Reflective Tag:

Gender and culture are both heavily intertwined with one another.  In Artifact 1, gender was given a great amount of attention and expanded upon greatly, and we all know what culture is, but how do they work together and create the societies that we as people know today?  In this artifact, this exact idea will be flushed out to the end of greater clarity.

GENDER & CULTURE

Culture and the gender roles within are heavily determined on the conditions and lifestyle dictated by the environment of which a group of people live in.  As well as this, they are often determined by male and female biology… i.e. physiology and such.  This is not to say that women or men are not capable, but there are certain things that each sex simply cannot do or things that one do better than the other generally speaking, and this plays heavily on the roles of gender in culture often.  I will use the Inuit culture to demonstrate some of these factors.  The Inuit society is that of a patrilineal society, which means that is primarily male dominant.  There are however legitimate reasons for this instance for the most part.  The society is held within an environment that dictates a very utilitarian stance on the modes and functions of life, and this cause more strongly based gender roles.  The primary mode of obtaining food is hunting followed up by a smaller level of gathering.  It is the primary job of the men to do the hunting and that of the women to do the gathering, but interestingly enough, because this is a more utilitarian society, the women are often called upon to join the men in hunting when they are needed and so they are taught to hunt just as the males do.

lc_inuithunt_sm

(http://8bishumanities.weebly.com/inuit.html)

There are still the divided duties that women hold such as raising the children and other stereotypical jobs, but their work is respected and even holds right of ritual in some cases.  One example of this is that when someone has made their first kill, the midwife of the individual is brought forward to help ceremonially distribute the resources gathered as a sign of respect.  Another task of Inuit women that might seem not super important is that of sewing.  Now, you might be thinking, hey, they’re just clothes… and yes they are, but any issues with these clothes could lead to someone freezing to death.  The environment in which these individuals live is very cold and hostile and the clothes made out of hide and skins must be sewn water tight… that’s right. Waterproof.  The skill of sewing is so important as a woman’s task to the Inuit people that it is looked for and sought after in a good wife.  Rightly so as lives could depend on it.  Women are not only responsible for this, but they also help to clean cut and distribute kills and such and are treated as equals for their work.  As with most cultures though, the Inuit people still have problems with male assertion of dominance in a negative way at times and this is not obviously not good. Up until as recently as the 1940’s, female infanticide was carried out because they wanted to keep population down and males were more valued for their hunting abilities.  This is just a sample of some of the problems, but as can be seen, the conditions in which they live creates a more utilitarian view on life and sets interdependent gender roles together.  Globalization has made the gender roles more defined, but modern views have also relieved some of the pressure on women with regards to any poor treatment or such, but it still does exist in some places.

To provide a contrast of this societal style, the Mosuo people of China are a matrilineal society which means that it is controlled by the women of the people.  They still have separated gender roles, but daughters are preferred to sons and the women are in charge.  They are the only place in China that is a matrilineal society like this.  The dynamic is interesting to observe and because of this, it has attracted many tourists.  The women in this society have many freedoms and do not necessarily marry.  It is more of a free love culture where the men essentially ask if they can stay with a woman.  This dynamic is especially interesting to observe.

Overall, with the Inuit culture, it can be seen as to how an environment, culture, and biology can drive gender roles in a society through the topics discussed above.

 

Works Cited:

Class notes

Provided materials on canvas and printed