sharring@cs.tamu.edu (Steven L Harrington) (04/10/91)
I'm doing some research on feminism as it relates to anthropology (specifically determination of the adaptive value, if any, of the traditional roles [inequality] of the sexes), and I need references. If any of you have any relevant knowledge, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Steve Harrington Texas A&M University
jym@mica.berkeley.edu (Jym Dyer) (04/24/91)
___
__ Anthropology is a field heavily-tainted with the effects
_ of sexism and patriarchy. The first anthropologists were
Christian missionaries, far more intent on conversion than
on objectively documenting native cultures.
___
__ Many implementations of Christianity have a strong emphasis on
_ maintaining patriarchal sex roles, and many missionaries were
quite adamant about this. Indeed, the term "missionary posi-
tion" refers to the fact that these missionaries went so far
as to force native peoples to use the "man on top" position
for genital sexual intercourse!
___
__ By the time more secular anthropologists got into the field,
_ much of the field had been tainted by this. Even so, most of
them were male, and of course were operating out of a heavily
patriarchal and heterosexist culture. As a result, the matter
of sex roles in early studies are even more suspect.
___
__ A book worth looking up is Eleanor Burke Leacock's _Myths_of_
_ _Male_Dominance_, which explores this in some detail, and
provides examples of non-patriarchal cultures that had been
reported as in greater conformance with patriarchal sex roles
before. Another good study is _Women_of_the_Forest_, by
Yolanda Murphy and Robert F. Murphy.
___
__ There's a lot going on about whether or not early Europeans
_ were matriarchal in character. Many popular books have been
published on this theme. The matter is currently being de-
bated, but it seems clear that such cultures were, if not
completely matriarchal, not patriarchal.
___
__ A popularized book about this is Riane Eisler's _The_Chalice_
_ _and_the_Blade_. Eisler is clearly writing to advocate the
"partnership" model of these societies, but the book can
point you to dryer, academic stuff if you'd prefer. :-)
___
__ Furthermore, some evidence suggests a specific role for gay
_ (and cross-dressing, and sex-role challenging) people in
cultures all over the world, which suggests not only the
tolerance of such behavior and orientation, but approval!
(This is, of course, consistent with McLellan and Beach's
famous study.)
___
__ I'm afraid I don't have any dry, academic sources for this
_ stuff either. If you'd like something well-written, check
out Judy Grahn's _Another_Mother_Tongue_. Much as the
advocates of the Euro-matriarchy line have taken the apparent
lack of patriarchy to mean that women were the holders of
power, Grahn extrapolates this evidence to suggest that
gayness (which she uses to include cross-dressing and sex-
role challenging) is/was considered a form of spiritual
superiority. Nonetheless, it's a great book.
<_Jym_>