Introducing Cultural
Anthropology
Roberta Edwards Lenkeit
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
2
Gender and Sexuality: Nature
or Nurture?
Gender and Sexuality: Nature or
Nurture?
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Margaret Mead and Early Gender Studies
Sex and Gender
Cultures with More Than Two Genders
Factors Affecting Gender Roles
Perspectives on Human Sexual Behavior
Sexual Attraction and Behavior
Sexual Prohibitions
Sexual Orientation
Summary
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Margaret Mead and Early
Gender Studies
Western societies assume two gender roles:
male and female. However, three or four
genders are often accepted in other
societies.
 Gender refers to the socially and culturally
prescribed and perceived ways that males
and females are expected to behave.
 Margaret Mead in New Guinea
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sex and Gender
Sex—biological aspect of being female,
male or other
 Gender— a sociocultural construct
 Gender Role—the task and behavior
assigned by a culture to each sex
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cultures With More Than Two
Genders
Mahu of Polynesia
 Berdache among the Zuni of southwestern
U.S.
 Hijra of northern India
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Factors Affecting Gender Roles
Kinship
 Economics
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–division of labor
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Ideology
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Perspectives on Human Sexual
Behavior
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B. Malinowski
– The Sexual Life of Savages (1929)
– Trobriand Islands 1914—1918
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A. Weiner in the Trobriands (1988)
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sexual Attraction and Behavior
There are no universal standards of sexual
attractiveness.
 Sex play varies considerably across
cultures.
 Genital stimulation is widespread among
human groups.
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sexual Prohibitions
Ford and Beach data
 Contemporary data
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sexual Orientation
The Pattern of Attraction Based on the
Gender of One’s Partner
 Labels as Cultural Constructs
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©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Summary
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Gender, gender roles, and issues of human
sexuality are of interest to people everywhere.
Gender is the culturally assigned role given to
individuals identified as male, female, or other.
Most societies recognize two genders, whereas
some recognize a third and sometimes a fourth
gender.
Sexual orientation and sexuality are best viewed
and understood within the cultural context of
which they are a part.
©2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.