Male and FemaleOriented Descent Groups
It is one thing to live together in the same community with relatives it is quite another to have unilineal descent groups. Unilineal literally, one line descent groups exist where people consider themselves to be descended from a common ancestor through one gender only. If we speak of patrilineal descent, membership in the patrilineal descent group is passed through males only membership is acquired from the father members of both sexes belong through their fathers. If we speak of matrilineal...
Male Homosexual Systems
Gender-Stratified Systems. In gender-stratified systems men who take on a pathic passive or receptive role in sexual relationships are culturally distinguished from typical men, but the men who take on active inser-tor roles are not. Unlike gays, pathics do not typically have sex with other pathics. This system is widespread on all the world's continents. In many societies pathics are known for their special ceremonial roles. Among the Siberian Chuckchee a youth begins his transformation when...
Bibliography Vpz
Karim, W.-J. 1981 . Ma' Betisek concepts of living things. New Jersey Humanities Press. Karim, W.-J. 1993 . With Moyang Melur in Carey Island More endangered, more engendered. In D. Bell, P. Caplan, amp W.-J. Karim Eds. , Gendered fields Women, men and ethnography pp. 78-92 . London Routledge. Mathur, S. 1982 . The Besisi and their religion An introduction to the people, the beliefs and the ritual practices of an aboriginal community of coastal Selangor, Malaysia. Contributions to Southeast...
Acknowledgments Upo
This article is based in part on fieldwork made possible by doctoral research grants from Wenner-Gren and the National Science Foundation and was written while supported by a Richard Carley Hunt Fellowship from Wenner-Gren. I also wish to acknowledge the institutional support during fieldwork of the Haut-Commissariat de la R publique en Polyn sie Fran aise and the Centre Polyn sien des Sciences Humaines in Tahiti. For help thinking through the intellectual problems of this particular article,...
Sexuality Xve
To the Maasai, sexuality is a physical act erepa, to cling between men and women, or between girls and adolescent boys. Homosexuality and masturbation are virtually non-existent. In fact, the former is an act beyond their comprehension. Whenever the topic is discussed, it raises vehement reactions. Masturbation is practiced by young uncircumcized boys they are also said to relieve their sexual urges by copulating with donkeys. However, these acts are considered to be activities of children and...
Courtship and Marriage Vca
Marriage patterns in Hungary have slowly changed over the past few decades so that few couples marry before age 20, more couples live together prior to marriage or without any expectation of marrying, and more couples have their first child before marriage. Up until the 1980s, the average age for women to become engaged was 17 or 18 for men it was their early twenties. By the mid-1990s, only 18-20 of Hungarian women married before age 20, primarily due to the expansion of educational...
Courtship and Marriage Tnp
Changes in courtship and marriage are among the most significant ongoing transformations with regard to sex and gender in Igbo society. Whereas men and women traditionally married very young and marriages were mostly arranged by the extended families of the husband and wife, in contemporary Igboland, men and women increasingly choose their own marriage partners Smith, 2001b . Modern courtship often involves notions of love, and most young Igbos marry with the intention of remaining monogamous....
Sexuality Lzt
Sexuality is a difficult subject for most Hungarians to discuss openly due to a number of historical factors conservative cultural traditions, Catholicism, and socialist morality. While sex education has been presented in schools since the 1970s, it includes only the most rudimentary factual information. As a result, knowledge about sexual relationships, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and even sexuality more generally is fairly limited Hochberg, 1997 . But Hungarian women have...
Cultural Overview Rkp
The Lahu are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people Chang, 1986, p. 1 Matisoff, 1988, p. 11 who are divided into several subgroups with mutually intelligible dialects and slightly different subcultures, including the Lahu Na, the Lahu Shi, the Lahu Nyi, and the Lahu Shehleh Walker, 1974 . The Lahu people live in the mountainous region that constitutes a southerly extension of the Tibetan highlands along the border areas of the People's Republic of China P.R.C. , Myanmar Burma , Laos, Thailand, and...
Advisory Board
bo Akademi University and University of Arizona University of California, Los Angeles The Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender was prepared under the auspices and with the support of the Human Relations Area Files, Inc. HRAF at Yale University. The foremost international research organization in the field of cultural anthropology, HRAF is a not-for-profit consortium of 19 Sponsoring Member institutions and more than 400 active and inactive Associate Member institutions in nearly 40 countries. The...
CrossCultural Sex Role Studies
Cross-cultural research has examined variation in sex role ideology between cultural groups. Using Hofstede's terminology, one would assume that traditional ideologies would be found in masculine cultures and modern ideologies in feminine cultures. Williams and Best's Sex Role Ideology Study. In their 14-country study of masculinity and femininity described above, Williams and Best 1990b had study participants respond to the 30-item Kalin Sex Role Ideology measure SRI Kalin amp Tilby, 1978...
Female Homosexual Systems
In her study of lesbian relationships in Lesotho, Kendal 1998 pointed out how easy it is to ignore female homosexuality. Basotho women simply say that sex is impossible without a penis. Women have sex with their husbands, but simultaneously maintain affective ties with women including grinding genital contacts that they describe as loving. This has made it difficult for cross-cultural researchers to ascertain just how sexual women's relationships are. For example, women taking on the typically...
Frequency of Sex in Marriage
People living in different cultures report widely different incidences of sexual activity between spouses. In part, the differences are related to cultural attitudes regarding how often individuals ought to engage in sexual intercourse. In 17 of 70 cultures around the world, frequent sexual intercourse between spouses is viewed as highly desirable Broude, 1976 . Among the Lepcha, who typify this attitude, married couples claim to engage in sexual activity five, six, or more times a day when...
Parental and Other Caretaker Roles Fae
The mother of a child is the one who gave birth to it, though a child calls his or her mother's sister mother as well as most of the latter person's sisters or classificatory sisters. Several of these many other mothers are actual part time caretakers, and one of them takes over the full care of a closely related orphan. The same pattern potentially exists for fathers, but since these men's brothers, and their other classificatory fathers, live in other households, their care is seldom sought....
References Khm
Aberle, D. F. 1961 . Matrilineal descent in cross-cultural perspective. In D. M. Schneider amp K. Gough Eds. , Matrilineal kinship pp. 655-727 . Berkeley University of California Press. Adams, D. 1983 . Why there are so few women warriors. Behavior Science Research, 18, 196-212. Ardener, S., amp Burman, S. 1995 . Money-go-rounds. Oxford, Washington, DC Berg. Burton, R., amp Whiting, J. W. M. 1961 . The absent father and cross-sex identity. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 7 2 , 85-95. Coult, A., amp...
The Settings of Socialization
Just as the activities in which children engage contribute to gender socialization, where children work and play also has important implications. The settings in which children spend their time shape those behaviors they can observe, try out, rehearse, and master. The impact on socialization is directly related to the strength of the setting. Some contexts of development are considered strong and other situations weak Snyder amp Ickes, 1985 . In strong contexts, the range of behaviors that an...
Puberty and Adolescence Wxk
At about age 16, females reach menarche and undergo a puberty ritual, which coincides with the ripening of the main species of berry. Girls are normally tlakwenakweko when this occurs, though they may be much younger 11 or 12 , if there are few girls of appropriate age nearby and a larger group is needed. During this ritual, called Mai-to-ko, girls wear few clothes and are smeared with animal fat and adorned with many beads from head to toe. They may chase boys and try to hit them with a...
Gender and Religion Ecj
Btsisi' place great emphasis on the couple as the most important relationship in Btsisi' society. This notion is followed through in the belief system with God being both female or male. How could it be anything other than this , Btsisi' say. Ancestors Moyang , who can be male or female, also have spouses. Two of the most prominent Moyang, Moyang Mlur and Moyang Lunyot, are husband and wife. This couple is responsible for providing Btsisi' with the rules of humanity adat , which prescribed who...
Cultural Overview Pjq
Ifugao culture has developed historically in relation to the ecological setting of the Ifugao mountainous landscape. Swidden agriculture and wet-rice cultivation on terraced mountainsides are the two main economic activities of Ifugao people, with approximately 75 laboring as farmers. Ifugao is known internationally for its grand rice terraces, which grace the steep mountainsides. The main staple crops produced are rice and root crops, usually sweet potato tubers. Vegetables are also cultivated...
Gender over the Life Cycle Rhq
Sydel Silverman's research, conducted in the 1960s in a community in the province of Perugia in central Italy, suggests that the life cycles of women are likely to differ significantly from those of men, being marked more strongly by and in a closer relationship with reproduction Silverman, 1975a, 1975b . But in Colleverde, where her research was carried out, there were also significant differences amongst women, particularly regarding the points at which life crises occur and the intensity of...
Sexuality Nvm
Sexual relationships, while recognized as enjoyable, are thought by the Abelam to be potentially dangerous and harmful. Consequently, there are many occasions during which sexual activity is prohibited. The most important is throughout the yam growing season, a period of roughly 6 months, when there is in fact very little sexual activity, even between spouses. Apart from being detrimental to yam growth, sex distracts men from their important tasks and is therefore considered dangerous. It is...
Transformations
The Chuckchee represent an instance in which some sort of gender transformation is said to occur. Generally, we can think in terms of three axes of post-childhood gender transformation. One is of a temporary sort a person takes on different gender characteristics for a short period of time, and then returns to the initial gender stance. The most common example of this phenomenon is the practice referred to by the term couvade. Most commonly found among peoples in the Amazon basin Gregor, 1985 ,...
Gender over the Life Cycle Jtg
Like many of their neighbors, the Glebo have an elaborate system of named age grades for men that functions as part of the local political structure. A set of age categories for women describe different aspects of the life cycle but do not have the same corporate or political functions as those of the men. Babies and toddlers are not distinguished by gender but are simply called kyinibo or pede nyinibo those who fail to look after their own excrement . Young children who are fully mobile are...
Bibliography Nzu
Crocker, W. H. 1984 . Canela marriage factors in change. In K. Kensinger Ed. , Marriage practices in lowland South America pp. 63-98 . Urbana University of Illinois Press. Crocker, W. H. 1985 . Extramarital sexual practices of the Ramkokamekra-Canela Indians An analysis of sociocultural factors. In P. Lyon Ed. , Native South Americans Ethnology of the least known continent reissued ed., pp. 184-194 . Prospect Heights, IL Waveland Press. Crocker, W. H. 1990 . The Canela Eastern Timbira , I An...
Woman-to-woman Marriage Practices And Benefits In Sub-saharan Africa. Journal
Blumberg, R. L., amp Pilar Garcia, M. 1977 . The political economy of the mother-child family A cross-societal view. In Lenero-Otero, L. Ed. , Beyond the nuclear family model Cross-cultural perspectives pp. 99-163 . Beverly Hills, CA Sage. Broude, G. J., amp Greene, S. J. 1983 . Cross-cultural codes for husband-wife relationships. Ethnology, 22, 263-280. Buss, D. 1989 . Sex differences in human mate preferences Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12,...
Newlywed Customs
The transition to the married state is marked in many cultures by special treatment of newlyweds. A new bride and groom may be treated specially for just a few hours e.g., through the wedding night or for days, weeks, or longer. Further, newlywed customs tend to come as a package, so that if newlyweds are treated as special in one way, they are treated as special more generally. For instance, if the wedding night is considered special, then the couple are also likely to be sent on a honeymoon,...
Change in Attitudes Beliefs and Practices Regarding Gender Flw
Although Btsisi' culture is undergoing dramatic changes with land loss, resource depletion, and wage labor, the relationship between women and men remains constant. Women and men remain true partners sharing in their work and sharing in their play. This is atypical, but Btsisi' culture has buffered the most common negative impacts of colonialism and development on women's relationship with men. However, there is slight linguistic evidence suggesting that changes are beginning to occur in the...
Gender and Religion Fmz
Men and women play complementary roles in religion although the public role of the male is more developed. The Bakairi are animistic in that they believe in the existence of a sacred realm that is inhabited by supernatural beings who live inside such things as animals and plants and who behave in much the same way as humans. People are able to see these beings, but they typically stay hidden. Spirits can sometimes be contacted and even manipulated by shamans who are religious semispecial-ists....
Gender over the Life Cycle Mmt
While childhood is distinguished from adulthood, there are no cultural names for stages in the life cycle among the Bamileke. There are also no organized age-grade societies for boys or girls. In the past nja, translated as circumcision but in reality referring to puberty rites, was practiced for both boys and girls as a prelude to marriage. Male circumcision was and still is universal. Families who could afford it would enclose their daughters in a fattening house or fattening room nda nja at...
Cultural Overview Ryp
The Bakairf economy is dependent on a combination of gardening using slash-and-burn horticulture, farming with modern technology, working for wages, and receiving government stipends. By far the most significant aspect of their livelihood are the household gardens that they make in the forests that lie along the rivers in the reservation. Harvests provide the Indians with such staples as manioc, as well as other important foods such as rice, corn, banana, squash, and beans. Figure 1. Rondonia...
Contributors
Iiris Aaltio, Department of Business Administration, Lappeenranta University of Technology, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland Iren Annus, University of Szeged, Hungary George N. Appell, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, U.S.A. Laura W. R. Appell, Sabah Oral Literature Project, Phillips, ME 04996, U.S.A. Marysol Asencio, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Institute, University of Connecticut-Storrs, Storrs, CT 062692058, U.S.A. Christine Avenarius, Department of...
References Wca
Beasley, M. 1994 . Maltreatment of maids in Kuwait. In M. Davies Ed. , Women and violence Realities and responses worldwide pp. 53-59 . London Zed Books. Beneke, T. 1982 . Men on rape. New York St Martin's Press. Boswell, A. A., amp Spade, J. Z. 1996 . Fraternities and collegiate rape culture Why are some fraternities more dangerous places for women Gender and Society, 10 2 , 133-147. Bourgois, P. 2001 . In search of masculinity Violence, respect, and sexuality among Puerto Rican crack dealers...
Ritual Defloration
Originally published in 1918, Freud's 1918 1953 essay The Taboo of Virginity is remarkable for its use of ethnographic examples limited to what was available in a World War I Austria , and provides some indication of the great variety of cultural elaborations of defloration. More recently, Wikan 1982 provides a first-hand account of the traditional Near Eastern Oman wedding ceremony, in which physical evidence for the defloration of the bride, in the form of a bloody cloth, must be publicly...
Gender over the Life Cycle Hcr
The major stages, I call life markers. The Canela distinguish them by the use of the suffix -tsa. They are birth, p m-ts falling-occasion puberty, ram ipinin-ts already sex-occasion childbirth, p m-ts falling-occasion and death, t k-ts death-occasion . The terms apply to both genders. Between these life markers are a number of minor stages that are either descriptions or social events. These stages are described through their translations in Table 1. The Canela apply most of these stage terms...
Extramarital Sex Norms of Extramarital Sex
In every society around the world, the overwhelmingly majority of men and women marry, and married couples are expected to engage in sexual relations. Sexual activity outside marriage is also condemned in many societies. However, in a number of cultures, extramarital affairs are at least tolerated, and a majority of societies accept and even expect husbands to engage in them. Fifty-six percent of a worldwide sample of 112 societies do not officially condemn extramarital sex for males, while...
What We Do Not Know LongitudinalCohort Studies
Currently, much is unknown about the long-term effects of contragender hormonal treatment. In light of recent studies on increased breast cancer risk in non-transgendered females due to hormone replacement therapy, it is critical that longitudinal studies are undertaken in the transgender community. Questions of increased risk of breast cancer in MTF transsexuals remain open, as do questions of breast cancer in the FTM transsexual community. Questions of the effect of estrogen on bone mass in...
Transgender and Transsexualism in Norway
In the western hemisphere there is a need to date all descriptions concerning diversities in genderland. Much change is taking place new insights, new words, concepts, and contexts are constantly being inspired as others are being expired. Norway has two organizations for transpeople. The oldest is FPE-NE which was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of heterosexual transvestites. Today members of the FPE-NE form a continuum from classical parttime cross-dressing, through self-defined bigendered,...
Engendering Violence
In Masculinities, Violence, and Culture, Hatty 2000 notes that violence is not a deviant act, it is a conforming one, and that violence against women is part of a larger context of normative male violence. In the United States, cultural ideals promote violence in the service of the masculine self, preserving individuality and forestalling fusion with the dangerous nonself, the other, the feminine Hatty, 2000, pp. 10-11 . Sexual aggression and violence are means of social control, hierarchy, and...
Female Inhibition in MixedSex Competition
One frequently neglected topic is mixed-sex competition and its possible role in mate choice. Females tend to be less competitive and self-confident than males cross-culturally e.g., Stetsenko, Little, Godeeva, Grassof, amp Oettingen, 2000 , but they also sometimes attenuate their competitiveness when facing a male opponent. This phenomenon is seen mainly in adolescence and adulthood, and is observed cross-culturally. For example, C. C. Weisfeld, Weisfeld, and Callahan 1982 documented it in the...
Unilocality and Unilineality
Aside from the psychological stress created for the unimportant gender in a unilocal-unilineal system, which we discussed earlier, what does research suggest about other possible consequences of unilocality and unilineal-ity One domain that has been investigated is status. Whyte 1978, pp. 132-133 has tested the hypothesis that women will have higher status in matrilocal and matrilineal societies. He measured status in a number of domains ranging from property control to value of labor to...
Contents
Biological Bases of Sex Differences 27 Socialization of Boys and Girls in Natural Contexts 34 Carolyn Pope Edwards, Lisa Knoche, and Asiye Kumru Adolescence 42 Gender Roles, Status, and Institutions Economic Activities and Gender Roles 91 Kaisa Kauppinen and Iiris Aaltio War and Gender 107 Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember The Relative Status of Men and 137 Transitions in the Life-Course of Women 163 Sexuality and Male-Female Interaction Husband-Wife Interaction and Aloofness 192 Fernando Luiz...
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender
Men and Women in the World's Cultures Volume I Topics and Cultures A-K Volume II Cultures L-Z Human Relations Area Files Yale University New Haven, Connecticut Human Relations Area Files Yale University New Haven, Connecticut Published in conjunction with the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University New York Boston Dordrecht London Moscow Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of sex and gender men and women in the world's cultures edited by Carol R. Ember and...