Seminar on Sex Gender And Culture January 07, 2014 UM TEC :00-12:00

Objectives: to know what is the difference between the Sex and Gender.

Speaker Graduate of BEED Generalist Program at the University Of Mindanao main Full time professor BEED Program Head

Speaker Graduate of BEED Generalist Program at the University of Mindanao-Tagum Ethnographer Part Time teacher

a Speaker Graduate of BEED Generalist Program at the University Of Mindanao main President in the Association of Filipino Ethnographers Full time teacher at USEP

What is SEX and GENDER? SEX – Either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided. - Biological differences GENDER- cultural construction of male and female characteristics.

What is their differences? Sexual dimorphism – marked differences in male and female biology besides the primary and secondary sexual features

Sex and Gender Gender stereotypes – oversimplified, strongly held ideas of characteristics of men and women Gender roles – tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes

Sex and Gender ◦ Reflects different positions in social hierarchy Gender stratification – unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom) between men and women

Recurrent Gender Patterns ◦ In domestic activities, female labor dominates ◦ In extra domestic activities, male labor dominates ◦ Women are primary caregivers, but men often play a role Subsistence contributions of men and women are roughly equal cross- culturally

Recurrent Gender Patterns ◦ Men mate, within and outside marriage, more than women do ◦ Double standards that restrict women more than men illustrate gender stratification ◦ Gender stratification lower when domestic and public spheres not clearly distinguished Differences in male and female reproductive strategies

Gender Among Foragers

◦ Strong differentiation between the home and the outside world is called the domestic-public dichotomy, or the private-public contrast  The activities of the domestic sphere tend to be performed by women  The activities of the public sphere tend to be restricted to men The Public-Domestic Dichotomy

Public activities tend to have greater prestige than domestic ones, which promotes gender stratification Sex-Linked Activities –All cultures have a division of labor based on gender, but the particular tasks assigned to men and women vary from culture to culture.

◦ Lactation and pregnancy also tend to preclude the possibility of women being the primary hunters in foraging societies ◦ !Kung San Almost universally, the greater size, strength, and mobility of men have led to their exclusive service in the roles of hunters and warriors

Gender Among Horticulturalist

◦ Survey of matrifocal (mother-centered, often with no resident husband-father) societies indicates male travel combined with a prominent female economic role reduced gender stratification ◦ Igbo (Nigeria) demonstrated that gender roles might be filled by members of either sex Reduced Gender Stratification – Matrifocal Societies

◦ Spread of patrilineal-patrilocal societies has been associated with pressure on resources and increased local warfare ◦ Patrilineal-patrilocal complex concentrates related males in villages, which solidifies their alliances for warfare Increased Gender Stratification- Patrilineal-Patrilocal Societies

◦ Results in relatively high gender stratification (e.g., highland Papua-New Guinea) ◦ Women do most of the cultivation, cooking, and raising children, but are isolated from the public domain ◦ Males dominate the public domain (politics, feasts, warfare) ◦ Women dominated horticulture in 64% of the matrilineal societies and in 50% of the patrilineal societies Patrilineal-patrilocal tends to enhance male prestige opportunities

Gender Among Agriculturalist

◦ Women were main workers in 50% of horticultural societies but only 15% in agricultural societies ◦ Gender stratification associated with plow agriculture rather than with intensive cultivation When economy based on agriculture, women typically lose role as primary cultivators

Patriarchy and Violence

Patriarchy – political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status –Societies that feature a full-fledged patriarchy, replete with warfare and intervillage raiding, adopt such practices as dowry murders, female infanticide, and clitoridectomy

◦ With spread of women’s rights movement and human rights movement, attention to domestic violence and abuse of women increased ◦ Patriarchal institutions persist in what should be a more enlightened world Family violence and domestic abuse of women worldwide problems

Gender and Industrialism

◦ “Traditional” idea that “a woman’s place is in the home” developed among middle- and upper- class Americans as industrialism spread after 1900 ◦ Attitudes about gendered work varied with class and region ◦ Woman’s role in the home stressed during periods of high unemployment Gender roles changing rapidly in North America

Both men and women constrained by their cultural training, stereotypes, and expectations The Feminization of Poverty –Increasing representation of women and their children among America’s poorest people Consequences in regard to living standards and health are widespread

◦ Contributing Factors  Male migration  Civil strife  Divorce  Abandonment  Widowhood  Unwed adolescent parenthood The Feminization of Poverty

Sexual Orientation

◦ Persons of the opposite sex, heterosexuality ◦ Persons of the same sex, homosexuality ◦ Both sexes, bisexuality Person’s habitual sexual attraction to, and sexual activities with

Sexual Orientation Recently in U.S., tendency has been to see sexual orientation as fixed and biologically based –Culture always plays a role in molding individual sexual urges to a collective norm –Sex acts involving people of the same sex were absent, rare, or secret in only 37% of 76 societies studied by Ford and Beach

Sexual Orientation ◦ Sudanese Azande males shifted from sex with older men (as male brides), to sex with younger men (as warriors), to sex with women (as husbands) ◦ Etoro in Papua New Guinea believed limited lifetime supply of semen that boys had to acquire orally from older men Various forms of same-sex sexual activity considered normal and acceptable

The Location of the Etoro, Kaluli and Sambia in Papua New Guinea The western part of the Island of New Guinea is part of Indonesia. The eastern part of the island is the independent nation of Papua New Guinea, home of the Etoro, Kaluli, and Sambia

Seminar on Sex Gender And Culture January 07, 2014 UM TEC :00-12:00