Introduction
Many scholars have stepped in to scrutinize the issue of gender and sexuality. Historical definitions have been acknowledged by recent anthropologists, to help comprehend nature and trend of gender and sexuality. Male dominance versus female subordination, are among the terms that are popularly used to highlight the nature of the society.
The paper will discuss issues that are intertwined with gender and sexuality. Different perceptions that have been postulated in the past, will be acknowledged and critiqued. Further, relationship between sexuality and environment will be discussed. In conclusion, personal insights regarding the issue of sexuality and gender will be made.
Gender and Environment
Gender anthropology can be categorized into three broad stages. Revolutionary stage which is regarded as being the earliest, was triggered by existence of male bias at around 1960. Political dominance of men was associated with passive women, who were sometimes discriminated. In this stage, focus was in eradicating male dominance and ensuring that women were actively represented.
There were also concerns on the biological differences between genders, as being determinants of power. The second stage shifted focus from women to gender. Gender was defined as being a social construction while sex was biological. Lack of universality or standardization has complicated the issue of gender and sexuality. In the third stage, there was a shift from the cross cultural approach. Emphases were on postmodernism, pre colonial and globalization theories (Lewellen 34).
Universal women subordination can be traced back in 1970s, when male dominance was well accepted. There is however a myth that is referenced by some scholars, as having enabled women to cope with male dominance. The myth is based on rise of Mother Goddess, as a result of introduction of agriculture by women. According to the myth, women became dominant for a long time while men were subordinates. The myth has however been discredited due to inexistence of evidence, of when women reigned. Further, women subordination was manifested by the omission of role of female gender in the evolution theory.
Scholars influenced by Marxist theory, have attributed women subordination to capitalism that has been reinforced by the west. Before capitalism, both men and women had equal authority, since there was no division of labor. Emergence of private property, which was facilitated by introduction of economic systems led to exploitation, since control was seized from the producer, who was the woman. As a result, woman was forced into the subordinate position and was in charge of domestic duties. The man seized the public political sphere and was the controller of the production (Mullings 47).
Economic situation is greatly influenced by gender and sexuality. Women engage in domestic activities that involve subsistence provision, while men engage in trade and other income generating activities. As a result, women are dependent on men for economic support, which make them even more vulnerable to other factors. The social situation is also well dictated by structure of society, which is dominated by men. Women are regarded as being powerless and in some societies they are discriminated.
The subordinate position held by women meant that, they had no power to make decisions. The men were the sole decision makers in all activities while women were expected to submit to them completely. Women were severely punished by the society, especially when they misbehaved or challenged existence of traditional setups. Women were exposed to forced early marriages, while men were allowed to have many wives. Notably, the social approach also contributes to the economic sector in certain areas. For example, education is associated with high income jobs, while illiteracy is associated with poverty.
Women are denied the right to acquire higher education in most cultures, which limits their involvement in the job markets leading to poverty. High poverty levels among the women in the society, increases their chances of engaging in irresponsible sexual acts like prostitution, which renders them susceptible to infection and stigmatization. Further, women are denied the access to resources like money, since they are not involved in the decision making process. Poor economic status leads to poor seeking behaviors thereby poor management of health issues among the women.
Most of the policies that were formulated favored the male gender at the expense of female. Women could not participate in political decisions, since only men held most senior positions. Despite the fact women were in the domestic sphere, formal decisions were made by men. Both men and women felt that leadership positions were supposed to be assigned to men and not women. It should also be noted that those women who held political offices did not represent entire female gender.
There was failure of women representation in leading positions, thereby increasing gender inequality. Domestic violence was well pronounced in the society, with women being frequent victims. Women had no right to own property, since men were the only owners. There was no adequate advocacy for women issues, since women were not leaders.
Cross cultural perspective of political anthropology
Political anthropology, in regard to gender and sexuality manifests in different ways among various cultures. There are anthropologists who differentiate status from power while others do not. It should be noted that, male dominance is not universal as will be outlined in various scenarios. In the society of Iroquois, men were involved in many trips and left women in charge of their houses.
Women provided food for their families and engaged in cultivation while men went to hunt far away from home. Notably, marriages were organized by matrons after which, the man was supposed to move in to the woman’s house. Women were influential in the public politics and they appointed the council elders.
In contrast, the women of Chipewyan were of low status. There was high division of labor that left women passive and discriminated. Men were the key providers of food in the society. Men acquired power by engaging in constructive activities while women had power that was regarded as being destructive. For example, a menstruating woman could reduce efficacy of the hunting tools by stepping on them.
There is further the incidence of Agta society, where women engaged in the hunting of large game. Women would hunt together with men, although they had to make their tools separately in smiths that were dominated by men. Late pregnancy and early lactation were the only periods the woman would not go hunting. Young children were left under the care of grandmothers and younger siblings (Mullings 150).
Male dominance and low status of women, have been used to signify political position of the two genders. Status has been defined as real power over resources or special treatment. The definition of real power over resources would be in a scenario where a woman holds a political post. Special treatment is given to upper class women who are not in charge of any post.
Status is dynamic and can be in sectors like economy, religious or political. Scholars postulate that division of labor is positively correlated with male dominance. Women are assigned domestic roles, while men engage in activities that are outside home (Spradley and Mccurdy 54). As a result, most of activities by women impact in the domestic level while those by men are felt in the public sphere. In this perspective, division of labor ensures that women play their role as mothers, since they do not leave their homes for long.
It should however be noted that, cross cultural perspective shows that women engage in relatively all activities. In this perspective, perception of certain activities as being better than others is ethnocentric and not intrinsic. There are scholars who argue that dominance is not based on division of labor, but rather the contribution of women in subsistence provision.
Studies show that women contribute 30-35% of food. Further, in societies like Eskimo, women do not provide any food for their families while Kung provide 70% of the food (Lassiter 28).The variance shows that provision of subsistence, is not cross cultural political approach. There are further arguments that political anthropology is based on the public contribution and not domestic one. Alliances and other obligations that determine trend of politics, result from public exchange and not the domestic chores. Public relations ensure that men are able to provide scarce resources, hence they are more influential than women.
Cross cultural politics or dominance manifest in most simple societies that engage in hunting and gathering. Women engage in gathering and hunting small game, which is distributed among the family members. Men engage in hunting large game and distribute animal protein, which is of higher quality, to the entire band that consists of males. In areas where both men and women engage in hunting of large game, there is political equity. Subordination of women is high in areas where women engage in gathering while men engage in hunting.
Application of the anthropological theory in industrial perspective, would mean that women must engage in the productive jobs so as to eradicate male dominance (Lassiter 33). Public versus domestic approach has been adopted by various scholars. In this perspective, man is associated with activities away from home while women engage in home chores. The nature versus culture approach has also been adopted by many scholars. The roles of women are associated with nature while those of men are associated with culture. For example, tilling land is associated with women while cultural hunting is associated with men.
Postulation
Gender and sexuality are dynamic issues that are expected to affect the structure of the society. With the impacts of globalization and shift to capitalism, long term equality is likely to be achieved. Masculinity and feminity can be best understood as the different roles of gender in the society. The society is concerned with designing and assigning the roles performed by genders.
For example, three decades ago women were not allowed to work outside their homes as it is happening now. There is tremendous change in the masculinity and feminity issues in the society due to the change in the social structure. With the dynamic change in the social structure, the feminine are also becoming assertive and are attaching the high quality of life with accomplishments and material possession (Spradley and Mccurdy 76).
Policy formulating process should be in touch with the trend of gender and sexuality. As a policy formulator, I would ensure that long term solution is sought to replace short term remedies. Present intervention of reducing male dominance, emphasizes on transferring people from unfavorable conditions. Focus should be in changing unfavorable conditions so as to ensure that the society eradicates male dominance. There are roles that are perceived as belonging to male while others belong to female in the society.
As a result, the society refers to the activities associated with men as being masculine while those that are associated with women as being feminine. The perceptions of masculinity and feminity have changed, with the change in the social structure. For example, in the past years women were not allowed to own property or authority, since this was seen as being masculine. In the 21st century, women are now participating in decision making and are becoming leaders (Lewellen 78). If masculinity and feminity was not structured by the society, then it should not change with variance in social structure.
Conclusion
The social transition is on escalation and is continuous. The environment fluctuates and influences the structure of the society. There are many factors that are involved in society formation. More evolution of the society should be expected in future generations, since environment development and fluctuations are inevitable. It should also be noted that, the transition is facilitated by urge to ensure gender parity and eradication of primitivism. With the escalation of globalization social transition is inevitable.
Works Cited
Lassiter, Luke. “Toward a Collaborative and Reciprocal Ethnography.” Journal of Anthropological Research 5.2 (2001): 137-149. Print.
Lewellen, Ted. A Political anthropology. London: Westport press, 1995. Print.
Mullings, Leith. On Our Own Terms. London: Routledge Press, 1990. Print.
Spradley, James, and David Mccurdy. Conformity and Conflict Readings In Cultural Anthropology, New York: Pearson Education press, 2009. Print.