Introduction to Anthropology

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel is sitting at the front of the classroom, coffee in hand, looking slightly rumpled and as though he hasn't slept all night. He's got some interesting colored bruises on his face; most appear to be nearly faded, although there's one newer looking one across his eye.

"Good, ah, morning class. I'm sorry for the gap in classes... I, uh... had to go out of town unexpectedly.

"Today we're going to be looking at the Ideology and Differentiation of Gender Issues.

We have been unable to determine the relative contributions of culture and biology to differences observed in female and male behavior.

There is little agreement on the extent to which biology is responsible for differences. Sexual differentiation exists to some extent in all societies.

Looking at the idea of universal male dominance, also known as chauvinism, is to oversimplyfy. Sexual asymmetry is often evident in language. We find most egalitarian relations in hunting-and-gathering societies. All societies make distinctions between women's and men's roles, and different cultures define gender roles in different ways.

Some gender roles are rigidly defined, whilst others overlap. Not all culture limit humans to two genders - does anyone know any cultures where transvestism is accepted?

Cultural values legitimate sex roles, status, and behavior and comprise a gender ideology. But what problems lead from this?

I'd like you to discuss this and other gender issues pertaining back to either your own culture, or another one of your chosing. Please try to do it as objectively as possible, without ethnocentrism.

Homework is to write up how different cultures deal with genders.

I'll be coming around to help as necessary"

Comments

Re: Class Discussion

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"Really? That's fascinating...

Extreme gender ideology can include, for example, the subordination of one sex. As you can imagine, this may lead to harsh consequences, such as female infantcide."

Re: Class Discussion

[suzotchka.livejournal.com]

Ivanova shudders. "That's . . . horrible. I just . . . wow. I can see a culture-wide suppression of a trait that's supposedly harmful to the culture -" she doesn't think about it "- but female infanticide is . . ." She's too flustered to continue.

[[Ivanova does not know about FGM-FC. Therefore I will not begin ranting about it. I swear.]]

Re: Class Discussion

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"That is one of the extreme examples, but it does happen.

Can anyone enlighten Miss Ivanova to China and it's one-child policy?"

Re: Class Discussion

[suzotchka.livejournal.com]

Ivanova squints as she tries to remember her history. "The one-child policy . . . but wasn't that ineffective? And weren't the stories of female infanticide grossly overexaggerated? Besides, the whole thing was practically abandoned in the early years of the twenty-first century . . ."

[[Another topic I swear I will not write pages on. I swear to drunk. You're making it very hard to stay in character. *bemoans*]]

Re: Class Discussion

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"Highly ineffective. And whilst not all the girls were killed, many were also abandoned. In September 1997, the World Health Organization's Regional Committee for the Western Pacific issued a report claiming that "more than 50 million women were estimated to be 'missing' in China because of the institutionalized killing and neglect of girls due to Beijing's population control program that limits parents to one child."

[ooc: *pets you* This was the first topic I pulled out notes on, I swear!]