GE 11: GENDER AND

SOCIETY

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Gender - Intro
Sex refers to biological differences, while
gender refers to the cultural construction of
male and female characteristics.
Sexual dimorphism refers to marked differences in
male and female biology besides the primary and
secondary sexual features (for example, the
average difference in height and weight between
men and women is an aspect of sexual dimorphism,
but not the differences in genitalia and
breasts).
How and why do males and females differ
physically, in gender roles, and in personality.
How and why do sexual behavior and attitudes
about sex vary from culture to culture?
 STILL DEFINITION…

Gender - More Definitions

Gender roles are the tasks and activities that a
culture assigns to the sexes.
Gender stereotypes are oversimplified but
strongly held ideas of the characteristics of men
and women.
Gender stratification describes an unequal
distribution of rewards (socially valued
resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom)
between men and women, reflecting their different
positions in social hierarchy.
 GENDER ROLES

Many societies divide work along sex lines.

Why are there near-universal patterns in these
divisions?
Strength theory
Compatibility with childcare theory
Economy of effort theory
Expendability theory
Criticisms of above theories
Friedl article
 CONTRIBUTION TO SUBSISTENCE

Primary subsistence activities are the

food-getting activities gathering, hunting,
fishing, herding, agriculture.
Secondary subsistence activities involve
preparing or processing food for eating or
storage.
Womens and mens contributions in varying
societies
Horticulture
Intensive agriculture
Hunting-gathering

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 POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND WARFARE

Men largely participate in politics (in 87 of

the worlds societies, women never participate in
politics).
Even in matrilineal societies, men usually have
substantial political power.
Reasons for male dominance
mens role in warfare
strength requirement
dangerous and not interruptible
expendable
greater height advantage
more gregarious
patrilocal society

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 RELATIVE STATUS OF WOMEN

 Various definitions of status

 how much importance society confers on females
 versus males
 how much power and authority men and women have
 relative to each other
 what kinds of rights women and men possess
 Why is there variation in degree of gender
 stratification?
 contribution to primary subsistence activities
 value and esteem of warfare
 centralized political hierarchies
 place of residence - patrilocal/matrilocal
 Status of women in varying societies
 agricultural, horticultural, hunting/gathering

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 PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES

 Mead - No universal personality differences based

 on sex
 girls are not more dependent than boys
 girls are not more sociable than boys
 girls are not more passive than boys
 Recent research - Some consistent sex differences
 in behavior
 most consistent aggression, nurturance
 however, evidence suggests that women initiate
 aggression about 43 of the time, men 57 of the
 time
 possibly the result of differences in chores,
 parental treatment

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 SEXUALITY

 All societies have rules governing proper

 conduct sexually.
 There is variation in the degree of sexual
 activity permitted or encouraged before, during,
 and after marriage.
 premarital sex
 extramarital sex
 sex in marriage
 Societies vary markedly in their tolerance of
 non-heterosexual sexuality.
 Reasons for restrictiveness
 population pressure
 social inequality
 control of property

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 MARRIAGE

 There is no single definition of marriage that is

 adequate to account for all of the diversity
 found in marriages cross-culturally.
 Generally, marriage means a socially approved
 sexual and economic union, usually between a man
 and a woman. It is presumed to be more or less
 permanent and it subsumes reciprocal rights and
 obligations between the two spouses and between
 spouses and their future children.
 Sexual relations can occur without economic
 cooperation, and there can be a division of labor
 between men and women without sex. But marriage
 unites the economic and the sexual. - G.P.
 Murdock

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 WHY IS MARRIAGE UNIVERSAL?

 Gender division of labor

 Prolonged infant dependency
 Sexual competition
 Postpartum needs of the woman

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 ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF MARRIAGE

 Bride price
 Bride service
 Exchange of females
 Gift exchange
 Dowry
 Indirect dowry

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 WHOM SHOULD YOU MARRY?

 Incest taboo is a universal in cultures around

 the world.
 Reasons for taboo
 childhood-familiarity theory
 Freuds psychoanalytic theory
 family-disruption theory
 cooperation theory
 inbreeding theory
 Endogamy and exogamy
 Polygamy/monogamy, polygyny/polyandry, group
 marriage
 Families - matrifocal, nuclear, extended

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 DIVORCE

 Divorce is found in many different societies.

 Marriages that are political alliances between
 groups are harder to break up than marriages that
 are more individual affairs.
 Payments of bridewealth also discourage divorce.
 Divorce is more common in matrilineal societies
 as well as societies in which postmarital
 residence is uxorilocal.
 Divorce is harder in virilocal societies as the
 woman may be less inclined to leave her children
 who as members of their fathers lineage would
 need to stay with him.

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 DIVORCE IN THE US

 The US has one of the worlds highest divorce

 rates.
 The US has a very large percentage of gainfully
 employed women.
 Americans value independence.

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 THE END
Prepared by
FER GRACE A. CATAYLO
Instructor
GE 11: Gender and Society

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