University:
Indiana University South Bend
Course:
ANTH-E 105 | Culture and Society
Academic year:

2024
Views:

500

Pages:

46
Author:

Rosalinda G.

GENDER [REPRODUCTION, SEXUALITY, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT] REPRODUCTION Modes of Reproduction- the predominant form of fertility in a culture • Foraging [Pre-Agricultural] • Agriculture (also Pastoralism & Horticulture) [Rural] • Industrialism/Informatics/Digital Economy [Urban] REPRODUCTION Foraging: • Moderate birth and death rates and moderate value of children • Fertility controlled indirectly through high physical activity of women, low fat diets, and prolonged breastfeeding and directly controlled through infanticide and abortion • Homogenous fertility and few reproduction specialists REPRODUCTION Agriculture • High birth rates and declining death rates • High value of children • Increased emphasis on direct fertility control through pronatalist techniques but also infanticide and abortion • Class differences in fertility and increasing emphasis on reproduction specialists (midwives & herbalists) REPRODUCTION Industrialism/Digital Economy Negative population growth (low death rates and even lower birth rates) • A mixed value of children (good and/or bad) • Direct scientific methods of fertility control (both contraception and fertilization) REPRODUCTION Industrialism/Digital Economy (cont.) • Stratified fertility (varies by social class: higher rates among lower class and lower rates among upper class) also differences between developed (low rates) and developing (high rates) worlds • High degree of reproductive specialists REPRODUCTION • World Population is increasing at 89 million a year1 • Most of this population growth is in the developing world • Demographic Transition: As a society develops, the average number of children per woman decreases (fertility rate of Iceland [2.1] compared to Gambia [5.1] 2500 2000 Births per thousand women 2,085.5 2,006.5 1,824.5 1,765.5 1,666.5 1,702 1,597 1500 1000 500 0 All Hispanic Wh ite (nonHispanic) Black (nonHispanic) American Indian/Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INDICATORS Contraceptive Use Prevalence Rate % of Married Women Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death Infant Mortality Rate Per 1,000 Total Fertility Rate (Children /Woman) Population Growth Rate % China Gambia 90 1 in 1300 23 1.6 0.5 10 1 in 32 93 5.1 2.7 Iceland - 1 in 12700 1.3 2.1 0.8 India 56 1 in 70 57 2.8 1.6 Mexico 71 1 in 670 19 2.3 1.6 U.S. 73 1 in 4300 6.6 2.1 0.6 # OF CHILDREN DESIRED BY GAMBIAN STUDENTS Age Height Weight Ethnicity Whereurbrul NoofChild Sex 21 1.32 57 Mandinka Urban 19 M 22 1.95 67 Mandinka Urban 20 M 22 1.68 60 Mandinka Rural 30 M 20 1.45 52 Jola Rural 45 M 25 1.78 68 Mandinka Urban 28 M 23 1.83 69 Mandinka Urban 30 M 23 1.7 65 Wollof Urban 5 M 22 1.4 55 Tukolor Urban 10 M 22 1.6 66 Serahuli Urban 10 M 19 1.4 50 Wollof Urban 10 F 23 1.5 65 Mandinka Urban 5 F 21 1.63 42 Fula Urban 4 F 20 1.32 62 Mandinka Urban 5 F 21 1.8 45 Jola Urban 4 F 22 1.62 56 Serer Urban 5 F 21 1.9 65 Mandinka Urban 6 M 24 1.8 58 Fula Urban 6 M 20 1.8 55 Fula Urban 5 M 22 1.7 70 Mandinka Urban 4 M 22 1.7 65 Serer Urban 6 M REPRODUCTION • Menarche- the onset of menstruation (occurs earlier in developed world due to diet/over nutrition) [between 12 to 14 years] • Menopause- the cessation of menstruation [typically occurs before 50 years old] • In many societies, sexual intercourse should only occur in marriage • This often refers to both males and females but more so to females (Why?) See also median ages by ethnic group in the US. Looked at another way, the share of the HUMAN DEVELOPMENT • Cultural Construction- most of what we do (e.g., adolescence and gender roles) is not a product of instinct or biology, but a product of various historical, political, and economic processes • Thus culture is developed by us and subject to be changed by us (i.e., cultural constructivism) HUMAN DEVELOPMENT • Personality- a person’s patterned and characteristic way of behaving, thinking, and feeling • Anthropologists believe personality is significantly influenced by enculturation • Enculturation- how a person learns their culture (also known as socialization) • Nurturant-Responsible Personality and the Dependent-Dominant Personality are products of enculturation HUMAN DEVELOPMENT • Keep in mind that culture influences the way females and males behave, think, and feel • And thus what it is to be a man or woman in society is culturally constructed • Adolescence- the transitory period between childhood and adulthood • Is this universal among all cultures? HUMAN DEVELOPMENT • Rite of Passage- a ceremony that transforms its participants from one status to another (i.e., initiation rites) • Provides the structure that allows a person to transform from a child into an adult (or even from adult to elder) • Depending on the culture or theme of the event, these can be either private or public and may also serve as formal educational events FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING • Female Genital Cutting (also known as female circumcision or female genital mutilation) • 200 million women worldwide are circumcised • About 3 million circumcised each year • The practice occurs primarily in northern Africa and The Middle East FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING • Senegal: 20% (clitorectomy) illegal and prosecuted • The Gambia: 80% (clitorectomy) legal • Varies by ethnic group as well [e.g., within The Gambia: Mandinka (100%), Fula (93%), Jola (66%), Wolof (2%)] FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING 4 types of Circumcision: • Type I: excision or sunna (means “duty” in Arabic)removal of the foreskin of the clitoris (e.g., KenyaMaasai) • Type II: clitoridectomy- cutting off the clitoris and some of the labia minora or skin folds (Egypt) FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING • Type III: infibulation- complete removal of the clitoris and all of the skin folds and the vaginal opening is sown up leaving only a small passage for urine and menstrual blood (e.g., Sudan, Somalia, Mali) • Type IV: unclassified- includes pricking, piercing, or incising (cutting) the clitoris or labia minora FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING Why does female circumcision occur? • Customary or part of their religion (but not in Islam) • Marks adult status (particularly in the pastoral societies of East Africa) • A way to differentiate between males and females FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING • Associated with patrilineal societies, especially those which: (1) consider women to be the ones that maintain the patrilineal group, (2) value female purity (Tahara in Arabic means purity and circumcision) and cleanliness, and (3) believe it is necessary to hinder the insatiable sexual appetite of women FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING Complications of Infibulation: • severe pain, chronic urinary retention, hemorrhage, urinary tract infection, anemia, childbirth complications • 75% of women indicated that sex is not a pleasurable experience and painful • women often attribute these health consequences to something other than the surgery such as supernatural forces FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING Solutions: • Global efforts to promote less severe forms of the surgery and more hygienic procedures • Legally prohibited in some countries but it still continues • Difficult to implement reforms because practice is heavily embedded in the culture GENDER • Sex- pertains to the biological characteristics of males and females • Gender- pertains to the cultural characteristics of males and females • Masculinity- the cultural definition of maleness in a particular society • Femininity- the social definition of femaleness in a particular society • Gender is a performance (Judith Butler) GENDER • Gender Pluralism- refers to a culture with many tolerated and legitimate categories of masculinity, femininity, and other gender categories • Thus far, we are uncertain to what extent these forms are attributed to biology • Anthropologists believe sexual orientation is significantly influenced by culture (learned) GENDER ROLES • Division of Labor- the way in which certain tasks are assigned to particular types of people in a society; this also includes the prestige attached to certain types of work • e.g., hunting, warfare, cooking, laundry, getting water, and collecting firewood GENDER ROLES • In general, women dominate the private or domestic sphere (e.g., child rearing, laundry, food preparation, cooking, production of food crops for local consumption, crop maintenance or weeding) • In general, men dominate the public sphere (e.g., hunting, warfare, trade, field preparation, etc.) SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Sexual Orientation- pertains to a person’s attraction to, and sexual activities with others • Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Asexuality • All of these forms exist in the US and in other societies but the meaning assigned to each form varies from society to society