Introduction to Anthropology & Sociology: Gender and Sexuality - PDF

SSF 1044 INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY & SOCIOLOGY Gender and Sexuality WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER? MALE/FEMALE GENETIC DIFFERENCES  Women have two X chromosomes  Men have one X and one Y chromosome  The chromosomal difference is expressed in hormonal and physi...

SSF 1044 INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY & SOCIOLOGY Gender and Sexuality WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER? MALE/FEMALE GENETIC DIFFERENCES  Women have two X chromosomes  Men have one X and one Y chromosome  The chromosomal difference is expressed in hormonal and physiological contrasts → sexual dimorphism  Sexual dimorphism refers to differences in male and female biology  E.g. voice, hair, strength, height, weight etc. What effects do these differences have on the way men and women are treated in different cultures? MALE/FEMALE BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES?  Many differences in behaviour and attitude between male and female emerge from culture rather than biology.  Sex differences are biological  Gender encompasses all the traits that a culture assigns to males and females  Gender = refers to the cultural construction of male and female characteristics (Rosaldo 1980) Human behaviour and social organisation  Issue: Nature (biology) vs. nurture (culture/environment)  Naturists assume that some human behaviour and social organisation is biologically determined  Nurturists emphasize human adaptation and cultural learning influences behaviour SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER & SEX  Sex – biologically determined?  Gender – social/cultural construct?  Some argue that both sex & gender are socially constructed.  The human body itself is subject to social forces which changes/alters it  Exercise  Diet  Piercing  Plastic surgery  Sex change  Socialisation approach – biological distinction between sexes provides a framework which becomes culturally elaborated in society itself  In contrast, theorists who believe in social construction of sex and gender reject all biological basis for gender differences  Gender identities emerge in relation to perceived sex differences in society and in turn help to shape those differences  In other words, gender identities and sex differences are inextricably linked within individual human bodies GENDER ROLES  Refers to the tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes  Gender roles are learned  Different from one culture to another  Gender roles vary with environment, economy, adaptive strategy and type of political system  Gender roles change over time IN SOCIETY…  Men’s role  Women’s role Note: As given by the students when prompted in lecture. GENDER STEREOTYPES  Related to gender roles are gender stereotypes  Gender stereotypes = oversimplified but strongly held ideas about the characteristics of males and females  Gender stratification = unequal distribution of resources, power, prestige and personal freedom between men and women, reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy FACTORS AFFECTING GENDER STRATIFICATION  Economic roles  Example: In foraging societies, when gathering is prominent (compared to hunting and fishing), gender status is more equal  Gender stratification tends to increase as cultivation increases → linked to descent and post-marital residence  Separation of domestic and public (politics, trade, warfare, work) spheres  When domestic and public spheres are not sharply separated, gender status is more equal  Public activities have greater prestige  Men are more likely to be active in public activities DIVISION OF LABOUR  A division of labour linked to gender is found in all cultures  However, division of labour doesn’t always reflect differences in strength or endurance  Certain roles are more sex-linked than others. Example? Question: Division of labour in your culture? GENDER INEQUALITY  Access to education & health  Literacy rate, mortality rate  Access to markets (labour, land, credit)  Weaker ability to generate income  Ownership of property  E.g. Sub-Saharan Africa: women gain land rights mainly through husband, as long as marriage endures.  Or if they own land, it will be smaller landholding than men  Decision making (voice)  Vastly underrepresented at national and local assemblies (East Asia: 18-19% at parliamentary level) COUNTRIES WITH LARGE GENDER DISPARITY IN ENROLLMENT & LITERACY RATE Country Girls to Boys ratio in school Women to Men parity enrolment index as ratio of literacy rate aged 15-24 primary secondary tertiary Macao 0.9 1.04 0.65 1.0 Cambodia 0.9 0.69 0.46 1.0 Vietnam 0.9 0.95 0.77 1.0 Afghanistan 0.4 0.21 0.28 0.4 Bangladesh 1.0 1.11 0.5 - India 0.9 0.8 0.66 0.8 Pakistan 0.7 0.73 0.8 0.7 GENDER INEQUALITY  What are the relations between division of labour, gender stratification and gender inequality?  How do we explain gender inequality from the point of view of sociology?  FUNCTIONALIST APPROACH  George Murdock (1949)  Sexual division of labour is universal; the most logical basis for the organisation of society  Talcott Parsons (1956)  Role of the family in industrial societies and the socialisation of children  Believed that stable, supportive families are the key to successful socialisation  Females are naturally expressive and nurturing – provide care and support not only to children, but also men, who do stressful jobs as breadwinners  John Bowlby (1953)  Mother is crucial to early socialisation of children  Deprived of mother – child will end up with serious social and psychological difficulties later in life MARXIST APPROACH  Friedrich Engels  Under capitalism, women are subservient to men, because patriarchy has its root in private property  Capitalism intensifies patriarchy (men’s domination over women) – by concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a small number of men  In this sense, how does capitalism differ from earlier social/economic system? FEMINIST APPROACH  Feminists believe that men are responsible for and benefit from the exploitation of women.  Patriarchy is viewed as a universal phenomenon that has existed across time and culture.  Men exploit free domestic labour provided by women at home.  As a group, men also deny women access to power and prestige.  Because patriarchy is a systematic phenomenon, the only way gender equality can be obtained by overthrowing the patriarchal order. HOW ARE WOMEN EXPLOITED/OPPRESSED?  Violence – systematic oppression of women  Domestic violence  Rape  Sexual harassment  Popular conception of beauty and femininity are imposed by men on women  Objectification of women through media and advertising – turns women into sexual objects to please men  HUMAN SEXUALITY: BIOLOGY VS CULTURE?  Biology  Culture  There is biological  Variety of sexual basis to human identities sexuality because of  Variety of sexual anatomical difference. practices  Have to reproduce to  In societies, there are ensure the survival of sexual norms that the human species. approve some  Evolutionary approach practices, but condemn others.  Members of society But for humans, unlike animals, sexual activity is more than biological. learn these norms through socialisation. HOMOSEXUALITY: NATURE VS NURTURE  Nature  Differences in brain characteristics.  Impact of mother’s in utero hormone production during pregnancy on foetal development.  Twin studies: more than 5x more likely to be homosexual if twin is homosexual, compared to if sibling is related through adoption.  Biological studies of homosexuality are often inconclusive.  TRANSVESTISM & HOMOSEXUALITY: CULTURAL TABOOS? WHOSE CULTURE? TRANSVESTISM: A THIRD GENDER?  Transvestite = men dressing as women  Among the Chukchee of Siberia certain men (usually shamans or religious specialists) copied female dress, speech, and hairstyles and took other men as husbands and sex partners. Female shamans could join a fourth gender, copying men and taking wives.  Among the Crow Indians, certain ritual duties were reserved for berdaches, men who rejected the male role of bison hunter, raider, and warrior and formed a third gender. ETORO: RITUALIZED HOMOSEXUALITY  Etoro believed that boys could not produce semen on their own.  To grow into men and eventually give life force to their children, boys had to acquire semen orally from older men.  From the age of 10 until adulthood, boys were inseminated by older men. QUESTION: Transvestitism and homosexuality are generally abhorred by our (Malaysian) culture. If those practices are accepted in other cultures, should we or should we not accept them as well?