Sex & Family
Sexuality—permissiveness v.
restrictiveness
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Sexual deviancy:
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Permissive:
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Restrictive:
Childhood Sexuality
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Hopi Indians of American Southwest—permissive
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Parents teach their children how to masturbate at
young age
East Bay (Pacific Island)—restrictive
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Children discouraged from touching their genitalia in
public
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Boys get “good-natured ridicule”
Girls get scolded or hit
At age 5 they are told to avoid contact with other sex
Premarital sex
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Trobriand Islanders (near Papua New Guinea)—permissive
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Ila of Central Africa—permissive
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Girls are given houses to use to have “practice” marriages with boys of their
choice
Virginity often does not last past age 10
Tepoztlan Indians of Mexico—restrictive
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Approve of and encourage premarital sex as a chance to prepare for married life
Boys and girls are taught all forms of sexual expression at puberty
Girls are confined once menstruation starts
They are not allowed to speak to boys—if she does so, she is considered crazy
Muslim societies—restrictive
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Female virginity is “tested” with white sheets on wedding night
Blood stains=virginity
Female circumcision used to discourage girls from having sex
Extramarital sex
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Hopi Indians—permissive
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Navajo Indians—restrictive…sort of
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Forbid adultery technically, but a study in 1948 showed that 27% of married
men’s (under age 30) sexual contacts were with women other than their wives
Chukchee of Siberia—permissive
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Men have “private wives” for instances when wife is uninterested—meant to live
a “comfortable” life
Allow married men to have sex with a host’s wife with understanding he will offer
the same hospitality
Inuits—permissive
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Common practice for a chief’s wife to be given to a traveler in the tribe as a
chance to bring in “new blood”
Homosexuality
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Lepcha of the Himalayas—restrictive
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View homosexuals with disgust and feel it is a disease you catch when eating
an uncastrated pig
Claim that homosexuality does not exist in their culture
Papago of American Southwest—permissive
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“Nights of Saturnalia”
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Connection to Roman day of tribute to Saturn—influenced Catholic Christmas
Transvestites were common that did women’s chores and could marry or be
visited by men
Women only allowed to take part in Saturnalia when their husbands allow them
to do so
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Sapphic love: Sappho of Lesbos (Greek island): female homosexual relationship
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Greek female poet that wrote about love of women
Homosexuality (continued)
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Siwans of North Africa—permissive
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Expect all males to engage in homosexual relations
Fathers make arrangements for unmarried sons to be given to older men
Customs rule that one man only gets one boy
Study in 1917 shows that most boys still married girls when they reach
adulthood
Etoro of Papua New Guinea—permissive
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Prefer homosexuality over heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is banned for as much as 260 days a year
Forbidden in or near the home or gardens
Homosexuality is not prohibited on any day and is believed to make crops
flourish and make boys strong
Incest Taboo
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Incest taboo: prohibition of sex and marriage between mother and son,
father and daughter, and brother and sister
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Only known exceptions to taboo has been royal families (Incans & Hawaiians)
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Best example of exception to taboo was Cleopatra in Egypt
Married to 2 different brothers at different times
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Family of a Pharaoh was a god, so they couldn’t spoil a god’s blood with a normal human
Marriage within the family kept royal property and wealth undivided
Incest Taboo (continued)
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Theories about why incest taboo is universal:
 Childhood-Familiarity Theory: 1920s
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Chinese custum of t’ung-yang-hsi (daughter-in-law raised from childhood)
 Often poor families will give away or sell their daughter to another family to be
raised with her future husband—done only weeks after birth
 Leads to sexual disinterest, lack of stimulation, and fewer offspring
 Become more likely to pursue extramarital relationships
Incest Taboo (continued)
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Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:
Family-Disruption Theory
Cooperation Theory—marriage creates “alliances”
A Table of Kindred and Affinity,
Wherein Whosoever Are Related Are Forbidden
by the Church of England to Marry Together. (1949 version)
A Man may not marry his
mother
daughter
adopted daughter
father's mother
mother's mother
son's daughter
daughter's daughter
sister
wife's mother
wife's daughter
father's wife
son's wife
father's father's wife
mother's father's wife
wife's father's mother
wife's mother's mother
wife's daughter's daughter
wife's son's daughter
son's son's wife
daughter's son's wife
father's sister
mother's sister
brother's daughter
sister's daughter
A Woman may not marry with her
father
son
adopted son
father's father
mother's father
son's son
daughter's son
brother
husband's father
husband's son
mother's husband
daughter's husband
father's mother's husband
mother's mother's husband
husband's father's father
husband's mother's father
husband's son's son
husband's daughter's son
son's daughter's husband
daughter's daughter's husband
father's brother
mother's brother
brother's son
sister's son
Physical Differences Between the
Sexes
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Sexual dimorphism:
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Physical differences:
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Personality differences:
Personality Differences
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Findings about personality differences
from Margaret Mead about 3 tribes in
New Guinea during the 1930s:
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little link between masculine and feminine
personality traits and sex
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No universal sexual personality traits
Arapesh: both sexes gentle and maternal
Mundugumor: both sexes showed
violence and competitiveness
Tchambuli: women were domineering,
practical, impersonal, and chief economic
providers—men were sensitive, delicate,
and devoted time to art and their
appearances
Tchambuli men playing flutes for Mead
More recent thoughts on personality differences
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Six Cultures Project (1973): comparative study of children in Mexico, New England,
Japan, Phillipines, India, & Kenya
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Boys begin to show more aggression by the age of 3
Older girls begin to show less aggression
Girls tend to be more responsible & show ability to nurture
Girls tend to conform to adult commands/wishes
Boys try to exert dominance to get their own way
Boys usually play in larger groups with mostly boys
Girls usually play in smaller groups with mostly girls
Girls often seek help from others
Boys often seek attention and approval
2 theories on why these differences appear: NATURE V. NURTURE
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1st: genetics: estrogen v. testosterone
2nd: society teaches us how to behave
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Girls usually asked to do more work—creates responsibility—what happens when you have a
boy do more work?
Luo children of Kenya study
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1973 study of Luo children
Boys assigned less chores b/c they
need to work in field
Girls assigned traditional “home”
chores
Village of Luo had a low number of
girls born; mothers relied on boys to
do more house work
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Boys that did more house work were
less aggressive and more responsible
than other boys
Possible that both “nature” and
“nurture” are important in creating
personality differences
Social Roles of the Sexes
Males almost
always
Subsistence
activities
Hunt & trap
Food prep
and
household
work
Other
Work with wood
(i.e. musical
instruments), work
with minerals and
stone, warfare, take
part in politics
Males
usually
Either sex or
both
Females usually
Fish, herd
animals, clear
land, prepare
soil
Collect shellfish,
care for small
animals, plant
and harvest
crops, milk
animals
Gather wild plants
Butcher
animals
Preserve meat or
fish
Care for children,
cook, launder, fetch
water and fuel
Build houses,
make nets,
make rope
Prepare skins,
make leather
products,
baskets, mats,
clothing, pottery
Spin yarn
Females
almost
always
Why is division of labor so universal?
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Strength Theory:
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Problem:
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Why do men usually perform tasks such as trapping small animals or making
musical instruments? Little physical demands…
Compatibility-with-child-care theory:
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Why do men usually create crafts that are sold, but women make them for
home?
One more theory…
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Economy of Effort Theory:
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Males make instruments—they collect hard materials needed and have more
knowledge of physical properties…makes more sense for them to work with it
Women are near home to raise children…makes sense for them to do more
house work
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That’s why during the summer, I am basically a “wife”
Differences in status for men & women
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Islamic societies (Afghanistan under the
Taliban):
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Women live in purdah: remain secluded & veiled
If women must go out of home, they must have
male approval & shroud face and body in burqa—
must wear in their home if a male is present
Women under authority of fathers and husbands
Heavy sexual restrictions placed on women—
emphasis on virginity—not permitted much
access to men before marriage
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Almost no sexual restrictions placed on men
Why do women tend to be given low
status is some societies?
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Theory 1: women do not make large
contributions to subsistence activities
Theory 2: cultures that rely on warfare
value men more
Theory 3: politics is considered a male
venture, so women are devalued
Theory 4: kin groups are often
centered around husband’s family
Questions about Hilary still abound as
to whether she should ever be
President…even the role of her
husband overshadows her.
Marriage
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Marriage: socially approved sexual and economic union between a man
and a woman
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Assumption that union is permanent
Requires obligations between spouses and future children
Marriage is universal—wedding act varies
Future of definition—gay marriage?????
Reasons Marriage is a Universal Ideal
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Division of labor: men and women perform different tasks in the economy
Infant dependency & postpartum requirements: humans have longest
dependency period of any primate, so therefore our women need help from
men in order to support themselves & the child
Sexual competition between males
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Males are prone to aggression and violence when competing for female love
Marriage minimalizes this rivalry
Rare Types of Marriage
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Cheyenne Indians
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Married men were permitted to take on berdaches
(male transvestites) as 2nd wives
Berdaches were considered to be a 3rd gender with
unique responsibilities
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Worked in the home like a woman
Could go to war or take part in other “manly” activities
Often considered to be mystical and possess 2 spirits
(male and female spirits)
Cheyenne viewed this as not being homosexual or
heterosexual—European colonists simply saw it as
homosexual and wrong
Azande of Sudan
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Poorer Azande warriors could take part in temporary
homosexual marriage
If they couldn’t afford a wife, they could marry a “boywife” to satisfy sexual and economic needs
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Gifts had to be given to family of “boy-wife” as in a regular
marriage—”boy-wife” was cheaper though
Dance to the Berdache
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Female-female marriages in African societies
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Socially accepted marriages so a woman could take on roles of father and
husband
Sexual relationships were not part of the union
“husband” may take over for a kinsman that left no heirs and assign various
males to her wife to create heirs
“husbands” could be women wishing to gain status and political power in society
so they take on role of a husband—again, no sex involved
Economic Aspects to Marriage
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Bride price
Bride service
Dowry
Important Terms:
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Arranged marriages
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Indian caste marriages
Exogamy
Endogamy
More important terms
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Levirate
Sororate
Monogamy
Yet, even more important terms
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Polygyny
Polyandry
Polygamy
The Family Setup
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Nuclear family
Matrifocal family
Patrifocal family
Matrilocal family
Patrilocal family
Bilocal residence
Neolocal residence
Rules of Descent
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Patrilineal descent
Matrilineal descent
Ambilineal descent
Kinship Terminology
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Classificatory terms: mother, father, sister,
brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.
Consanguineal kin
Affinal kin