Cultural Anthropology Final

How did Human Language Capacity Evolve? (FOXP2 gene; Neanderthals)

-Around 1990, a family in Britain (now known only as KE to protect their privacy) was discovered to have a rare mutation of the FOXP2 gene. The same variant of FOXP2 is found in chimpanzees. More than half of the members of the KE family inherited severe speech problems that made them unintelligible even to their own relatives. -Not only were affected family members unable to physically form words because of a limited ability to make fine lip and tongue movements, but cognitive differences also led them to have difficulty in recognizing and using grammar. As children, these family members were taught to use certain hand gestures to compensate. -Genetic analysis indicates that the presence of the particular FOXP2 gene variant may be crucial for activating and inactivating key human speech capacities, an evolutionary development that appears to be essential to human speech. Such analysis also traces the emergence of human language to within the past 150,000 years. -Archaeological evidence provides further clues to the origins of human language. -Fossilized brain casts from archaic Homo sapiens known as Neandertals (who lived from about 120,000 to about 35,000 years ago) and even earlier Homo species reveal the neurological and anatomical features necessary for speech. -Our early human ancestors' capacity to cooperate in hunting and tool making also suggests that some language ability existed before the evolution of Homo sapiens. -Cultural evidence supporting extensive language use appears around 50,000 years ago, including art, tool making, and other technologies that required language to facilitate their transmission from generation to generation. Language as it has developed among modern humans would have enhanced the capacity for group cooperation and the transmission of cultural knowledge. In this way, it conveyed a significant advantage in adapting to less hospitable natural environments and increasing the potential for survival.

historical emergence of heterosexuality in psychiatry

-As discussions of race have tended to focus on racial minorities instead of whiteness, discussions of sexuality have tended to focus on homosexuality instead of heterosexuality. In recent years, the anthropology of sexuality has worked to shift scholarly attention to focus on the norm (heterosexuality) and the process by which the particular expression of heterosexuality prevalent in U.S. culture today became the norm. -Only in 1892 did the translation of German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's influential work Psychopathia Sexualis first introduce to the US scent the modern science and heterosexuality as erotic feelings for the opposite sex and homosexuality as erotic feelings for the same sex. This marked a significant shift in the scientific community, supported by a growing number of medical doctors, toward the new idea of sexuality for pleasure rather than exclusively for procreation. -Sexology. A scientific study of sexuality, called sexology, began to emerge in Europe and the US in the late 19th c. These studies played a central role in the establishment of heterosexuality as the dominant erotic ideal and in the gradual process of dividing the population into distinct heterosexual and homosexual groups -Same-gendered attraction, fantasies, and experiences were much more common than previously thought. Furthermore, sexual behaviors could shift over the course of a lifetime, spanning both heterosexual and homosexual activity. Rather than finding a sharp dichotomy between heterosexuality and homosexuality, research revealed diversity, flexibility, and fluidity, along a continuum of sexual behavior. -

transgender vs. cisgender

-- 'Transvestite' originated in 1910 from the German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, who would later develop the Berlin Institute where the very first 'sex change' operations took place. -- 'Transsexual' was a term coined in 1949. -- 'Transgender' was used for the first time in 1971. -- 'Trans' was not heard of until 1996. -- 'Polygender' is a late 1990s Californian invention used to describe a state of being multiple genders. -Until quite recently, European and North American cultures oppressed and criminalized alternate sexes that did not fit neatly into their binary understanding of gender. -As a result of these laws, people who were trans sought out doctors who could cure them and a whole new field in medicine developed: sexology. -Suddenly medical professionals realized that these were not exceptional cases: there was a whole swathe of people who were unhappy because their gender role did not match their body. -YET, some -- but not all-- trans people desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another and identify as transexual. That is why transgender is a more inclusive term that has become widely used in Europe and the U.S. in recent years. -Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is a person's internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or boy or girl.) For some people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into those two choices. For transgender people, the sex they were assigned at birth and their own internal gender identity do not match. -Transgender individuals include those whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex. These individuals may prefer to call themselves a trans man (female to male, FTM) or a trans woman (male to female, MTF). -But transgender people may also include those who are not exclusively masculine or feminine; i.e. people who are non-binary or gender queer. Non-binary (also abbreviated as enby) or genderqueer is a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine ‍—‌identities that are outside the gender binary. Other definitions of transgender may also include people who belong to a third gender (but not always) -Some trans people seek medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, and/or psychotherapy. BUT not all transgender people desire these treatments, and some cannot undergo them for financial or medical reasons. -Those who are not transgender are called cisgender, a term that describes people whose gender identity or expression matches their assigned sex. -Since Kayla's sex and gender identity match, she is considered cisgender. However, transgender people have a gender identity that doesn't match their assigned sex at birth.

Masculinities— 1) hegemonic, 2) complicit, 3) subordinated, and 4) marginalized

-As you just saw and heard, Gaston is depicted as an ideal man. Everyone aspires to be like him. -In short, Gaston's physical appearance and prowess make him remarkably more dominant than the rest of the men in his town. Gaston is clearly enjoying a privileged position vis-a-vis other men. Through his behavior, he seeks to subordinate other men and women. And no-one seems to be bothered by this. In fact, they are all complicit in praising his dominance. 1)hegemonic masculinity -The kind of masculinity embodied by Gaston is referred to as "hegemonic masculinity." Hegemonic masculinity is a term coined by sociologist and gender theorist R.W. Connell. -Connell recognizes multiple masculinities in a given culture and across time. In other words, there is no one way of being a man; there are many different kinds of men in each society. What is exalted as an ideal in one era may be different in another historical era. -The term hegemonic masculinity describes the hierarchical interaction between multiple masculinities. It is defined as a practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of women and other marginalized ways of being a man. -By this concept, Connell seeks to explain how some men succeed in making it appear normal, natural, and necessary for them to enjoy power over other men and women. She also seeks to explore why it is that so many men and women participate willingly in their own oppression. -The hegemonic position is the currently accepted male ideal within a particular culture at a particular time. As such, the hegemonic male is an ideal type. 2)complicit masculinity -Most men fall within the complicit category. Complicit men accept and participate in the system of hegemonic masculinity so as to enjoy the material, physical, and symbolic benefits of the subordination of women and other men. 3) subordinated masculinity -Men run the risk of subordination when they do not practice gender consistent with the hegemonic system and ideology. A man in the subordinated position suffers that fate even when they appear to possess the physical attributes necessary to aspire to hegemony. The clearest examples are men who are openly gay. Gay men are defined in this system as "not real men" even when they may appear hegemonically masculine in their appearance. (Gaston's sidekick LeFou is a great example of subordinated masculinity) 4) marginalized masculinity -o Marginalized men are those who cannot even aspire to hegemony - most often, men of color and men with disabilities. Groups can contest marginalization when they seek authorization by making the claim: "I'm a man, too."

Is the gender gap biological or based on structural inequality, according to Demore (google guy)? How does he justify the dearth of female computer programmers in Silicon Valley?

-Biological -Women's biological traits do not allow them to be in powerful positions or positions without human interaction -Demore was not happy with this diversity training, he thought it was a waste of time because women biologically do not have the same cognitive skills that help them excel in computer programming. He also thought that women are not as career-driven as men because their cognitive makeup, according to Demore, is leading women to be more geared towards nurturing and homemaking and men are career-driven, ambitious, cut-throat, do everything possible to dedicate themselves to make as much money as possible and to excel in their career, and he believed this was because of biological differences.

Roger Lancaster

-Cultural anthropologist Roger Lancaster explores similar themes in Life is Hard: Machismo, Danger, and the Intimacy of Power in Nicaragua, during the 1980s. In particular, he examined the concept of machismo—which can be defined as a strong, sometimes exaggerated performance of masculinity. This concept, which Lancaster sees as central to the Nicaraguan national imagination, shapes relationships not only between men and women but also between men and other men. Machismo creates a strong contrast between aggression and passivity. "Real" men—masculine men—are aggressive. But a real man's macho status is always at risk. Machismo must be constantly performed to retain one's social status. -Lancaster was particularly intrigued by the way machismo affects the sexual relations between men. Generally, in US culture, any man who engages in a same-gender sexual behavior is considered gay. But in the Nicaraguan community that Lancaster studied, only the men who receive anal intercourse are pejoratively called cochon— "queer, f*ggot, gay." The machista, the penetrator, is still considered a manly man—an hombre-hombres—under the rules of machismo. For it is the machista's role to achieve sexual conquest whenever possible with whoever is available, acting out machismo and enhancing his status by dominating a weaker person. Among Nicaraguan men, the intersection of sexuality and power creates a culturally constructed system of arbitrary and unequal value for male bodies in which machismo privileges the aggressive, assertive, machista penetrator over the passive, receptive, penetrated cochon. -Lancaster points out that in Nicaragua the same acts that in the US would be seen to reveal one's "essential" homosexuality—desire for and sexual activity with someone of the same sex—are interpreted differently. In fact, active, aggressive men enhance their masculinity and macho status even if they engage in same-gender sexual activity.

"fag discourse" (C. J. Pascoe)

--What boys are trying to do as they bully one another is shore up contemporary definitions of masculinity, that is boys will target other boys when they exhibit behaviors that are considered feminine behaviors that are considered incompetent when they are too touchy, when they're too emotional, and when they exhibit any type of same-sex desire. -When she talks to boys about the sorts of homophobic taunts that they deploy, they continually tell her that gay, fag, homo, queer are the worst insults you could deeply, but they simultaneously tell her that they're not actually about sexuality. For the most part when she speaks to young men and teenagers about gay rights and gay marriage, the vast majority of them support gay rights, gay marriage, legal protections for gays. They aren't homophobic on a more structural level. -So, what they're actually afraid of and what they're policing in one another is what Pascoe has come to call the specter of the "fag". This profoundly unmasculine man strikes fear in the heart of these boys because there's no way for them to solidly prove that they are not that man, so that way they prove they're masculine is this continual rejection of the specter of the unmasculine man, which takes the form of homophobic taunts and epithets. -What these men are doing as they're joking back and forth is not necessarily placing heterosexuality, but policing masculinity and she would say the particularly interesting thing about this scene is that it doesn't look like they're policing anything because they're just making jokes and indeed when we look at homophobic harassment among boys, a lot of that type of harassment happens in these joking relationships and in some ways she would actually say this is even more serious than the aggressive taunting we see happening because the joking itself hides the seriousness of the deployment of these insults, so given that many of these bullying behaviors take place in boys friendships and many of the bullying behaviors are deployed not to police sexuality so much as they are to place masculinity. -According to Pascoe, do school boys use this insult only to bully their homosexual peers? --No. They use it for gender policing to enforce male gender stereotypes -In other words, to be a fag was, by definition, the opposite of masculine, whether the word was deployed with sexualized or non-sexualized meanings -Ricky's presentation of both sexual preference and gender identity was so profoundly threatening that boys claimed they would be driven to violence. -The fag extends beyond a static sexual identity attached to a gay boy. Few boys are permanently identified as fags, most move in and out of fag positions. Looking at fag as a discourse in addition to a static identity reveals that the term can be invested with different meanings in different social spaces. Fag may be used as a weapon with which to temporarily assert one's masculinity by denying it to others. Thus, the fag becomes a symbol around which contests of masculinity take place.

report published by the United Nations Women in 2019

-60% of the world's poorest people are women. -Half of all children unable to attend school are girls. -Women are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation. -Young women ages fifteen to twenty-five are being infected with HIV/AIDS three times faster than men in the same age group. -Only 24% of the world's parliamentarians are women.

Sherry B. Ortner (1974) "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" (knowing the main idea is sufficient)

-A more compelling theory came from the anthropologist Sherri Ortner (1974). She proposed the existence of a pervasive, symbolic association of women with nature and men with culture. In this symbolic formulation, women are placed in a lower position, since human culture and its achievements are more highly valued than human nature, which is often sees as animalistic. -Women: nature; men: culture -By this association means that women have different deductive roles than men. There's menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc. In a lot of cultures, women are seen as the only group of people who are responsible for raising the children -§ Because of those biological and reproductive functions, across different parts of the world, women became to be associated with their primal nature. Women's gender roles have been strictly associated with these biological functions. People believe that women by nature are nurturing and responsible for raising the next generation of humans and this is why they should be relegated to the domestic sphere. Men, on the other hand, do not have this burden of reproduction: nurturing with breastfeeding and raising children. This is why a lot of things that are happening in the cultural realms such as politics, economic relations, engaging in intellectual activities like going to school and being artists (historically has been the exclusive role of men, with few exceptions). For the most part up until the 20th c, a lot of these activities were seen as the proper domain of men, whereas women were only seen as only mothers and wives whose only roles were basically to give birth to children because of these biological functions they have. Men do not share the burden of reproduction equally because their only role in reproduction is really giving their sperm and that is it, whereas women have all of these roles and responsibilities, which is why across different cultures, women's domain has been seen in the domestic sphere.

The Gesture Call System and Non-Verbal Human Communication (open system; closed system; gesture call system)

-All animals communicate and many animals make meaningful sounds. Others use visual signs, such as facial expressions, color changes, body postures and movements, light (fireflies), or electricity (some eels). Many use the sense of smell and the sense of touch. Most animals use a combination of two or more of these systems in their communication, but their systems are closed systems in that they cannot create new meanings or messages. -Human communication, on the other hand, is an open system that can easily create new meanings and messages. Most animal communication systems are basically innate; they do not have to learn them. But some species' systems entail a certain amount of learning. For example, songbirds have the innate ability to produce the typical songs of their species, but most of them must be taught how to do it by older birds. -Great apes and other primates have relatively complex systems of communication that use varying combinations of sound, body language, scent, facial expression, and touch. Their systems have therefore been referred to as a gesture-call system. Humans share a number of forms of this gesture-call, or non-verbal system with the great apes. Spoken language undoubtedly evolved embedded within it. -All human cultures have not only verbal languages, but also non-verbal systems that are consistent with their verbal languages and cultures and vary from one culture to another.

Human Language is Symbolic (arbitrariness)

-All human languages are symbolic systems that make use of symbols to convey meaning. -A symbol is anything that serves to refer to something else but has a meaning that cannot be guessed because there is no obvious connection between the symbol and its referent. This feature of human language is called arbitrariness. -For example, many cultures assign meanings to certain colors, but the meaning for a particular color may be completely different from one culture to another. Western cultures like the United States use the color black to represent death, but in China it is the color white that symbolizes death. White in the United States symbolizes purity and is used for brides' dresses, but no Chinese woman would ever wear white to her wedding. Instead, she usually wears red, the color of good luck. -Words in languages are symbolic in the same way. The word key in English is pronounced exactly the same as the word qui in French, meaning "who," and ki in Japanese, meaning "tree." One must learn the language in order to know what any word means.

Epigenetics

-And so basically in epigenetics, it's interesting in that, you know, a lot of things people wonder, is it nature or is it nurture? Were you born this way or is it a choice? And epigenetics is this new field that sort of sits in between where basically the environment reprograms genes, and those switches stay permanently. So it sort of sits right in between nature and nurture -Waddington's landscape. I love this. It's kind of a well-known analogy about epigenetics. So imagine your cells are marbles rolling down a hill, developing, deciding what to eventually turn into and as you're going down, you always have to make that decision as you go down and down and down. And as it's rolling down, at any point, it's going to go left or right. -Yeah, because actually I heard this because I had a conversation with a friend whose daughter is transitioning. And correct me if I'm wrong, but she said that people are talking about this idea that the fetus can possibly develop in different ways in utero. Like, the genitals develop one way in the first trimester, but then in the second or the third trimester, the brain development leads toward a different sex. Is that right? -So that's a current working model that many people subscribe to in that the genitals differentiate one way, but the brain differentiates the other way. And we think that the obvious mechanism for that to happen is through epigenetics because epigenetics is deeply involved in almost all the decisions that are made during development. And most of the epigenetic changes are caused by hormones that would basically silence a gene or a whole set of genes at the critical moment that would change the course of the development of that baby. -So, we're down at the atomistic molecular cellular level. Everyone needs to work on this because it's so complex. And going from a piece of DNA to the brain to behavior to the concept of gender - I mean, it's miles and miles in between each of those steps

What Do They Mean When Anthropologists Say "Gender is a Social/Cultural Construct"? (Also What "Gender is a Social Construction" Doesn't Mean)

-Gender is a social construction doesn't mean that: humans don't vary biologically in many ways or that biology is irrelevant, social effects are not real or important, they are necessarily subject to extensive individual manipulation -Just because something is a social construct doesn't mean it's not real (money is a social construct and still real) -Social scientists introduced the term gender as a way of talking about all those expectations and beliefs we load onto people with certain physical characteristics -Many analysts therefore wanted to push the point further. Our gendered social expectations actually become embodied, incorporated into our developing motor habits and musculature. It is not just that gender is a social construction. Biological sex too becomes socially constructed. In other words, the bodies we see as male and female are in part due to social environments. For example, many societies actively discourage females from participating in sports or other activities that would build muscle mass, as this would be unfeminine -· Warnke concludes that these roles are hardly anchored in our genes or evolution but are more a product of relatively recent gender expectations. What we see as science is influenced by what we already believe to be true about males and females. -To say "gender is a social construction" is not to deny evolution, to deny science, to deny that humans are animals, or to claim some sort of ethereal special place for the non-material. It is simply to ask that a role for human activity and imagination be included as part of our understandings.

Gender policing

-Gender is also enforced, disciplined, and policed. -dress codes for each sex -Muslim women have modest dressing expectations, cover hair -in Sikhism, men have to grow long hair, make a bun, and cover hair with a turban, hair is part of god's creation -hs dress codes -There was a 200 year old archaic pants ban in France, which was overturned only in 2013 (even though women have been wearing pants freely since 1930s.) -According to the law, women needed to have the permission of local police if they wanted to "dress like a man" and wear trousers. Though it has been ignored for decades, formally it remained on the statute books. Ms Vallaud-Belkacem said the original law had been intended to prevent women doing certain jobs. "This order was aimed first of all at limiting the access of women to certain offices or occupations by preventing them from dressing in the manner of men," she said -Gender policing happens at the level of religion and law. Throughout the world, there are religious and secular laws regulating and restricting people's sexual behavior, reproductive choices, marriage preferences, and even one's sexual orientation. -But gender policing also takes place at a societal and inter-personal level. Think about how students tease or bully one another. -Oftentimes, such gender policing takes place through discourse (i.e. verbally). I'm sure you are familiar with such verbal interventions: - "You talk like a girl" - "You dress like a dude" - "Dude, you're a f*g"

What is the Difference between the Language Capacity of Humans and Other Animals? (Discreteness; Displacement; Productivity/creativity)

-Human language is qualitatively and quantitatively different from the communication systems of all other species of animals. Linguists have long tried to create a working definition that distinguishes it from non-human communication systems. Linguist Charles Hockett's solution was to create a hierarchical list of what he called design features, or descriptive characteristics, of the communication systems of all species, including that of humans. -Those features of human language not shared with any other species illustrate exactly how it differs from all other species. Only true human language also has the following characteristics: 1. Discreteness: -Every human language is made up of a small number of meaningless discrete sounds. That is, the sounds can be isolated from each other, for purposes of study by linguists, or to be represented in a writing system. 2. Duality of patterning (two levels of combination): -Before learning duality of patterning, we need to learn what these linguistic terms mean: phoneme, morpheme, and syntax. -A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech that has a meaning. Phonemes help to differentiate words from one another. Oxford Dictionary defines phoneme as "Any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another." For example, bat and mat are two different words because they have two different phonemes /b/ and /m/. In the English language, there are approximately 44 phonemes. -A morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit of a language. It is also the smallest meaningful unit in a language. This means that a morpheme cannot be divided into further meaningful units. A word can be a morpheme, but not all morphemes are words. Morphemes can be classified into two categories as unbound morphemes and bound morphemes. A morpheme may be a word that can stand alone, called an unbound morpheme (dog, happy, go). Or it could be any part of a word that carries meaning that cannot stand alone but must be attached to another morpheme, bound morphemes. They may be placed at the beginning of the root word, such as un- ("not," as in unhappy), or re- ("again," as in rearrange). Or, they may follow the root, as in -ly (makes an adjective into an adverb: quickly from quick), -s (for plural, possessive, or a verb ending) in English. -Rules of syntax tell the speaker how to put morphemes together grammatically and meaningfully. There are two main types of syntactic rules: rules that govern word order, and rules that direct the use of certain morphemes that perform a grammatical function. For example, the order of words in the English sentence "The cat chased the dog" cannot be changed around or its meaning would change: "The dog chased the cat" (something entirely different) or "Dog cat the chased the" (something meaningless). English relies on word order much more than many other languages do because it has so few morphemes that can do the same type of work. -Now let's learn about the duality of patterning, a unique feature of human language: --At the first level of patterning, these meaningless discrete sounds, called phonemes, are combined to form words and parts of words that carry meaning, or morphemes. --In the second level of patterning, morphemes are recombined to form an infinite possible number of longer messages such as phrases and sentences according to a set of rules called syntax. --It is this level of combination that is entirely lacking in the communication abilities of all other animals and makes human language an open system while all other animal systems are closed. 3. Displacement: -Displacement is the ability to communicate about things that are outside of the here and now made possible by the features of discreteness and duality of patterning. -While other species are limited to communicating about their immediate time and place, we can talk about any time in the future or past, about any place in the universe, or even fictional places. 4. Productivity/creativity: -Productivity is the ability to produce and understand messages that have never been expressed before or to express new ideas. -People do not speak according to prepared scripts, as if they were in a movie or a play. They create their utterances spontaneously, according to the rules of their language. -It also makes possible the creation of new words and even the ability to lie. -A number of great apes, including gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, have been taught human sign languages with all of the human design features. In each case, the apes have been able to communicate as humans do to an extent, but their linguistic abilities are reduced by the limited cognitive abilities that accompany their smaller brains.

gender performativity (Judith Butler)

-In Gender Trouble, published in 1990, Butler introduced the theory of "gender performativity." It is the idea that gender isn't something we are but something we continually do. -According to Butler, gender is not determined by biology. The way we sit, talk, walk, act is what makes gender. So, gender is performative. Without these performative expressions, there won't be any gender. -What is gender? A set of expectations that society defines for you. Society assumes that gender roles like these (women: love on the brain, dresses, wine, makeup, raising children; men: mechanics on the brain, car, sports, beer, working man) are a result of biology -Judith Butler says, "Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance." -Masculinity and femininity are not inherent -gender roles constructed by society (women: passive, nurturer, sensitive, etc.; men: aggressive, bread winner, confident, etc.) -When Butler says gender is performative, she doesn't mean that gender is a performance like acting on a stage or pretending to be someone else. -Because you constantly perform gender in your everyday life, gender appears to be part of who you are, what makes you you. It seems to be an integral part of our very subjectivity. -For the most part, you perform gender subconsciously-- without even thinking about it. Why? Because these performative expressions related to masculinity and femininity has become "second nature" to you. They have become an integral part of your identity. That is why we often mistake these cultural expressions of gender as being "natural"; we assume that they are innate. -gender performance is not universal -europe&us: chopping wood is masculine; other parts of world: chopping wood is genderless -expectations are not constant --Gender is not biological (that is sex, not gender). -- It is performative; the way we talk, walk, sit, dress, etc. is what makes gender gender. -- These performative expressions are culturally specific (meaning: they vary from culture to culture). -- They are also historically contingent (meaning: they change throughout history). -We know of women who prefer swords and sports, and men who prefer dresses and poetry. For Butler, gender is performative, we act it out every day in our mannerisms, our speech, and our thoughts, and when we act it out, we're not just putting on a show, we're consolidating and actively constructing these gender identities. Gender is not just an identity, it's a ritual.

Emergent masculinity (Marcia Inhorn)

-In her book The New Arab Man: Emergent Masculinities, Technologies, and Islam in the Middle East, the anthropologist Marcia Inhorn adds another -Middle Eastern Muslim men have been widely vilified as terrorists, religious zealots, and brutal oppressors of women. Inhorn challenges these stereotypes with the stories of ordinary Middle Eastern men as they struggle to overcome infertility and childlessness through assisted reproduction. -Marcia Inhorn shows how the new Arab man is self-consciously rethinking the hegemonic patriarchal masculinity of his forefathers and unseating received wisdoms -This is especially true in childless Middle Eastern marriages where, contrary to popular belief, infertility is more common among men than women. Inhorn captures the marital, moral, and material commitments of couples undergoing assisted reproduction, revealing how new technologies are transforming their lives and religious sensibilities. And she looks at the changing manhood of husbands who undertake transnational "egg quests" out of devotion to the infertile wives they love. -Hegemonic masculinity in the Arab world is often depicted in this way: a hegemonic men is often married to multiple wives; he avoids contraception and fathers numerous children; he values sons over daughters; he lives with or attached to their extended families. -Throughout her research, Inhorn found out that these hegemonic norms about masculinity are increasingly challenged by newer generations. New cultural norms about masculinity are emerging in the Arab world (That is why she calls it "emergent masculinity"). -Emergent masculinity in the Arab world involves: monogamous conjugal marriage; having a nuclear family; one or two children as the new ideal; normalization of male infertility (it used to be a taboo subject); willingness to seek new assisted reproductive technologies (again once a taboo); not agreeing with the norm that being a man means the ability to reproduce; desiring both male and female children. -In short, hegemonic masculinity is slowly giving way to emergent masculinity in the Arab world. Perhaps, these emergent norms related to manhood will one day become hegemonic.

Nature vs. nurture

-In recent years, both sides have capitulated to what seems like an obvious compromise: It's both. Our genes and our environment play leading roles in shaping who we are. This new field of study is known as epigenetics. -Lucky Lyle and troubled tim (identical twins put in different environments and lyle is successful and tim goes to jail) -Rat mama -Good rat mama=lots of licks (love) -when babies grow up they take their mom's behavior with them and passed it to the next generation. Could rats be genetically predisposed to produce a certain mom? -low lick babies were fostered by high lick moms and vice versa -high licking mom=high licking baby (regardless of genes) -tested brains -Newborn rat babies have clusters of molecules called methyl groups attached to these genes. These methyl groups silence the gene effectively switching it off. -The researchers found that while the methyl groups in low licking mothers were still attached, in the rats from high licking mothers, these methyl groups had disappeared. This was also true for the rats that had been adopted by high licking rat mothers, the care these rats received from their mothers actually physically altered their genetic expression. -we all have genes but the outside world can affect them

proxemics (intimate distance; personal distance; social distance; public distance; how proxemics vary by culture)

-It happens so naturally that most people never even think about it, but the amount of space that they maintain between each other is not random. It depends in large measure on where you're from and who you're talking to. Furthermore, these distances vary from culture to culture. -This whole "how far apart do we stand" business has a name — proxemics. It can be defined as how personal space is maintained as a function of one's culture. -The term was coined by Edward Hall, a cultural anthropologist, in 1966. Hall interviewed large numbers of people from all over the world to see whether there was any regularity to personal distance. -What Hall found, however, was a great deal of consistency about personal space. In fact, he even derived exact measurements for the size of the zones that surround an individual's body. 1) The closest of these zones is referred to as intimate distance, which includes the space from bodily contact, such as a hug, to the distance it would take to whisper to a confidant. 2) A second zone, extending out beyond intimate distance, is personal distance. This is the zone within which people interact with family members or good friends. 3) When it comes to interacting with acquaintances, we've now entered a third zone, moving outward from personal distance, called social distance. 4) Finally, there is public distance, which is the distance used in public speaking. How Proxemics Vary by Culture -You probably won't be surprised to learn that personal space varies from culture to culture. In Saudi Arabia, for example, if a stranger moves close to you to converse, you might find yourself unconsciously backing away. In the Middle East, social distance is closer than it is in the United States, so as you back up, your conversational partner may attempt to close the gap once again. It's easy to imagine an awkward dance down a sidewalk, with one party retreating and the other advancing as the conversation progresses. -Although you certainly don't measure the distance physically, you are calculating it mentally.

kinesics

-Kinesics is the term used to designate all forms of human body language, including gestures, body position and movement, facial expressions, and eye contact. -Although all humans can potentially perform these in the same way, different cultures may have different rules about how to use them. -For example, eye contact for Americans is highly valued as a way to show we are paying attention and as a means of showing respect. But for the Japanese, eye contact is usually inappropriate, especially between two people of different social statuses. The lower status person must look down and avoid eye contact to show respect for the higher status person. -Facial expressions can convey a host of messages, usually related to the person's attitude or emotional state. -Hand gestures may convey unconscious messages, or constitute deliberate messages that can replace or emphasize verbal ones.

Universals of Human Language

-Languages we do not speak or understand may sound like meaningless babble to us. But all the human languages that have ever been studied by linguists are amazingly similar. They all share a number of characteristics, which linguists call language universals. -Here is a list of some of the major universals: 1. All human cultures have a language and use it to communicate. 2. All human languages change over time-- a reflection of the fact that all cultures are also constantly changing. 3. All languages are systematic, rule driven, and equally complex overall, and equally capable of expressing any idea that the speaker wishes to convey. There are no primitive languages. 4. All languages are symbolic systems. 5. All languages have a basic word order of elements, like subject, verb, and object, with variations. 6. All languages have similar basic grammatical categories such as nouns and verbs. 7. Every spoken language is made up of discrete sounds that can be categorized as vowels or consonants. 8. The underlying structure of all languages is characterized by the feature duality of patterning, which permits any speaker to utter any message they need or wish to convey, and any speaker of the same language to understand the message.

Does a bigger male brain mean that men are smarter?

-Male brains with more androgens, like testosterone, are generally bigger. -You can't tell if a brain belongs to a male or female by just looking at a brain scan -Starting in the late 40s. So instead of looking at the anatomy of the brain or the volumes or the size of the brain, what really changes is the functionality of the brain. And so women's brains tend to show declines in brain energy levels around menopause -So if you give me a brain scan and you don't tell me who the scan belongs to, but I can see brain energy levels, let's say, and a person's, like, 45, 48, women are much more likely than men to have lower metabolic activity -men typically have the same brains throughout their lives but women's change through menopause, puberty, and pregnancy -· Our brains are different. They're not better or worse. They're just different. And they're not - these differences just about pink and blue or what kind of toys we like or what kind of jobs we we want to have, it's really - it's not just gender roles. It's also our health.

Medically constructing a sex binary--Suzanne Kessler (1990) "The Medical Construction of Gender: Case Management of Intersexed Infants."

-Most modern societies legally require a determination between male and female at birth. Since the 1960s, Western medicine has taken the extreme steps of attempting to "manage" intersexuality through surgery and hormonal treatments. -According to the 2000 American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on intersex surgery, "the birth of a child with ambiguous genitalia constitutes a social emergency" (American Academy of Pediatrics 2000, 138). -Most of these surgeries are performed before a child comes of age and can decide for themself. -But how do doctors decide whether the baby should be assigned as male or female? Based on what criteria? The article by Suzanne Kessler, uploaded below, addresses this question based on ethnographic research at hospitals and interviews with doctors. -Medical procedures aim to return intersex infants to the cultural norm for males and females, although about 90 percent of the surgeries make ambiguous male anatomy into female. Decisions are often based on the size of the penis: The smaller the phallus, the more likely the surgery will reassign the person as female. -Current attitudes toward the intersex condition are primarily influenced by 3 factors 1. Advancements in surgical techniques and endocrinology (female genitals can be constructed and look 100% the same as a natural one, penis enlargement) 2. In the contemporary US, influence of feminist movement has called into question the valuation of women according to strictly reproductive functions, and the presence or absence of functional gonads is no longer the only or the definitive criterion for gender assignment 3. Contemporary psychological theorists have begun to focus on "gender identity" (one's sense of oneself as belonging to the female or male category) as distinct from "gender role" (cultural expectations of one's behavior as 'appropriate' for a female or male). The relevance of this new gender identity theory for rethinking cases of ambiguous genitals is that gender must be assigned as early as possible in order for gender identity to develop successfully --As a result of these 3 factors, intersexuality is now considered a treatable condition of the genitals, one that needs to be resolved expeditiously -They think it is important to assign a gender young so that they will grow into it without confusion -Apparently, penis size and the state of penis tissue (phallus) is very important to being a man and it can determine whether doctors do corrective surgeries/treatments to assign them to be male or female -There are 4 key aspects to this "normalizing" process. 1. Physicians teach parents normal fetal development and explain that all fetuses have the potential to be a male or female. 2. Physicians stress the normalcy of the infant in other aspects. For example, the geneticist tells parents, "The baby is healthy, but there was a problem in the way the baby was developing." This language not only eases the blow to parents but also redirects their attention. Terms like "hermaphrodite" or "abnormal" are not used. 3. Physicians (at least initially) imply that it is not the gender of the child that is ambiguous but the genitals. They talk about "undeveloped," "maldeveloped," or "unfinished organs. Money and his colleagues report a case in which parents were advised to tell their friends that the reason their infant's gender was re-announced from male to female is that "the baby was... 'closed up down there'... when the closed skin was divided, the female organs were revealed, and the baby discovered to be in fact, a girl." It was mistakenly assumed to be a male at first because "there was an excess of skin on the clitoris" 4. Physicians tell parents that social factors are more important in gender development than biological ones, even though they are searching for biological causes. In essence, the physicians teach the parents Money and Ehrhardt's theory of gender development. In doing so, they shift the emphasis from the discovery of biological factors that are a sign of the "real" gender to providing the appropriate social conditions to produce the "real" gender. What remains unsaid is the apparent contradiction in the notion that a "real" or "natural" gender can be, or needs to be, produced artificially. The physician/parent discussions make it clear to family members that gender is not a biological given (even though, of course, their own procedures for diagnosis assume that it is), and that gender is fluid. The psychoendocrinologist paraphrased an explanation to parents thus: "It will depend, ultimately, on how everybody treats your child and how your child is looking as a person... I can with confidence tell them that generally gender [identity] clearly agrees with the assignment." -The message in these examples is that the trouble lies in the doctor's ability to determine the gender, not in the baby's gender per se. -The implication of these comments is that gender identity (of all children, not just those born with ambiguous genitals) is determined primarily by social factors, that the parents and community always construct the child's gender. In the case of intersexed infants, the physicians merely provide the right genitals to go along with the socialization -Physicians believe they made the correct decision of construction of genitalia if their "parts" look and function normally in the patient's adulthood -They believe anatomy is a part of happiness and that someone with breasts and no vagina opening will no doubt want corrective surgery -Money states, "The primary deficit [of not having a sufficient penis]—and destroyer of morale—lies in being unable to satisfy their partner." Another team of clinicians reveals their phallocentrism, arguing that the most serious mistake in gender assignment is to create "an individual unable to engage in genital [heterosexual] sex." -The easiest route to take is to raise the child as female -Apparently, urologists like to make boys -The intersex individuals' genitalia are shown to family and friends to give a sense of normalcy -The intersex individuals are provided with efforts to make them feel normal -"Some of the same issues that arise in assigning gender recur some years later when, at adolescence, the child may be referred to a physician for counseling. The physician then tells the adolescent many of the same things his or her parents had been told years before, with the same language. Terms like "abnormal," "disorder," "disease," and "hermaphrodism" are avoided; the condition is normalized, and the child's gender is treated as unproblematic. One clinician explains to his patients that sex organs are different in appearance for each person, not just those who are intersexed.

hand gestures

-Most non-verbal behaviors are unconsciously performed and not noticed unless someone violates the cultural standards for them. In fact, a deliberate violation itself can convey meaning. -Other non-verbal behaviors are done consciously like the U.S. gestures that indicate approval, such as thumbs up, or making a circle with your thumb and forefinger—"OK." Other examples are waving at someone or putting a forefinger to your lips to quiet another person. -Many of these deliberate gestures have different meanings (or no meaning at all) in other cultures. For example, the gestures of approval in U.S. culture mentioned above may be obscene or negative gestures in another culture. -Many hand gestures in the US are pretty universal. -Like the "thumbs up," which is generally accepted to mean good or yes. But it's pretty offensive in Iran, Afghanistan, and Greece where it's the equivalent of saying "f*ck you." -The "devil horns" have been a hard rock standard for decades. In Italy, you're telling someone their spouse is unfaithful. -The "peace sign" means just that in the US. In the UK and Australia, it can mean "up yours" (it's okay to do it with your palm facing out) o This may mean "okay" in English-speaking countries. It's considered rude in Brazil where Richard Nixon was booed for using it. The gesture can be translated to mean money in Japan. In France, it can mean zero or worthless. -Don't cross your fingers for luck in Vietnam, it's considered rude and obscene. So, if you have a gesture you do fairly often, make sure you know what it means before traveling.

language continuum

-Over thousands of years of adaptation, growth, and change, human language developed more along the lines of a language continuum rather than into distinct languages. -In a language continuum, people who live near one another speak in a way that is mutually intelligible. -The farther one travels, the more the language varies, but it tends to be at least partially mutually intelligible to those living nearby—if not 100 percent, then substantially. -Although disrupted to some extent over centuries by migration and the strengthening of nation- states, language continuums still exist in many parts of the world. For instance, a strong language continuum has existed between Italy and France. If you were to walk from village to village beginning at the southern tip of Italy, travel north-ward, and then head northwest into France, you would find that people at either end of the journey would not be able to communicate with one another—their languages would be mutually unintelligible. But along the journey, the local residents of each village you pass through would be able to understand their neighbors in the nearby villages. Changes would be evident from location to location, but communication would be mutually intelligible.

Paralanguage

-Paralanguage refers to those characteristics of speech beyond the actual words spoken. These include the features that are inherent to all speech: pitch, loudness, and tempo or duration of the sounds. -Varying pitch can convey any number of messages: a question, sarcasm, defiance, surprise, confidence or lack of it, impatience, and many other often subtle connotations. -An utterance that is shouted at close range usually conveys an emotional element, such as anger or urgency. -A word or syllable that is held for an undue amount of time can intensify the impact of that word. For example, compare "It's beautiful" versus "It's beauuuuu-tiful!" Often the latter type of expression is further emphasized by extra loudness of the syllable, and perhaps higher pitch. All can serve to make a part of the utterance more important. Other paralinguistic features that often accompany speech might be a chuckle, a sigh or sob, deliberate throat clearing, and many other non-verbal sounds like "hm," "oh," "ah," and "um."

Gender Stereotypes That Used To Be The Opposite

-Pink was for boys and blue was for girls and now pink is for girls and blue is for boys --A 1918 editorial decided pink was a more decided and stronger color, more suitable for the boy while blue, which is more delicate and daintier is for the girl -High heels were originally for men, they were developed for Persian warriors and Europeans saw them and wanted them too -Computer programming was once considered women's work -Cheerleading started out at a boy's club, because it was too "masculine" for girls -Crying was considered manly for ages (It was seen as a sign of honesty, integrity, strength)

Are our behaviors, skills, and jobs related to biological sex?

-Sex differences are few and small --· Hyde, J.S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592. (Men are physically stronger, more physically aggressive, masturbate more, and are more positive on casual sex (but besides that with other attitudes, abilities or actions, 78% of differences are insignificant)) -Boys aren't better at math than girls -Male success heavily influenced by cultural biases --· Countries that lack gender equity in school enrollment (have gender bias against women) --Stereotypes associating science with males -There are sex differences in interests (but they're not biologically determined) A lot of these differences that come to jobs and skill that enable us to do jobs, there is no difference in relation to biology. It is not our hormones that dictate us to do one profession or not. Men do not do computer programming, be a mechanic, or technical engineer more than women because they are cognitively better in these skills, these are all related to cultural norms and expectations. Sex is related to biology, but everything else is related to something else (gender)

Kinsey report

-The Kinsey Reports are two scholarly books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male[1] (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female[2] (1953), written by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and (for Sexual Behavior in the Human Female) Paul Gebhard and published by W.B. Saunders. The two best-selling books were immediately controversial, both within the scientific community and the general public, because they challenged conventional beliefs about sexuality and discussed subjects that had previously been taboo. -Sexology. A scientific study of sexuality, called sexology, began to emerge in Europe and the US in the late 19th c. These studies played a central role in the establishment of heterosexuality as the dominant erotic ideal and in the gradual process of dividing the population into distinct heterosexual and homosexual groups. 20th c. studies led by Alfred Kinsey, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, and Shere Hite used interviews, questionnaires, observation, and participation to explore the sexual lives of thousands of primarily white US residents. Their studies produced surprising results. Kinsey and later sexologists found that human sexuality did not fit into simplistic categories. Same-gendered attraction, fantasies, and experiences were much more common than previously thought. Furthermore, sexual behaviors could shift over the course of a lifetime, spanning both heterosexual and homosexual activity. Rather than finding a sharp dichotomy between heterosexuality and homosexuality, research revealed diversity, flexibility, and fluidity, along a continuum of sexual behavior.

Mexican machismo

-Tough guys --We hear this term machismo; Mexican men are macho. When we say that term and apply that overgeneralization, what comes to our minds when we utter that stereotype is that macho men are often tough guys. They don't show emotions a lot, what they do is hide their emotions and put on that tough façade. Machismo necessitates that, machismo is the noun used to refer to people who are macho. -sexist/misogynist -self-centered -violence -infidelity -The Meanings of Macho (2007) by Matthew Gutmann --machismo stereotypes are not reality -Mexican macho sometimes helps to: --Raise his children --Change diapers --Cook for his wife and children --Wash dishes, etc. -They constantly change. What it meant to be macho one day might not be the same another day. What it means to be a man among one particular group may not be the same in another particular group even in the same society. -When you ask a certain person what it means to be a man to them, they might give conflicting answers -This is why when we study gender roles, we should not resort to these over-generalizations. We should instead see how these gender identities and roles are constantly influx and how they are contested by members of a culture.

Enculturation of gender norms and roles

-We become gendered as a result of enculturation. The gradual acquisition of the characteristics and norms of a culture by a person. Starting as early as infancy, gender is taught, encouraged, and enforced by people around us such as parents and other family members, peers, religious leaders, politicians, etc. -Judith Butler thinks that gender is 'performative'—that rather it being part of our nature, we act it out. -Butler believes our definitions of masculinity and femininity are constructed rather than inherent from within us -But, more controversially, Butler adds that our understanding of biological differences between men and women is socially constructed too. This is an important point, Butler thought that the perceived obviousness of sex as a natural biological fact, facilitated the assignment of values, judgements, and beliefs regarding how men and women ought to behave—and who they should desire. --Two twins are brought home (b&g). B is dressed in blue, g in pink. B is seen kicking legs making fists and is called a 'fighter' while g does the same thing without the same comments. B gets clothes with spaceships & tractors, g gets clothes with butterflies and unicorns. Marriage is suggested heterosexually. They are a week old and already categorized on biological sex. -Butler thinks they are not 'natural' differences even though they seem to be. -For the most part, these gender norms are imposed by others implicitly. Because these gender norms are so internalized by members of a society, they don't even realize that they are encouraging, imposing, or policing other people's gender identity. -(video) adults offer the "girl" dolls and soft toys, not the toys that teach spatial awareness or physical confidence. Men hugely dominate careers prizing maths, spatial awareness, and physical confidence. Are boys born "better" at these? Is it nature or is it nurture? When children play spatial awareness games frequently their brains change physically within just 3 months. The adults gave "boy children" more "boy toys". The biases were shown by both male and female volunteers. -A lot of these adults are not even aware that they are perpetuating gender stereotypes. They are simply following the cultural script about gender without even thinking about it. Why? Because they have internalized these cultural norms, values, and expectations. These have become part of who they are and how they see the world around them.

the mati of Suriname

-Wekker's study focuses on mati—women who form intimate spiritual, emotional, and sexual relationships with other women. Wekker estimates that three out of four working-class black women in Paramaribo engage in "mati work" at some point in their lives, establishing relationships of mutual support, obligation, and responsibility with other women—sometimes living in the same household, sometimes separately, and often sharing in child rearing. In contrast to Western notions of fixed, "either/or" sexual identities, mati engage in sexual relationships with both women and men—sometimes simultaneously, sometimes consecutively. Their relationships with men may center on having children or receiving economic support, but frequently mati choose a "visiting" relationship rather than marriage in order to maintain their independence. -Wekker also writes about the transfer of mati work to the Netherlands. In recent decades, young Surinamese women have emigrated from the former colony to its former colonizer in search of economic opportunities. There mati work has often developed in relationships between young immigrants and older black women of Surinamese parentage who have established Dutch citizenship. Wekker describes these relationships as often fraught with complicated power dynamics involving differential age, class, and citizenship status. Yet she notes that this mati work does not parallel European ideas of lesbianism. -Wekker argues that Western scholarship mistakenly links all sexual acts between individuals of the same gender to a notion of "homosexual identity"—a permanent stable, fixed sexual core or essence, whether inborn or learned, that is counterposed to an equally fixed and opposite heterosexual identity. In the Western framework, a person is either/or. The mati or Paramaribo, Wekker argues, approach their sexual choices very differently, regarding sexuality as flexible behavior rather than fixed identity. Their behavior is dynamic, malleable, and inclusive—both/and—rather exclusive.

Mignon Moore

-o Mignon Moore's study Invisible Families (2011) explores the impact of the intersection of race and sexuality on the identities, relationships, and families of black gay women in the US. Race has framed black women's political, economic, and religious identities. While many middle-class white lesbian couples experience sexuality as the primary framework shaping their identity, many in the black lesbian community (including African American, Afro-Caribbean, and African immigrant women) find that race—perhaps as much as, if not more than, sexuality—is the primary framework that shaped their identity. -Moore notes that before the 1980s, gay sexuality in racial minority communities was rarely articulated in public settings, and infrequently it was recognized as a component of the communities' larger experiences of discrimination/struggle. Openly gay sexuality was perceived to flout notions of "respectability"—virtue, modesty, discipline, responsibility—that had developed within the black middle class and that its leadership promoted as important tools to combat racist stereotypes in the workplace, political arena, and family life. Moore points to a strong reluctance during that period by gay blacks to challenge community expectations about respectability by creating families together.

gender ideology

A set of cultural ideas, usually stereotypical, about the essential character of different genders -Essentially women are seen in a particular way, it's part of their nature, and men are seen in a particular way just because of their biology and that perpetuates a lot of gender stereotypes -Perpetuated by scientific explanations --Employee said it was no use to do all this diversity training and to give more opportunities to women because women by their very nature not good at computer programming and not good at being competitive in the workplace --It leads to these kinds of consequences, even people that are working at Google (one of the top companies in the world) thinks like this because of that gender ideology that basically explains everything about gender in relation to nature and in relation to biology, but we have seen throughout this course that that's not the case, a lot of our gender behavior is social and cultural -"boys will be boys" --predators -"that's just a girl thing" --gossip -Gender ideology is reflected in: --day-to-day conversations --personal relationships --work patterns --pay packages --promotions --political activities -If we accept that this is natural then there is no need to change it, "that's the way the world has always been". But that's not the case, it's not our biology. It is culture, it is all a result of social, cultural arrangements as well as political issues such as laws, a lot of governments perpetuate these stereotypes, sometimes even written into law -Not everyone accepts it as inevitable: --women's suffrage --feminist movement --LGBT movement --International women's day protests aren't the only way out -in a lot of societies women would be risking their lives if they resisted -female agency: the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices --western notion of agency: within constraints of power you act individually & freely Lila Abu-Lughod, wrote the book titled Veiled Sentiments -Bedoin women -arab nomadic culture -gender segregated culture -male-dominated -Lila says Western culture romanticizes resistance & protesting -discrete forms of agency : secrets and silences, hiding information from men, control or resist arranged marriages Agency comes in many ways: jokes, songs, poems, secrets and silences, hiding information from men, controlling or resisting arranged marriages, o mother having a say in who she wants her daughter to be married to against the wishes of other men in the family

gender stereotypes

A stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people -Usually based on sweeping generalizations and these kinds of stereotypes can be applied to different people coming from different racial backgrounds and ethnicities but stereotypes can also be applied to gender A gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about: -Attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are assumed to be possessed by, or performed by, women and men --Sweeping generalizations or preconceived notions about the attributes, characteristics, or the roles Harmful stereotypes can be hostile/negative -E.g., women are irrational; men are violent Or seemingly benign (not necessarily harmful) -E.g., women are nurturing (assuming common role of motherhood); boys will be boys (sex) -These kind of gender stereotypes are unfortunately are also applied to other cultures, not only do we make stereotypes about humanity at large and men and women in the overall human population, but we also apply gender stereotypes to a particular group of people.

how depictions of reproduction in biology textbooks reflect cultural stereotypes about gender—Emily Martin's research

According to Emily Martin's survey, how are the egg and the sperm depicted in college biology textbooks? -Take the egg and the sperm. It is remarkable how "femininely" the egg behaves and how "masculinely" the sperm.' The egg is seen as large and passive. It does not move or journey, but passively "is transported," "is swept,"' or even "drifts"' along the fallopian tube. In utter contrast, sperm are small, "streamlined," and invariably active. They "deliver" their genes to the egg, "activate the developmental program of the egg," and have a "velocity" that is often remarked upon. Their tails are "strong" and efficiently powered. Together with the forces of ejaculation, they can "propel the semen into the deepest recesses of the vagina." For this they need "energy," "fuel," so that with a "whiplashlike motion and strong lurches" they can "burrow through the egg coat" and "penetrate" it. Why does Emily Martin call these biology textbook descriptions "the fairy tale of the egg and sperm"? -The egg is said to have a "corona," a crown, and to be accompanied by "attendant cells." It is holy, set apart and above, the queen to the sperm's king. The egg is also passive, which means it must depend on sperm for rescue. Gerald Schatten and Helen Schatten liken the egg's role to that of Sleeping Beauty: "a dormant bride awaiting her mate's magic kiss, which instills the spirit that brings her to life." Sperm, by contrast, have a "mission," which is to "move through the female genital tract in quest of the ovum." One popular account has it that the sperm carry out a "perilous journey" into the "warm darkness," where some fall away "exhausted." "Survivors" "assault" the egg, the successful candidates "surrounding the prize." Part of the urgency of this journey, in more scientific terms, is that "once released from the supportive environment of the ovary, an egg will die within hours unless rescued by a sperm." The wording stresses the fragility and dependency of the egg, even though the same text acknowledges elsewhere that sperm also live for only a few hours. -Emily Martin (1991) surveyed biology textbooks --Cultural anthropologist trained in gender and combines biological and cultural anthropology --Martin surveyed especially high school biology textbooks to see how human reproduction is depicted in these textbooks and found out that a lot of the time, women are seen as passive whereas men are seen as active --Her finding is that a lot of our cultural biases seep into these so-called scientific textbooks --She surveyed a lot of biology textbooks -Sperm: --"aggressively" searching for the egg in a "treacherous journey" or "adventure" -Words taken from biology textbooks, Martin's findings in them -Kind of like a knight in shining armor --Propelled by strongly beating tails --Being in "competition" with fellow ejaculates -Some sort of competitive sport almost --"attacking" and "penetrating" the protective barriers of the egg ---Egg is constantly shutting itself for reproduction to take place, almost the egg does not want this to happen, as if the sperm is attacking a castle or something like that -"overcoming obstacles," one sperm becomes "the victor" -"life-generating powers" of the sperm are "amazing" and "remarkable" Egg: -Ova already present at birth -Ovaries become "old" and "worn out" from ripening eggs every month -Menstruation is depicted as "debris" of the uterine lining --"ceasing," "dying," "losing," "denuding," "expelling" -Negative adjectives, --unwanted -The egg is "passive," "waiting," and "receiving" New findings refute this "fairy tale" -Says it is like a fairy tale because it is kind of like the sperm is the knight in shining armor and the egg is often depicted as the damsel in distress Active sperm vs. passive egg: myth! Mutually active partners -Both take an active role in reproduction Biology textbooks' descriptions of reproduction is based on cultural assumptions about gender roles -Culturally we always assume men to be active, adventurous, fighting, competitive and then we see women as passive and women not wanting sex so supposedly egg also doesn't want reproduction -That kind of a fairy tale is more of a cultural thing more than a biological fact. It is not human nature it is how scientists are so blinded by their cultural biases and assumptions that they choose to depict an objective scientific phenomenon in this particular way.

Anne Fausto-Sterling

Biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling describes the middle ground between these two absolute categories. This middle ground encompasses a diversity of physical expressions along the continuum between male and female. 1) Some individuals may be born with one testis and one ovary. 2) Others may be born with female genitalia, but they may have testes rather than ovaries. 3) Some others may be born with male genitalia, but they may have ovaries rather than testes. -A review of medical data from 1955 to 2000 suggests that "approximately 1.7% of all live births do not conform to [the] ideal of absolute sex chromosome, gonadal, genital and hormonal dimorphism" (Blackless et al. 2000, 151). That percentage is comparable to the number of babies born with red hair. Using these statistics, we may estimate that millions of people are born with some combination of male and female genitalia, gonads, and chromosomes. -Considering that there is a considerable number of intersex humans who do not fit into the binary understanding of sex (almost 2 in every 100 people), how many sexes are there? Biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling claims that there are 5 sexes among humans. In addition to those born as male and female, there are 3 types of intersexuality: 1) those born with one testis and one ovary, 2) those born with female genitalia but have testes rather than ovaries 3) those born with male genitalia but may gave ovaries rather than testes.

Gender as a social construct

Gender is not determined by biology. Rather, it is a cultural construct. -Why? Because it is based on cultural norms, values, and expectations about the habits, attitudes, behaviors, the bodily comportment of people of different sexes. Think about these gendered behaviors: -How men vs. women talk -How men vs. women walk -What kind of hairstyle different sexes have -What kinds of clothes men vs. women wear · There are minor biological aspects that determine these differences. But for the most part many of these behaviors are not based on biological differences. For example, women on average have a higher pitch of voice than man. That part is biological. But how men vs. women talk in social and business settings, what kinds of topics they tend to talk about, the manner in which they interact with others ... these are all based on cultural norms, values, and expectations. -In that sense, gender is a social/cultural construct. Our society or our cultural group determines these gendered behaviors, attitudes, and habits.

the "gay gene"

Genetic science, despite remarkable developments that include the ability to map the human genome (the whole human genetic structure), still has limitations as a predictor of individual human behavior, including sexual behavior. Yes, the frequency of certain behaviors in the human population may suggest an underlying biological component. But it is extremely difficult to directly trace links between specific genes and specific behaviors. So, for instance geneticists have not been able to identify a "straight" gene or a "gay" gene or any cluster of genes that determines sexual orientation.

Is sex binary? Are there more than 2 sexes?

Historically, biological science has tended to create distinct definitions of male and female anatomy. Three primary factors have generally been considered in determining biological sex: (1) genitalia, (2) gonads (testes and ovaries, which produce different hormones), and (3) chromosome patterns (women have two X chromosomes; men have one X and one Y). -Within this context, human males and females are said to display sexual dimorphism. That is, they differ physically in: 1) primary sex characteristics--i.e. genitalia, gonads, and chromosome patterns. 2) secondary sex characteristics -- such as breast size, hair distribution, and pitch of voice. Men and women on average also differ in weight, height, and strength. -Roughly speaking, sex can be considered in terms of two categories: genotypic sex and phenotypic sex 1) Genotypic sex refers specifically to an individual's two sex chromosomes. Most people have either two X chromosomes (genotypic female) or an X and a Y chromosome (genotypic male). 2) Phenotypic sex refers to an individual's sex as determined by their internal and external genitalia, expression of secondary sex characteristics, and behavior. -During fetal development , the XX genotype often leads to a person with ovaries, oviducts, uterus, cervix, clitoris, labia, and vagina—i.e., a phenotypic female. By the same token, the XY genotype leads to a person with testicles, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, penis, and scrotum—a phenotypic male. -BUT NOT ALWAYS. Primary characteristics of biological sex do not always fit neatly into these two categories of male and female. There is variation in biological sex.

gender dysphoria

Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, the psychological distress a person feels due to a mismatch between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth.

Nancy Scheper-Hughes (1989), "Death without Weeping: Has Poverty Ravaged Mother Love in the Shanty Towns of Brazil?" (knowing the main idea is sufficient)

Nancy Scheper Hughes wrote the article, "Death Without Weeping" to describe what the women of the Northwest Brazilian shantytown go through when they lose an infant. In this town child/infant mortality is so common that the women do not give her children a name until after at least a year of being born. Roughly one million children under the age of five die within a year. The article states that the average woman will experience at least 10 births, 4 child deaths, and 2 stillborns. 70% of the child deaths occur in the first six months after birth, and 82% occur by the time the child turns one year old. Also, almost half of the children'sdeathare under the age of five. If a child surpasses an early death, the average life expectancy...show more content...Brazil is a dominant Catholic church so birth control, conceptions, and abortions are discouraged. Religion plays a role in saying that, if a child dies, it's also discouraged to cry because it is said that a Saint has claimed the child and that the death of the child should be seen as a celebration because the child has receive "good fortune". Hughes had the ability to be inside the ShantyTown to the point that she got the sense of what she called "selective neglect". After experiencing the loss of children, women would not allow themselves to become attached to and care for their new children, which resulted in the women having the mindset that the death of a child is nothing, because they are always able to have another child later.

gender vs. sex

Sex -biological (observable differences) --genitalia (penis;vagina), gonads (testes; ovaries), hormones (testosterone; estrogen), chromosome patterns (xx;xy) Gender -refers to the social and cultural roles of each sex within a given society, as well the cultural norms, values, and expectations regarding how each sex should behave, sit, walk, dress, talk, etc. -A person's gender is the complex interrelationship between three dimensions: body, identity, social

Are Gender Roles Rooted in Human Biology and Human Evolution?

THE EGG AND THE SPERM -Some people claim that men tend to be more active, adventurous, aggressive, and competitive (just like their sperm are), and they back this up with scientific explanations related to the reproductive differences between men and women. -Watch the following documentary clip. While watching pay attention to how the sperm is depicted in this documentary. How about the egg? What kind of adjectives and descriptions is being used to describe the sperm vs. the egg? --they almost have a life of their own, they have one aim: to deliver a genetic pay-load from the male to the female through a quite complex series of environments --Sperm move all over the place, and they like certain things and don't like certain things. They're very smart little creatures in a lot of ways and they're constantly in motion --propels the sperm's mighty tail through the female body --produce only one egg per month --the battle that sperm have in order to find a fertilize an egg is immense, everything is working against sperm, they're not really given a helping hand by the female reproductive tract --landing in Emily's vagina is like D Day, their first objective was, under nonstop attack from the female immune system --dark treacherous maze of uncharted tunnels

historical linguistics

The study of how languages change is known as historical linguistics. By analyzing vocabulary and linguistic patterns, historical linguists trace the connections between languages and identify their origins.

sexual orientation of transgender people

-Being transgender is independent of sexual orientation. Transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, or may decline to label their sexual orientation.

Is sex/gender binary in other cultures?

-Cross-cultural studies show that not every culture fixes sex and gender in two distinct categories. Many cultures allow room for diversity. -5 sex/gender system in Indonesia --The Bugis are the largest ethnic group in South Sulawesi in Indonesia, numbering around three million people. Most Bugis are Muslim, but there are many pre-Islamic rituals that continue to be honored in Bugis culture, which include distinct views of gender and sexuality --Their language offers five terms referencing various combinations of sex, gender and sexuality: 1) makkunrai ("female women") -- similar to cisgender women 2) oroani ("male men") -- similar to cisgender men 3) calalai ("female men") -- similar to trans men 4) calabai ("male women") -- similar to trans women 5) bissu ("transgender priests") -- similar to androgynous or intersex Muxes in Mexico -In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, a muxe (also spelled muxhe) is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; they may be seen as a third gender. -muxe "are not referred to as 'homosexuals' but constitute a separate category based on gender attributes. People perceive them as having the physical bodies of men but different aesthetic, work, and social skills from most men. They may have some attributes of women or combine those of men and women." If they do choose men as sexual partners, neither men are necessarily considered homosexual. The muxe "may do certain kinds of women's work such as embroidery or decorating home altars, but others do the male work of making jewelry." -Muxe may be vestidas ("dressed", i.e. wearing female clothes) or pintadas ("painted", i.e. wearing male clothes and make-up). The muxes existed before Spanish colonization. Yet, the phenomenon of muxe dressing as women is fairly recent, beginning in the 1950s and gaining popularity until nearly all of the younger generation of muxe today are vestidas. -Within contemporary Zapotec culture, reports vary as to their social status. Muxe in village communities may not be disparaged and highly respected, while in larger, more Westernized towns they may face some discrimination, especially from men, due to attitudes introduced by Catholicism. -Muxe generally belong to the poorer classes of society. Muxe have traditionally been considered good luck. Because of that, some muxe have white-collar jobs or are involved in politics. Two spirits in Native North American Cultures -Traditionally, Native American two spirit people were male, female, and sometimes intersex individuals who combined activities of both men and women with traits unique to their status as two spirit people. In most tribes, they were considered neither men nor women; they occupied a distinct, alternative gender status. In tribes where two spirit males and females were referred to with the same term, this status amounted to a third gender. In other cases, two spirit females were referred to with a distinct term and, therefore, constituted a fourth gender. -Although there were important variations in two spirit roles across North America, they shared some common traits: --specialized work roles --gender variation --spiritual sanction --same-sex relations -The disruptions caused by conquest and disease, together with the efforts of missionaries, government agents, boarding schools, and white settlers resulted in the loss of many traditions in Native communities. Two spirit roles, in particular, were singled out for condemnation, interference, and many times violence. As a result, two spirit traditions and practices went underground or disappeared in many tribes. Faʻafafine in Samoa - Faʻafafine identify themselves as having a third-gender or non-binary role in Samoa and American Samoa. Faʻafafine are assigned male at birth, and explicitly embody both masculine and feminine gender traits in a way unique to Polynesia. Their behavior typically ranges from extravagantly feminine to conventionally masculine. -In Samoa, gender identity is largely based on a person's role in the family and if one family has numerous sons and no daughters, it's not uncommon to raise one of the boys as a girl. Some Polynesian elders believe there are boys born with the "Fa'afafine spirit," while others say it can be nurtured.

India's Third Gender Rises Again

-Even though India's dominant system for mapping sex and gender strongly emphasizes two opposite but complementary roles (male and female), Indian culture also recognizes many alternative constructions. -Hindu religion acknowledges these variations in myth, art, and ritual. Hindu myths feature androgynous and intersex figures, and Hindu art depicts a blending of sexes and genders, including males with wombs, breasts, or pregnant bellies. In terms of Hindu ritual, the discussion below explores the role of one alternative group, known as hijras, in expressing gender diversity in India. -Hijras are religious followers of the Hindu Mother Goddess, Bahuchara Mata, who is often depicted and described as transgender. (The term transgender refers to individuals whose gender identities or performances do not fit with cultural norms related to their assigned sex at birth.) -Most hijras are born as men, though some may be intersex. In Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (1998), Serena Nanda has analyzed these individuals and their role in demonstrating gender diversity. -Through ritual initiation and, for some, extensive ritual surgery to remove penis and testicles (an operation now outlawed in India), hijras become an alter- native sex and gender. Culturally they are viewed as neither man nor woman, although they tend to adopt many characteristics of the woman's role. They dress, walk, and talk like women and may have sex with men. -Because of their transgression of cultural and religious boundaries, they are at once both feared and revered. Many live in hijra religious communities on the margins of Hindu society. Hijras often face extreme discrimination in employment, housing, health, and education. Many support themselves through begging, ritual performances, and sex work. Violence against them is not uncommon, particularly against hijra sex workers. -At the same time, hijras are revered as auspicious and powerful ritual figures. They perform at weddings and at birth celebrations—particularly at the birth of a son. Not only do they bless the child and family, but they also entertain the celebrants and guests with burlesque and sexually suggestive songs, dance, and comedy. Their life in the middle ground between strong cultural norms of male and female contributes to their ritual power (Nanda 1998). -One of the main differences between trans and hijra identities is that trans people have the freedom to self-identify as trans. To identify as hijra, a person must be initiated through a lengthy adoption process based on hijra customs that are still not recognized by Indian law. The general trans population in India does not adhere to such an internal social system, but subsequently, they have a less tight-knit community than hijras. Also, conventionally, trans men are not a part of the hijra community. -In 2014, India's Supreme Court officially recognized the third gender. The decision means the government must provide equal opportunities and legal and constitutional protection to trans people. The ruling was a result of years of effort by the LGBTQ community—including Tripathi, who was a co-petitioner in the lawsuit. To her, the ruling meant she could finally consider herself Indian because her country had once again recognized the third gender identity. Soon after, she embraced Hinduism and started the Kinnar Akhada, the first Hindu monastic order of hijras.

gender stratification; why is there gender inequality? (supposed universality of male dominance vs. female submission—the lecture on Gender and Power)

-Gender studies emerged in anthropology in the 1970s due to the influence of feminism. These early anthropologists of gender were troubled by the seeming universality of gender inequality prevalent throughout the world. They were wondering: Is gender inequality universal? Are males universally the dominant gender? -In searching for an explanation for what appeared to be women's universally low status, some scholars speculated that these patterns were rooted in the human evolutionary past, especially our hunter-gatherer ancestors—a proposition we will challenge in this week's lectures. -Others suggested that they might derive from men's superior physical strength: since men are stronger physically, they also dominate other spheres of life such as economy, politics, religion, education, etc. (See Chodorow 1974). -Gender inequality is a global issue -Are males universally the dominant gender? -Feminist anthropology in 1970s: 2nd wave of feminism, women protested in the streets against their injustices (in political, social, cultural realms; reproductive rights), before 2nd wave bodies were seen as property to husbands and feminist movement protested women should have bodily autonomy, no means no, their choices should be protected (no children, no sex, etc.). They wondered if this inequality was global and if men were globally seen as dominant gender. -Michelle Rosaldo (1974) -Women: private sphere; men: public sphere -They claimed it to be universal and that women are always associated with their roles as wives and mothers in the domestic sphere and men are universally the dominant gender and they have a privileged position in regulating and taking part in religious, political, and economic leadership roles and activities Annette Weiner (1976) revisited Malinowski's (1922) research on the Trobriand Islands -Malinowski failed to recognize women engaged in an elaborate economic activity (w Kula ring), they didn't do the exchange themselves but produced the trinkets and ornaments -Malinowski wasn't a women hater, he was just not aware and only had certain access -This notion of men, the economy is the sole domain of men, the public sphere, the sphere of the economy/economic politics is only the realm of men, according to Weiner, is completely inaccurate. Even in tribal, non-modern societies, women actually have an incredible role in these domains as well, they don't just raise the children and cook, they have important roles in the economy, politics, religious spheres, and others. Susan Rogers -Wrote an article called the myths of male dominance. In this article, she explores her ethnographic research done among a peasant society in France (today we think of France as incredibly developed in terms of gender relations, but it wasn't the case always and especially in rural societies) -Male dominance = a myth -Peasant men do not have power in the public sphere as we assume them to --no influence for price, tax, social security --family farms mostly ran by women while men work in factories --men have little power in public sphere, political power is in control --High degree of mutual interdependence (between men and women in this particular society) --Women have substantial power in the domestic sphere (make household decisions) --this doesn't mean that women challenge men's authority but they pretend their husbands have power -The whole idea of the notion of male dominance is a myth (it's not fake) to which people ascribe to but when it comes to the messy everyday lives of societies, they can circumvent that and go around that in cunning ways -Gender inequality is a global phenomenon -Are men the dominant gender? --Better-paid --Positions of power --More freedom -Yes, but it is symbolic -Women have immensely contributed to economy, politics, religion, and cultural production -Their contribution not recognized -Gendered division of labor and -Uniformly separate spheres of activity (men: participate in public sphere by engaging in the workforce, by controlling the economy, and taking an active part in politics; women: roles in domestic sphere, only responsible for household chores and raising children) --Historically inaccurate or overly simplistic

language taxonomies

-Historical linguists have placed most of the languages of the world into language taxonomies, groups of languages classified together based on words that have the same or similar meanings. Language taxonomies create something like a family tree of languages. -For example, words in the Romance family of languages, called sister languages, show great similarities to each other because they have all derived from the same "mother" language, Latin (the language of Rome). In turn, Latin is considered a "sister" language to Sanskrit (once spoken in India and now the mother language of many of India's modern languages, and still the language of the Hindu religion) and classical Greek. Their "mother" language is called "Indo-European," which is also the mother (or grandmother!) language of almost all the rest of European languages. -Through comparative analysis of vocabulary, syntax, and grammar, we know that Spanish and French historically developed from their parent language, Latin. English, German, Dutch, and other Scandinavian languages evolved from an earlier proto-Germanic language. Both Latin and proto-Germanic branched out from an even earlier language called Proto-Indo- European. Proto-Indo-European was spoken more than six thousand years ago and also gave birth to the languages spoken today in Greece, India, Iran, and Eastern Europe.

Intersex

-These individuals were once labeled "hermaphrodite", a term that combines Hermes and Aphrodite -The mythological term "hermaphrodite" implies that a person is both fully male and fully female. Yet, this is a physiologic impossibility. That is why "hermaphrodite" is considered to be a misleading and a stigmatizing word. It is even considered DEROGATORY. -Today, individuals who have some combination of male and female genitalia, gonads, and chromosomes are described as "intersex." -intersex individual not ashamed of being intersex (video) -A Revolutionary War hero, Gen. Casimir Pulaski, who served alongside Washington may have been intersex

sexual dimorphism

-the difference between male and female members of the species is visibly observable, meaning you can look and tell who is a man and who is a women by looking at and observing certain characteristics (breast size, hair distribution, pitch of voice, weight and height, strength) -less in humans than other animals like gorillas -there are exceptions

What does sexuality mean? When anthropologists study sexuality, what do they study?

Sexuality encompasses nearly every aspect of our being, from attitudes and values, to feelings and experiences. When anthropologists talk term-140about sexuality, they may be referring to: -sexual acts, habits, and behavior OR -cultural norms, values, expectations, and mores related to sex OR -sexual health and reproduction OR -the way people experience and express themselves as sexual beings OR -sexual orientation: to whom one is sexually attracted (e.g., heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual)

Do women and men have different brains? Why?

-So if you have an XX to start with, your brain is going to develop in such a way that optimizes for estrogens -But already then there are growth factors that really promote brain development and development of the body of the child and immediately start populating the baby brain with estrogen receptors. Whereas if you have an XY, then the Y chromosome contains genes that will make your body produce androgens like testosterone. -Structurally, these brains are a little bit different or biochemically these brains are a little bit different from the moment you're born.

intersectionality

Besides gender there is race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, etc. -Inequality is not just about gender, women are not treated the same across different parts of the world, black women face inequality from their gender AND race -people face challenges from disabilities, not only inequality from gender, sexual orientation, race, but also disability

Is there a relationship between sex chromosomes and gender differences in behavior?

Our sex chromosomes really have nothing to do with our behavior. Everyone has an X chromosome but that doesn't automatically cause feminine behaviors in everyone. Those assigned male at birth with an extra X chromosome are still in prison as much as those assigned male at birth with an extra Y chromosome, so an extra X or Y chromosome doesn't influence aggressive behavior that is stereotypically associated with males. If there is a relationship between sex chromosomes and behavior it is miniscule, as many other things influence behavior. -no such thing as a supermale (XYY means they're very masculine) -But biology is so complicated that to say that it's X and Y or testosterone and estrogen or, you know, whether you have ovaries or testes, that that specific thing is what's causing behavior, it's like that thing is one thing of a thousand - I'd even say a million things - that are happening in the body that's trickling up and causing behavior.

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics is the study of the ways culture shapes language and language shapes culture.

three dimensions of gender (body, identity, social)

Body: -how society genders our bodies -how others interact with us based on our body -our experience of our own body -Under the Enculturation heading below, you will watch an animation about twins. When you watch, you will notice how their family and their family friends immediately assign a gender role to their differing bodies. The only difference between these twins their genitalia. So, their biological body determines how others will treat them in accordance with the binary gender system in their culture. Identity: -is the name we use to convey our gender based on our deeply held, internal sense of self. Identities typically fall into these categories (but there are many more that have emerged in recent years). -Binary (e.g. man, woman) -Non-binary (e.g. Genderqueer, genderfluid) -Ungendered (e.g. Agender, genderless) -A person's gender identity can correspond to or differ from the sex they were assigned at birth. Social: -how we present our gender in the world and -how individuals, society, culture, and community perceive, interact with, and try to shape our gender. -Social gender includes gender roles and expectations and how society uses those to try to enforce conformity to current gender norms. -NOTE: In this course, when we say "gender," we will mostly be referring to this third aspect. When we talk about binary, non-binary, cisgender, transgender individuals, we will not just say "gender." We will specify it as "gender identity

Why are there fewer women in the computer tech industry?

Data on occupational interests (not biological, not hormones giving them more skills): - Male—working with things (with their hands, manual labor) - Female—working with people Men and women—working with data Why are there so many more male than female computer engineers? - If both men and women equally enjoy working with data and are equally skilled with working with data, then why are there more males? Women have systematically been discouraged - Trends in college majors: since the 1980s - Starting from 1960s until 1985, we see that the percentage of women by majors increased (medical school, law school, physical sciences, computer science) steadily -After that, medical school, law school, and physical science tend to go up and then it kind of plateaus, but you can see that computer science actually goes down (why is this happening?) -- At this time, computers enter our everyday lives. Before that it was mostly used by secretaries, so computers were seen as a more feminine field. But, after the transition to internet, after computers became our everyday lives, this became a well-paying job (computer programmers are one of the most well-paying professions) and it became a masculine field.

"Man the Hunter, Woman the Gatherer" hypothesis and how recent archeological findings challenge this hypothesis

Some people explain women's exclusion from the public sphere and their relegation to the domestic sphere with references to human evolution and our early human ancestors: hunter-gatherers. In our deep past, the story goes, human males—being larger and stronger than females— hunted to sustain themselves, their sexual partners, and their offspring. The ancient pleasure of killing animals supposedly shaped the human male psyche for aggression and violence and continues to drive men today. Women, in contrast, were gatherers. They collected fruits, seeds, and nuts and were more sedentary, home oriented, child centered, nurturing, cooperative, talkative, and passive. -The central idea of women was that the modern roles of women would always change over time rather it be gathering, cooking or cleaning, but the main job over time would be for the woman to be taking care of and raising all of the children in the family household. -The era of hunters and gatherers was a star of patriarchal society, by examining this period in time we were able to understand what provoked society to allow men to have the upper hand, it leads back to strength and physical ability. Men in this period would hunt wild animals ranging from buffalo to deer or whatever was available on the land. Meat was one of the most prized and coveted foods to eat. Due to fragile and inaccurate weaponry, it was hard to capture these wild animals and obtain their meat. This is where women were needed, women were in charge of collecting plants, herbs, and other forms of food that were not meat. They also collected firewood and other necessities the community needed for survival. They would bear the children and be in charge of raising, teaching, and caring for the young while the men went to hunt -The roles of hunter gatherer societies were very specific -Men --Men took on the role of hunters --The leader of the tribe was always a man --Men's ability to deny women sexuality or to force it upon them -Women --Women were assigned the job of gatherers --Women's main value was seen in the production of children --After the children were born, women were expected to raise them while their husbands went out and hunted A lot of the times, some scientists, especially evolutionary psychologists explain contemporary gender roles and sexual behaviors based on this early human history, this is part of our evolutionary past and everything that we have today can be traced back to this early human history Division of labor among men and women (for the most part across a lot of societies, the public sphere is seen as a proper domain of men, politics, economy, religion, society, and women are often relegated to the private sphere because it is assumed that women's proper roles are to take care of children, give birth to and look after children, and cover household chores). The reason for that according to some evolutionary psychologists is because men are often the hunters and women are often the gatherers -Women are not sedentary or passive members of the group -Women participate in a lot of chores and even hunting -No evidence to prove male dominance: --E.g., dependent women and children (for hunting) -no evidence that diets were mainly meat from hunting(so women were getting most food)

Kinsey scale

The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale,[1] is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one's experience or response at a given time. The scale typically ranges from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to a 6, meaning exclusively homosexual