates:
A.
Choose specific topic March 2
B.
reference list and thesis March 16—include
full references
C.
Detailed Outline- Include April 1—major
topics in sentences
Thesis and references
D. Final Paper Due April 22
Class Debates: Debates will be based on both text
and online readings. Groups of students
will prepare arguments for debate on assigned topics.
A. What is
the role of non-human primate models in understanding human evolution?
B. What is the
Impact of Multinational Corporations on Gender Roles?
C. Is Female
Circumcision Universally Wrong?
Exams.
Three exams will be given during the semester:
Exam 1 Feb 25
Exam 2 April 8
Final -- week of May 4/6
Exams
will cover material from lectures, readings, films, Web sites, and class
discussions. The films and Web sites are critical to the course and you will
need to take notes. They include
information not available in your text, and your notes from them should be
studied. If you are seriously ill on an
exam day, call to leave a message. You
will be expected to take the exam on the following class day. Makeup exams will be given only with prior
notice by phone. If you are still sick
for the next class meeting, call again. Exams are not optional. You must take all
three exams to pass the class.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend all
classes. A student who misses more than
2 weeks of class through either absence or lateness may be administratively
withdrawn or receive an "F" for class participation. Arrange to
contact another class member to check on what you have missed if you are
ill. Entering class late (after roll, within
the first 1/2 hour) or leaving early will count as 1/2 class missed. You will
not be marked present if you arrive after the first 1/2 hour of class. If you
enter class after attendance is taken, you must speak with me after class to
register your presence. In the case of
bad weather, I will leave a message on my office phone tape if the class will
not meet. Come to class prepared to
discuss the readings for the day or report on your work. Your contribution is important. Students will
be assignment specific readings to summarize and lead discussion for the class.
Be sure to turn
off all phones or beepers, and do not leave the room to answer the phone.
Extra Credit: There will be a few lectures throughout the
semester which you can attend for extra credit.
To get the credit, you need to attend the lecture, write a 2 page
summary and reaction paper, and submit it to me by 1 week from the event you
attended. You can also create an art
related extra credit.
IMPORTANT
DATES:
Topic 1
Culture and the Individual: Gender Patterns: This topic
will include readings and discussions that will frame human development in an
evolutionary perspective. The holistic
model of anthropology pushes us to look toward primate models for clues to the
origins of human behavior, so the course begins by examining data from
non-human primates. Other potential topics for discussion are: biological basis
of sex differentiation; hermaphrodism and supernumerary genders; socialization
of gender; culture and personality; and language and gender.
JAN. 19 Introduction
Topic 1: The Gendered Person
INAUGURATION DAY
21 Bonobo Sex and Society—online-my ccp course link; Nacirema
questions on my ccp
26 Unit I, BIOLOGY,
GENDER,
28 Sex Differences in the Brain—online file
Feb 2 Unit II, GENDER
4 New Women of the Ice Age; Martin, Emily. 1991.
"The egg and the sperm: How science has constructed a romance based on
stereotypical male-female roles." Signs
16: 485-501; Testosterone—online files
9 Unit V, CULTURAL
CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER
11 Unit VI. CULTURE
pp
275-282
16 The Blessed Curse; Response Essay due
18 no class- Professional Development Day
23 Debate 1, Review
25 Exam 1
Topic 2:
The World at Work: This topic examines gender role variations associated
with 5 primary subsistence patterns: foraging, pastoralism; horticulture;
agriculture; and industrialism.
March
2 Unit
4 Society and Sex Roles; Life Without Chiefs, online files
March 9/11 no
class - spring break
16 Unit IV. EQUALITY
18 Initiation of a Maasai Warrior
23 Unit
25 Why Can’t People
Feed Themselves?, file
30 Unit XI. CULTURE CONTACT, DEVELOPMENT,
pp 505-578
April 1 Structural
Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty, link, Outline
6 Maquiladoras/ Multinationals
readings, link; Debate 2;
8 Exam 2
Topic 3: Families, Ideology and Power
April
13 Unit VIII.
GENDER, HOUSEHOLD,
15 When Brothers Share a Wife, online
file
20 Unit IX. GENDER,
RITUAL,
22 Do Muslim women Really Need Saving?; Persepolis, Research PROJECT DUE
27 Unit X. GENDER,
POLITICS,
29 FGM readings, Review; Debate 3
May 4/6 FINAL
EXAM WEEK--EXACT
Grades: Exams and papers are each worth 100 points. Quizzes,
writing assignments and extra credit papers are each worth up to 10 points. Debate
participation—50 points. At the end of
the semester all of your points will be added. Scale:
540 + = A
480 -- 539 = B
420 – 479 = C
360 – 419 = D
below 359 = F
Gender
Gender refers to patterns of culturally constructed
and learned behaviors and ideas attributed to males, females, or sometimes a
blended or “third gender.” Gender thus
can be contrasted to sex, which uses
biological markers to define categories of male and female. Sex determination
relies on genital, chromosomal, and hormonal distributions and thus depends on
Western science to determine who is male or female. Cultural anthropology shows
that a person’s biological makeup does not necessarily correspond to gender. A
simple example is that in the West, people tend to associate the activity of
sewing with women, but in many other areas of the world, sewing (or tailoring)
is mainly men’s work. The task, in other words, has nothing to do with biology.
Only a few tasks are more related to biology, such as nursing babies.
Cross-culturally, gender differences vary from societies in which male and
female roles and worlds are largely shared, with few differences, to those in
which genders are sharply differentiated. In much of rural
Among the Hua of the New Guinea Highlands, extreme
gender segregation exists in almost all aspects of life (Meigs 1984). The rafuri, or men’s house, physically and
symbolically separates the worlds of men and women. The men live in strict
separation from the women, and they engage in rituals seeking to purge
themselves of female influences and substances: nose or penis bleeding,
vomiting, tongue scraping, sweating, and eye washing. Men possess the sacred
flutes, which they parade through the village from time to time. If women dare
to look at the flutes, however, men have the right to kill them for that
transgression. Strict rules also govern the kinds of food that men and women
may eat. In many cultures, the lives of gay and lesbian people are adversely
affected by discrimination based on gender identity and sexual preferences. In
general, Southeast Asian cultures, such as
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