Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective

by Brettell, Caroline B.; Sargent, Carolyn F.

• ISBN13: 9780130174871
• ISBN10: 0130174874
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

For undergraduate/graduate-level courses in anthropology of gender, sociology of women, introduction to women's studies, and gender roles. This reader introduces students to the most significant topics in the field of anthropology of genderdrawing not only from classic sources, but also from the most recent, diverse literature on gender roles and ideology around the world. It takes a clear, accessible approach to the subject matter, making coverage appropriate for students from a variety of levels.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
I. Biology, Gender, and Human Evolution	1	(56)
Gender, Aggression, and Influence	7	(10)
Barbara B. Smuts
The Role of Women in Human Evolution	17	(5)
Margaret Ehrenberg
Gender and War: Are Women Tough Enough for Military Combat?	22	(10)
Lucinda J. Peach
The Case for Social Maternity: Adoption of Children by Urban Baule Women	32	(6)
Mona Etienne
Lifeboat Ethics: Mother Love and Child Death in Northeast Brazil	38	(7)
Nancy Scheper-Hughes
The Cultural Nexus of Aka Father-Infant Bonding	45	(12)
Barry S. Hewlett
II. Gender and Prehistory	57	(38)
Men and Women in Prehistory: An Archaeological Challenge	61	(9)
Margaret W. Conkey
Where Have All the Menstrual Huts Gone? The Invisibility of Menstrual Seclusion in the Late Prehistoric Southeast	70	(12)
Patricia Galloway
Diversity of the Upper Paleolithic ``Venus'' Figurines and Archeological Mythology	82	(7)
Sarah M. Nelson
Maya Royal Women: A Lesson in Precolumbian History	89	(6)
David Freidel
Linda Schele
III. Domestic Worlds and Public Worlds	95	(62)
The Domestic Sphere of Women and the Public World of Men: The Strengths and Limitations of an Anthropological Dichotomy	100	(10)
Louise Lamphere
``It's a Pleasure to Cook for Him'': Food, Mealtimes, and Gender in Some South Wales Households	110	(10)
Anne Murcott
Fatherhood and the Mediating Role of Women	120	(15)
Nicholas W. Townsend
Why Women Rule the Roost: Rethinking Javanese Ideologies of Gender and Self-Control	135	(22)
Suzanne A. Brenner
IV. The Cultural Construction of Gender and Personhood	157	(34)
Rituals of Manhood: Male Initiation in Papua New Guinea	162	(4)
Gilbert H. Herdt
The Named and the Nameless: Gender and Person in Chinese Society	166	(13)
Rubie S. Watson
A Critical Appraisal of Theories of Menstrual Symbolism	179	(12)
Thomas Buckley
Alma Gottlieb
V. Culture and Sexuality	191	(58)
Is there a Muslim Sexuality? Changing Constructions of Sexuality in Egyptian Bedouin Weddings	198	(9)
Lila Abu-Lughod
The Manhood Puzzle	207	(13)
David D. Gilmore
Flirting in the Factory	220	(17)
Kevin A. Yelvington
Women's Intimate Friendships and Other Affairs: An Ethnographic Overview	237	(12)
Evelyn Blackwood
VI. Equality and Inequality: The Sexual Division of Labor and Gender Stratification	249	(46)
Woman the Hunter: The Agta	253	(13)
Agnes Estioko-Griffin
P. Bion Griffin
The Sexual Division of Labor on Vanatinai	266	(4)
Maria Lepowsky
Divisions of Labour on Irish Family Farms	270	(10)
Patricia O'Hara
Pastoral Nomadism and Gender: Status and Prestige, Economic Contribution, and Division of Labor among the Tuareg of Niger	280	(15)
Susan Rasmussen
VII. Gender, Property, and the State	295	(52)
Thinking about Women and the Origin of the State	301	(6)
Rayna Rapp
Dowry, Bride-Burning, and Female Power in India	307	(10)
Linda Stone
Caroline James
Encountering the State: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Women's Political Experience	317	(12)
Josephine Caldwell Ryan
Japanese Mothers and Obentos: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus	329	(18)
Anne Allison
VIII. Gender, Household, and Kinship	347	(44)
Male Authority and Female Autonomy: A Study of the Matrilineal Nayars of Kerala, South India	352	(9)
Shanti Menon
Domestic Networks: ``Those You Count On''	361	(10)
Carol Stack
Matrifocality, Power, and Gender Relations in Jamaica	371	(8)
Marsha Prior
The Female World of Cards and Holidays: Women, Families, and the Work of Kinship	379	(12)
Micaela Di Leonardo
IX. Gender, Ritual, and Religion	391	(50)
Spirit Possession and Gender Complementarity: Zar in Rural Northern Sudan	397	(12)
Janice Boddy
``Tradition'' and Threat: Women's Obscenity in Giriama Funerary Rituals	409	(13)
Janet McIntosh
Mama Lola and the Ezilis: Themes of Mothering and Loving in Haitian Vodou	422	(10)
Karen McCarthy Brown
Blessed Mother Ann, Holy Mother Wisdom: Gender and Divinity in Shaker Life and Belief	432	(9)
Marjorie Procter-Smith
X. Gender, Politics, and Reproduction	441	(66)
Gender and Ritual: Giving Birth the American Way	447	(13)
Robbie E. Davis-Floyd
The Politics of Reproduction in a Mexican Village	460	(10)
Carole H. Browner
Surrogate Motherhood: Rethinking Biological Models, Kinship, and Family	470	(10)
Helena Ragone
The Movement Against Clitoridectomy and Infibulation in Sudan: Public Health Policy and the Women's Movement	480	(12)
Ellen Gruenbaum
Female Infanticide and Child Neglect in Rural North India	492	(15)
Barbara D. Miller
XI. Colonialism, Development, and the Global Economy	507	(74)
``Aba Riots'' or Igbo ``Women's War''? Ideology, Stratification, and the Invisibility of Women	513	(16)
Judith Van Allen
The Impact of Development on Women: The Interplay of Material Conditions and Gender Ideology	529	(15)
Victoria Lockwood
Doing Their Homework: The Dilemma of Planning Women's Garden Programs in Bangladesh	544	(7)
Margot Wilson-Moore
Factory as Home and Family: Female Workers in the Moroccan Garment Industry	551	(14)
M. Laetitia Cairoli
``Wild Pigs and Dog Men'': Rape and Domestic Violence as Women's Issues in Papua New Guinea	565	(16)
Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi
Film List	581