Spotlight on Students: Gender Comparisons

The following post features the work of a student in my Anth 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course.  In this assignment they were tasked with comparing the gender norms of the Hijra with those that exist in the United States.  

Hijra of India (Image Source: The Guardian)

By: Stephen Haw

 

Sex and gender are important for the study of anthropology. Sex is static and non-changing while gender and the definitions of such vary among different cultures. Sex is attributable to biological occurrences when the zygote inherits the sex genes from two parents. Gender is inter-changeable and the definition of such varies among cultures. Gender is described as a “cultural construction of whether one is female, male, or something else” (Gezon and Kottak). Gender norms of the Hijra of India and American culture vary, and the differences of each culture and their gender values are a unique contrast.  

India is just below the Himalaya Mountains and is east of Pakistan and south of China. India is considered a union of twenty-eight states and seven territories. The society is structured under a rigid caste system that separates each individual into an ascribed status, which is attributed to which part of society the person was born into. The nation’s economy has modern industries as well as agriculture. Hindi is the official language of the country as well as fourteen other languages that make up the country. The majority of the people in the country practice Hinduism while the remaining practice Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism.

(Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia)

The Hijras of India is associated with transgenderism. They are the third party gender in India and are generally accepted or feared for their social and traditional roles. In a social role, the Hijra may work as a prostitute or will perform at a wedding or a birth ceremony which is believed to bring a blessing to the baby or a newly married couple. (Nanda 2008) In a religious context, the traditional view of the Hijra “are devotees of Bahuchara Mata, one of the many versions of the Mother Goddess worshiped throughout India.” ([C1] Nanda 2008) It is believed since the man or woman cannot reproduce they can take on a greater role in society by being reborn into a Hijra who does not desire sexual intercourse and which fulfills a religious significance in society. The Hijra are able to bless or curse an individual to fulfill their religious role. They are believed to have divine powers from the goddess because of the ritualistic emasculation ceremony in which the penis and testicles are removed (Nanda 2008).   

 The United States is located in North America, which is south of Canada and north of Mexico. The government of the United States is considered a Constitutional Republic divided between state, local, and federal governments. The federal government is divided between Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. This system is supposed to offer checks and balances to the government. The economy of the United States is capitalistic with large mineral and agricultural economic sectors. Along with this, the country has a huge manufacturing industry. America is predominately white, while the other ethnicities include African American, Latino, Mexican American, Asian, and American Indian. The religion of America is mainly Christian, while there are practicing Muslims, Jewish, Hindus, and Buddhists. The primary language spoken is English while it is not the recognized language of the country.   (Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia)

 Traditionally American culture has embraced a strict set of gender qualities. This can be seen by the aggressive or “Macho” man associated with action films. Also, the man has been seen to be the main, if not the only, breadwinner of the household. The women in American society are culturally seen to be passive or mostly sweet. The traditional role of the woman of American society has been to solely take care of children or contribute to the household. The nuclear family unit in the United States has been considered to be a father, mother and children. In an article by the Center for American Progress, it is stated, “While women made up only about one-third of the workforce in 1969, women today make up almost half of all workers in the United States”. Women, because of economic factors, are reshaping the workforce. The male is still seen as the protector in American society seen in the predominantly male military of the United States while women are seen as caregivers.

 Transgendered[C2]  Americans are considered “abnormal” or taboo. While there has been significant advancement for transgendered individuals in America, it is still considered culturally unacceptable. It is described that “there is nothing new or abnormal about diverse gender roles and identities, as the anthropological record attests. Gender variance is a human phenomenon that has taken many forms across societies and cultures” (Getzon and Kottak). Gender inequalities still exist in the United States while transgendered individuals can often be discriminated against.  

The Americans and the Hijra are polar opposites [C3] when it comes to gender. The Hijra are transgendered with a religious and societal role to bless others during wedding and birth ceremonies. They are accepted in Indian society for their religious significance. In comparison, American gender roles are differentiated between the masculine or aggressive male and the passive or feminine female. It could be argued that in comparing the groups, the American transgendered individuals are similar with the Hijra because of a steadily growing acceptance of transgendered individuals in America. American society has a long way to go before fully accepting transgendered individuals like the Indians regarding the Hijra.

American society has had traditionally set gender roles with the man being the head of the household and the woman contributing to taking care of the children. But that has been shifting due to different political movements. Women now take on a greater role in society and the transgendered are being seen as more socially acceptable. Men are still seen as aggressive or masculine and women passive. But the role of women in American society has come a long way. The transgendered are still labeled as taboo in American culture. While in India the Hijra are seen with respect and admiration due to their religious significance in bestowing blessing and luck to a marriage or a newborn. One is culturally accepted while another is culturally taboo.    

            During this assignment I have learned that there is a unique culture in India where the transgendered individual is favored. I have also learned that gender values among cultures can be very relative. Gender roles among transgendered individuals in the different cultures are vastly different. This paper shows me how ethnocentric my values can be with gender. I have a more traditional view of transgendered individuals. Though I definitely do not want to discriminate against a transgendered individual, I still view this as very different to my own beliefs. Culture varies among societies and gender is so fixed in America that it is hard for Americans to take a more accepting response toward the transgendered individual. The Hijra are fascinating examples of transgendered individuals being incorporated into a religious role in society. They represent a group of people that are integrated into society whereas in America the transgendered individual has to hide from society in order to fit in.     
 

Works Cited

"India." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 15 June 2015.
Gezon, Lisa, and Conrad Kottak. Culture. Truckee Meadows Community College ed. New York: McGraw Hill Education, 2014. Print.
Nanda, Serena. Sex-Gender Diversity: A Cross Cultural Perspective (2008). Web. 15 June 2015.
"United States Of America." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 15 June 2015.
Chu, Anna and Posner, Charles. The State of Women in America (2013. Web. 15 June 2015.

Spotlight on Students: Analysis of the Anthropological Subject Matter of "Encino Man"

The following is a student post provided by Murdoc Brickel, a student in the Spring 2015 Introduction to Physical Anthropology course:

            In this cultural study I chose to look at Encino Man, the 1992 movie with Pauly Shore, and Brendan Fraser.  This movie had several things that were slightly less than accurate according to the points of early human evolution that we learned in class.  Aside for the overdose of the nineties, the main character Link who is played by Brendan Fraser is a caveman who is found inside of ice in the backyard of an Encino California home.  He is thawed out in a shed by the two high school students that found him Dave played by Sean Astin and Stoney played by Pauly Shore.  After which the two high school students enroll Link into high school and acclimate him to become a modern man. 

            One of the first things I would like to address is that they find him perfectly preserved in ice within the ground.  Considering that the environmental situations of the ice not melting in southern California seems improvable at best.  Given the average temperature of around sixty degrees  for Encino, California (Encino, CA) I doubt that a block of ice would perfectly preserve a human specimen to the point to which he could just be thawed out in a shed.  Despite the fact that unless he was instantly frozen at all points of his body when ice fell upon him in his ice cave, perfect reanimation would not be possible.  He would have more than likely suffered necrotic frost bite in several if not all of his limbs and large portions of his body.  Also it is pointed out that “he is a caveman” because while digging the pool in which they found him they discovered cave paintings on the wall of the pool pit (Encino Man).  They just chose to ignore these things until they found a lump of ice within the pit.

            There is also the factor of the amount of contagions and diseases that we have grown immune to.  Having just thawed out from a millennia ago Link would not have any natural immunities to these diseases or pollutants in the air.  It would have more than likely been extremely difficult for him to breath, or for his body to be able to properly process the air which we have grown accustomed to.  If he did manage to breath and not get poisoned, he would likely contract one of the millions of diseases that we carry with us on our bodies that we have grown immune to (Saey, 2008, pg 174).  We have seen evidence of this when the colonialists came to the Americas, and subsequently killed many people by just interacting with them.  The indigenous peoples of the Americas still had thousands of years of acclimation to disease in general.  So someone from prehistoric times would not have these immunities within their systems.  This possibly could mean that Link would have contracted several diseases at once and died a very painful and confusing death.  Perhaps he would not contract diseases from Dave and Stoney, but surely he would have become infected whence they took him into the high school and to an amusement park. 

            If for some reason he were still alive long enough to interact with the students and society in general, he may not have been able to pick up English as quickly as two to three days.  Besides the horrible illogical structuring that is English, he may have not physically been able to speak it.  Modern people have changed physically in the 43,000 years since the early years of the Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnon, 2015).  Not only have our bodies become more acclimated to our environments according to Allen's, Bergman's, and Gloger's rules (Dr. Boston, Lectures, spring 2015).  Along with these physical changes our vocal chords and several other smaller changes along time have helped us to better communicate with each other.  These adaptations were brought about through the express use of these regions of our bodies including our brains and tongues.  So if Link could understand English within hours, he may not have been able to speak it.  It is highly doubtful that within months he would have been able to deliver a speech with the ease and grasp of a native English speaker to a student body.

            Another glaring contradiction with the movie would be that Link would more than likely not be white, especially not nearly as pasty white as Brendan Fraser is in this movie.  He may have been slightly hairier as well.  We can observe this within people of the world today, in that people who generationally live in colder climates have thicker and more fuller body hair.  Providing that he survived the ice, the bacteria, and the language barriers he would not be a hairless guy with pasty white skin.  He would have more than likely been the 'ideal' man though in that he was tall, dark, and hair-some. 

            In conclusion this movie is a work of fiction.  It is not meant to be scientifically accurate, or historically correct.  Although one positive point of this movie is that it is entertaining, and comical.  This movie while it glosses over several semi-important points, it does illuminate that people were around a long time ago and that we are actually fairly close to the model that was running around then.  The overdose on the message of humanity and decentness that exists within the human species throughout time is not a negative message though.

References

Photo Credit – cover page -http://www.sporcle.com/games/ipitydafoo/brendan-fraser-movies-slideshow

Cro-Magnon. (n.d.). Retrieved May, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cro-Magnon

Encino Man [Motion picture]. (1992). United States of America: Encino Man Productions.

Boston, Christine Dr. ; Lectures ; Truckee Meadows Community College; Spring 2015

Encino, CA (91436) Weather History for November 22nd, 1992. (n.d). Retrieved May, 2015, from http://farmersalmanac.com/weather-history/91436/1992/11/22/

Saey, T. H. (2008). It's a jungle on there: Skin samples contain rich diversity of bacteria. Science News, 174(12), 11.

Telling the Difference Between a Village Head & Big Man

In popular language the word tribe gets tossed around quite a bit, but it is often misused as it is misunderstood.  Tribal societies are those that lack formal social classes and formal governments, which most modern people are most familiar with given that the world is primarily dominated by state level societies.  Despite a lack of formal government tribal societies are not, in fact, lawless entities.  They can be and often are governed by a specific or group of leaders, typically either a village head or a big man.  Today’s post is dedicated to understanding the differences between these two leadership types.

Figure 1: A Yanomami leader is an example of a village head.  The Yanomamo reside in the Amazonian rainforests of South America. (National Geographic)

The position of the village head (Figure 1) is one that an individual strives to enter and become, which means this position is neither inherited nor traced through familial lines.  For an individual to become the village head he (or she*) must persuade others to following him and support his bid to be the village head.  This is accomplished through a variety of means, including being friendly, charismatic, and personable, as well as wealthy and generous.  Upon securing the position the village head is responsible for hosting feasts and parties in order to hold the position. 

Given the amount of effort, time, and resources that must be expended to secure and keep the position of the village head why would someone want to hold it?  Because of the prestige and power associated with the position.  The village head is looked upon to resolve conflicts within the village, and while his authority is limited and he has no way of imposing his decision or providing punishments his ability to persuade the villagers to follow his will is his asset.  It is this same power of persuasion that can be utilized to have villagers follow his commands or go along with his ideas.  This does not mean, however, that he can abuse his power or station as village head.  As easily as he acquired the position through friendship and generosity he can also lose it from no longer being viewed as friendly or generous as he once was. 

Figure 2: A Dani leader is an example of a big man.  The Dani reside in Papua New Guinea.  (University of Manitoba)

The position of big man (Figure 2) is similar to that of the village head, but there are several key differences.  First, whereas the village head only has authority in one village the big man has a larger scope of authority, typically holding authority over several villages in a vast region.  Also, the big man position is secured through a man* (or woman) being friendly, charismatic, generous, similar to the village head, but this individual must also be brave and physically superior.  In addition, there may be an element of supernatural associated with why the man is chosen as the big man.  This regional authority allows the big man to mobilize large groups of people to fulfill his will but is maintained through regional feasts and festivals hosted by the big man.  These efforts, however, net the big man the power and authority to implement his decision in the event of conflicts-be they relegated to one or more villages.  So while this position also requires a great deal of work the benefits are more obvious and wider reaching.

*Note: While women can become leaders this rarely occurs due to the gender roles of the society that limit the options for accumulating the wealth or public prestige necessary to hold this position.

Spotlight on Students: Cultural Relativism & Ethnocentrism

The following is a post that features the exemplary work of my Anth 101 students.  They were tasked with analyzing a scenario and comparing and contrasting culturally relativistic and ethnocentric reactions of the scenario.  I am pleased to present their pieces on the blog, and I hope that you, too, learn from their work.

Seal Flipper Pie Dinner (Society for Culinary Arts & Letters)

By Nicole Grimes

          In order to understand culture, one must observe and interpret another social group’s behavior and rituals. When observing and interpreting, one’s conclusions can display two separate ideals: ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Either ideal reveals that of one’s personal interpretation of any culture or subculture. For example, the cultural relativistic view of biracial marriage in America during the Civil Rights Era was absolutely unheard of and heavily demonized by both racial communities involved. Using the same example, demonizing biracial marriage in this era would not be accepted. This is an example of where time and idealistic evolution has made society disapprove of this specific ethnocentric view. In either ideal or view, cultures are based on many things such as industrial development, social development, political/governmental establishments etc. The ability to understand each view is the ability to be open or close minded to anything different, past or present. 
 

            Looking at the ethnocentric view in detail we must define what it actually is, which is “the tendency to view one’s own culture as best and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by one’s own standards.” (Kottak and Gezon 30) This view can be seen as negative and close minded, which in most instances, it is. Let’s look at how ethnocentrism has been used for a somewhat decent purpose. Ethnocentrism has been and can be used in the form of developing pride in one’s culture or subculture.  One example would be University frat houses during Rush Week or at sports games. This ethnocentric behavior boosts moral and energy for one’s house or team. Observing another view, stereotyping is a form of ethnocentrism that still goes on today. For example, the way one is dressed or speaks in America instantly categorizes them to one group.

           

Maintaining this critical ideal, the dinner of seal flipper pie would be that of the initial reaction the classmate displayed: disgust. In North American culture, the act of slaying and eating animals that are deemed as rare, cute, and/or intelligent is deemed wrong and just plain sick. In this case it was a baby seal. Seals are cute and often used as attractions for small children at zoos and theme parks because of their ability to be trained and adored by the masses. When representing animals in this form to the public it forms emotional bonds to those particular species, and therefore the thought of killing such species is related in most cases as inhumane.

The opposing view, cultural relativism, “ The position that values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect.” (Kottak and Gezon 30) This view point represents the open minded unjudging view, which allows for cultural understanding, and the ability to share best practices for growth. With all views, it can be used in the most extreme circumstances. For example, observing the mass persecution of Jews, homosexuals, and racially diverse people during the Nazi Germany movement would be that of observing Dia De Los Muertos. (Gezon and Kottak 30) Neither wrong nor right and no matter how many lives lost, there is no moral interjection.  In this example, the lack of interjection would have restricted any kind of racial, sexual, or religious freedoms. Even with the accepting and biased view on culture, balance is crucial.

       

 Cultural relativism in this case would pose a view of the seal flipper pie as not wrong or right. The meal could have been seen as a warm welcome as in his culture it was used as a ceremonial feast. This meal the host prepared was a symbol of his homeland that he wanted to share with his fellow students. The host also displayed cultural relativity by requesting that everyone bring a dish representing their own cultures.  This behavior displayed an openness and want for understanding of the attendees lifestyles and rituals.  This softer and less extreme form of cultural relativism allows for less conflict and more learning between societies. Growth in understanding and sharing ideas allow for positive development in all aspects of human and cultural life.

The standpoint I have is that of one somewhere in the middle. The behavior the class mate displayed in the passage, in my opinion, was a bit intense and close minded. That being said, I do not think I could bring myself to eat seal. Reason being is, as mentioned above we here in North America tend to form bonds with certain species, especially when glorified at major events or shows. I was one of those children at Sea World gushing over how cute the baby seals were, further making it virtually impossible to consume one. Although, out of general respect and the interesting back story of why his culture made seal flipper pie, I find myself not judging this dish as wrong or right. To eat is to survive so generally speaking judging individuals of a culture on what they eat, unless it is cannibalism, should be left unjudged.

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two necessary ways to view differences between cultures. These two ideals, though opposing in nature, are necessary for human existence and development. Either view, in its extreme, can have massive negative effects as we have seen with many major events past and present.  Finding a balance between the two ideals will always be a struggle as is finding balance in life.

 Works Cited

Gezon, Lisa, and Conrad Kottak. Culture. Truckee Meadows Community College ed. New York: McGraw Hill Education, 2014. Print.