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Theoretical Orientations

Theoretical Orientations. Set of assumptions Principles Frames of reference Determine subject of investigation how a problem is conceptualized how questions are framed how results are interpreted what conclusions are reached Biosocial – natural selection

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Theoretical Orientations

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  1. Theoretical Orientations • Set of assumptions • Principles • Frames of reference • Determine • subject of investigation • how a problem is conceptualized • how questions are framed • how results are interpreted • what conclusions are reached • Biosocial – natural selection • Social learning - socialization

  2. Theories and their Social Milieux • No laws, only hypotheses • No value-free, ‘objective’ explanations • Biological determinism vs. cultural construction • E.g., sexual division of labor • “If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections... males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes.” Newt Gingrich • Western vs. non-Western cultural assumptions • Rites of passage • Men and women made, not born • Political context

  3. Anthropology of Gender • Early androcentrism • Focus on males • Sex and gender biological • Assumed universal male/female sex differences • Margaret Mead 1920s-30s • Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) • Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935) • ‘Masculine’ & ’ feminine’ roles, personalities, behaviors • Not biological • Not universal • Women’s movement

  4. Feminist Anthropology1970s • Constructions of feminine & masculine in different cultures • Variations in gender roles and meanings • Questioned gender assumptions, biological determinism • Emphasized cultural construction, socialization • Social inequality, gender oppression, social change, justice • Women’s status, differential evaluations, access to resources • Exposed androcentric biases • Importance of gender in society and individual identity

  5. Recent Feminist Anthropology • Connections between gender systems and other sociocultural patterns • E.g. race, class, ethnicity, sexual preference, physical ability • ‘Matrix’ = multiple positioning • Effects of European expansion, industrialism, capitalism, global economy • Social justice • Men, masculinity, sexuality, queer studies

  6. Biology and Evolution • Nature/nurture, genes/environment, inborn/learned, biology/culture • Debates and difficulties • How biological differences affect roles and personality • More variability within than between categories • Differences emerge late in development • Sociobiology • Natural selection • Male & female brains different • Different roles, strategies • Males hunt, fight, inseminate • Females gather, nurture children • Dating and mating • Aka hunter-gatherers

  7. ‘Man the Hunter’ • Washburn and Lancaster 1968 • Bipedalism and hunting • Language • Tools, weapons • Larger brains • Art • Division of labor • Food sharing with dependent females led to nuclear family • Lack of obvious estrus led to control of women and pair-bonding • Hunting and warfare are pleasurable for men

  8. ‘Woman the Gatherer’(& Hunter?) • Sally Slocum 1975 • Androcentric assumptions • Men’s behavior determined all behavioral evolution • Male aggression and female passivity • ‘Gathering way of life’ • Gathering basis of all primate & most hunter/gatherer diets • Mother-child food-sharing • Required social organization & communication skills • Created selective pressure for increased brain size • Language • Female sexuality • Initiation of sexual intercourse • Western male bias • Long-term monogamy rare

  9. Women, Bipedalism and Tools • Margaret Ehrenberg • Loss of body hair  means of carrying infants • Bipedalism • Carrying technology • First tools  gathering and child care • Digging sticks, baskets, slings, nets • Stone tools interpreted as hunting implements could have been used for other things • Earliest implements were biodegradable and did not survive

  10. Margaret Ehrenberg • Hunter/gatherer division of labor • Relatively recent development • Result of tools, change of environment • Males free of burdens • Males more ‘expendable’ • No evidence that women did not hunt • Western model • Females center of family group • Increased sociability • Food sharing between groups

  11. Critiques of Evolutionary Models of Division of Labor • Continued focus on pair-bonding, nuclear family, loss of estrus • Women viewed as dependent on males for survival • Sex for food • Dependence on looks • Sex objects

  12. Critiques of Evolutionary Models of Division of Labor • Ethnocentric - Western male bias • Teleological - present projected into past • Ethnographic & archaeological evidence • Female mobility • Female hunting • Male gathering • Popularity of biological/evolutionary explanations • Rationale for status quo • Sensationalism in popular press • Based upon Western gender relations

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