Midterm 2

Question 1

What are the elements of a culture that can affect the development of children, and how?

Answer 1

1. The way parents react to the emotions of kids, based on parents perspectives of gender
2. At what age a kid is considered an “adult”

Question 2

Describe the differences of roles played by AKA and European or American fathers with their children?

Answer 2

AKA fathers hold their kids often, and are present as frequently as the mothers. American fathers are “breadwinners” and operate out of the “deficit model of fathering” that says that fathers are overall not as important to their kids live as women

Question 3

What are the different aspects of the AKA society which help understand why AKA fathers are the “best dads of the world”?

Answer 3

The culture of the Aka people helps dads to be more often present and intimate with their kids.

1. It’s a hunter/gatherer society, where everyone participates in gathering resources, and everyone shares what they have. There is no competition, and no worry about one family not having enough
2. The husband and wife spend so much more time together than the average American couple! It then follows that they would also spend more time with their kids
3. View of gender is pretty egalitarian. No one cares who does what work, so long as the work gets done. There is also a cultural emphasis on the culture of paternal proximity

Question 4

The discourses of professionals working in day care centres in France claim either that men are needed, either or that men must stay away. What is common is these two discourses?

Answer 4

Both sides have a naturalization of gender roles
The first theory wants men because it states that men have things that women lack, like leadership and being a good example to boys
The second theory wants men to stay away because it’s a “woman’s job”, and to take this job would be a threat to their virility

Question 5

Describe at least 3 elements of the day care centres which illustrate that the gender is shaped.

Answer 5

Toys are gendered (transformers or barbies)
Books are gendered (science vs. princesses)
Caretakers model gender roles

Question 6

What is the relation between Machismo and Manhood?

Answer 6

Manhood is the overall code of conduct for what it takes to be a man. Machismo is specifically related to displays of virility and strength. Many cultures see fighting and violence as “macho”

Question 7

We can say that Machismo in Andalusia is unique compared to Machismo in other places. Give 2 elements of Machismo which can help understand why it is so unique.

Answer 7

Andalusian machismo STRONGLY discourages violence. This is because there is also a culture of civility in Andalusia, that prevents expressions of virility to be aggressive. Despite this, it does not matter if an expression of virility involves insults or compliments. So long as you try to get women’s attention

Question 8

When men are proactive towards women in Andalusia: what is the purpose, and who do we want to attract attention from?

Answer 8

Andalusian Machismo is strongly centred around virility, that you have to prove you are a man by having constant, strong, sexual desire for women. If you see a woman on the street, you have to call after her and try to seduce her in some way, or you are considered “flojo” literally not a man. It actually doesn’t matter if the woman ends up sleeping with you are not, because you are looking for attention from the men you are with. You want them to understand that you are “macho” because of your desire.

Question 9

Quote the three steps of the rite of passage to manhood in Sambia people.

Answer 9

The three stages of manhood are called 
1. Moku: Age 7-10, 
2. Imbutu: Age 10-13
3. Ipmangwi: Age 13-16
First, you separate the boys from their mothers around age seven. Then you fill em up with semen, and give them ritual treatments

Question 10

Why do Sambia people, as Baruya, practice oral insemination on boys?

Answer 10

They believe that semen is the essence of masculinity, and that the penis can store semen, but cannot make it on it’s own. oral insemination will activate the semen organ and the boy’s reproductive competence

Question 11

Sambia are hunter/gatherer as the Pygmy. Can we say that they share the same definition of gender?

Answer 11

Nope! The Sambia people still believe that women are dirty and inferior, which is why the boys are taken away from the influence of women until they become men. Pygmy cultures respect men and women equally.

Question 12

From which principle the sexual division of labour in hunter/gatherer societies result?

Answer 12

Women more naturally relate to plants, known for immobility and peace. Men relate to animals, who are wild and aggressive. That’s how men become the “breadwinners” and women become the “caretakers”

Question 13

Beyond the very diversity of the sexual division of labor into hunter/gatherer societies, what fact is universal?

Answer 13

Women do not carry weapons. They are the life givers, and men are the death givers.

Question 14

What can we say about the sexual division of labor in Agta Negrito people, and why?

Answer 14

Women have periods, and are also life-givers. Therefore women typically cannot carry weapons or draw blood, because they do not want menstrual blood to mix with animal blood

Question 15

What is so specific about the sexual division of labor on Vanatinai Island, and why do we say that it is characteristic of gender-egalitarian societies?

Answer 15

While tasks are gendered (women do sweeping and cleaning, men carve wood) no one is mocked for doing the other gender’s tasks. This society is seen as egalitarian because no task is allocated based on a perceived superiority of any one sex. It’s just that someone needs to do the work, so they allocated based on who’s good at what

Question 16

What dimension of the Yoruba society can explain that women are recognized as important and the ones that have to be in charge of the economy? How?

Answer 16

Women are an important part of Yoruba society because they are in charge of the market place and control the flow of the economy. They are in charge of the circulation of goods, money and people and create a network of exchange and influence between villages

Question 17

Even if they live in a male-dominated society, what are the different ways for Yoruba women to gain power in their society?

Answer 17

Because the women are solely in charge of the marketplace, they have control over the flow of trade and the economy. They create social networks, and bar whoever they like from the markets. The heads of markets are often considered priestesses as well

Question 18

If we look at the dynamics of the interplay between (in)equality, gender and economy in capitalist societies: what are the two main ways inequalities are created?

Answer 18

1. Capitalist economy does not value reproductive labour - women are undervalued
2. Inequality regarding professions practiced according to gender

Question 19

Why can we say that the result of of gender-balance in professions strongly associated with one specific gender are reaffirming traditional definitions of gender?

Answer 19

Even when a woman gets a job in a tradition masculine area, she is expected to do the job in the same way a man would. When she does so to keep her job, the stereotype is reinforced because it is expected for anyone doing the gendered job to perform those gendered traits

Question 20

What are the two main functions of religious rituals related to life cycle events?

Answer 20

So that religion can be related to gender, as well as to significant points in the lives of its followers. The purpose of religious rituals is to seek help from the spiritual world.

Question 21

Why can we say that there is a direct relation between gender stratification and gendered religious symbolism? Give an example.

Answer 21

Given that gender stratification involves the intentional division of genders into specific groups, it is safe to say that religion does this by creating different roles for men and women in their sacred texts. e.g. Islam women must be fully covered to protect their purity, less of an issue for men.

Question 22

How could spirit possession in women be interpreted as a feminist discourse?

Answer 22

It is an example of women getting to express all of the things they would not normally be allowed to if they weren’t being “possessed”. It can also help them to communicate things like a reluctance to get married, etc.

Question 23

Why does third-gender have a special link with the spiritual world?

Answer 23

It is believed that since a third-gender person can exist between the space of man and woman, they can also exist between the spaces of spiritual and material. They are perceived as capable of travelling between the realms.

Question 24

What are the two ways to study the relations between gender and language? Give an example for each of the two ways

Answer 24

1. Using gender in grammar to describe reality e.g. French, referring to inanimate objects with male or female pronouns
2. Studying specific words as gendered e.g. “lawyer” is typically associated with men

Question 25

Where and how do we start to learn to speak as “a man” or “a woman”?

Answer 25

Gendered uses of language are learned through the process of socialization, in centres such as day care and school

Question 26

Why, according to Tannen, is it not sexist to say that men and women talk differently? Explain her conception of women and men’s talk.

Answer 26

It is not sexist to say that men and women talk differently, because they do. This is based on the way each gender is socialized. Women are socialized to value peace and collaboration, while men are socialized to value competition, independence, and negotiation.