Locke, in his essay about property, uses a very logical thought process to try and understand what defines property. He proposes that all land and natural resources begin by being the common property of everyone. What makes something personal property, in his system, is the added value of labor, including one’s servant’s labor as well (Locke, On Property n.p.). This is a very straightforward definition. He repeatedly warns that this only applies where there is enough left for everyone. However, to a modern reader, it seems that he ignores problems like over-harvesting, pollution, and other externalities. However, Locke’s thinking certainly links non-western ideas about property to European laws and practices, by reducing the rights to property to such a simple level. This text also seems to be one source for Marx’s ideas about labor (Marx n.p.). It is not clear how Locke’s definition helps in solving the problems that Kenneth Guest refers to in the chapter on Class and Inequality (Guest 393-437).
Kenneth Guest, in his chapter on gender, points out that the behaviors associated with one gender or another are often learned. Guest uses examples like anthropologists’ observation that hunting and gathering are done by both males and females, in various places, to demonstrate that these behaviors are not for just one gender all the time and everywhere. He asserts that gender is not fixed but built up by people in cultures. This chapter also addresses the issue of people who do not fit into the traditional categories of male and female, whether because of behavior or because of their anatomy (Guest 269-308). All this is quite at odds with the ideas of John Locke, who believed that men were naturally masters over women (Locke, Of Political or Civil Society n.p.). The Guest chapter challenges readers to look at the way people make assumptions about sexuality at every stage of life, from babyhood onward. He asserts that these assumptions affect the opportunities available for women, for women, at every stage of life (Guest 269-308). This is similar to the challenge that Marx offers his readers. Marx’s writing challenges readers to look at everything from the perspective of the conflict between labor and the bourgeoisie (Marx n.p.). The chapter from Guest on gender challenges readers to see everything from the perspective of assumptions about male and female roles (Guest 269-308).
The chapter by Kenneth Guest on Sexuality challenges the idea that sexual behavior is natural or inevitable. Instead, he suggests that sexual behavior is more related to culture. What is manly or womanly sexual behavior is different from culture to culture (Guest 309-349). The author offers examples from Suriname, New Guinea, and Nicaragua. The author also demonstrates that what is defined as appropriate sexuality has been and still is related to power. For example, the writer discusses what he calls white weddings. The author notes that these have become a mark of status and privilege. As Guest notes, they have been reserved for white, heterosexual couples with a lot of money to buy dresses made by cheap overseas labor. This chapter also discusses the problem of sexual violence, including rape on campus, and raises questions about how institutions (like colleges) can regulate sexual behavior (Guest 309-349). The chapter is very thought-provoking. It shows that it is helpful to look with an anthropological, holistic perspective, and at more than one culture and population before drawing any conclusions about human behavior, especially sexuality (Salzman and Rice 23).
Works Cited
Guest, Kenneth. Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
Locke, John. “Of Political or Civil Society.” Gutenberg.org. n.d. Web.
“On Property.” Constitution.org. n.d.. Web.
Marx, Karl. “The Communist Manifesto.” Marxist Archive. n.d. Web.
Salzman, Philip Carl and Patricia Rice. Thinking anthropologically: a practical guide for students. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.