Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!ora!ambar From: jym@mica.berkeley.edu (Jym Dyer) Newsgroups: soc.feminism Subject: Re: feminism and anthropology Message-ID: Date: 23 Apr 91 18:31:26 GMT References: <14399@helios.TAMU.EDU> Sender: ambar@ora.com (Jean Marie Diaz) Organization: Berserkeley Lines: 55 Approved: ambar@ora.com In-Reply-To: sharring@cs.tamu.edu's message of 9 Apr 91 18: 22:48 GMT ___ __ Anthropology is a field heavily-tainted with the effects _ of sexism and patriarchy. The first anthropologists were Christian missionaries, far more intent on conversion than on objectively documenting native cultures. ___ __ Many implementations of Christianity have a strong emphasis on _ maintaining patriarchal sex roles, and many missionaries were quite adamant about this. Indeed, the term "missionary posi- tion" refers to the fact that these missionaries went so far as to force native peoples to use the "man on top" position for genital sexual intercourse! ___ __ By the time more secular anthropologists got into the field, _ much of the field had been tainted by this. Even so, most of them were male, and of course were operating out of a heavily patriarchal and heterosexist culture. As a result, the matter of sex roles in early studies are even more suspect. ___ __ A book worth looking up is Eleanor Burke Leacock's _Myths_of_ _ _Male_Dominance_, which explores this in some detail, and provides examples of non-patriarchal cultures that had been reported as in greater conformance with patriarchal sex roles before. Another good study is _Women_of_the_Forest_, by Yolanda Murphy and Robert F. Murphy. ___ __ There's a lot going on about whether or not early Europeans _ were matriarchal in character. Many popular books have been published on this theme. The matter is currently being de- bated, but it seems clear that such cultures were, if not completely matriarchal, not patriarchal. ___ __ A popularized book about this is Riane Eisler's _The_Chalice_ _ _and_the_Blade_. Eisler is clearly writing to advocate the "partnership" model of these societies, but the book can point you to dryer, academic stuff if you'd prefer. :-) ___ __ Furthermore, some evidence suggests a specific role for gay _ (and cross-dressing, and sex-role challenging) people in cultures all over the world, which suggests not only the tolerance of such behavior and orientation, but approval! (This is, of course, consistent with McLellan and Beach's famous study.) ___ __ I'm afraid I don't have any dry, academic sources for this _ stuff either. If you'd like something well-written, check out Judy Grahn's _Another_Mother_Tongue_. Much as the advocates of the Euro-matriarchy line have taken the apparent lack of patriarchy to mean that women were the holders of power, Grahn extrapolates this evidence to suggest that gayness (which she uses to include cross-dressing and sex- role challenging) is/was considered a form of spiritual superiority. Nonetheless, it's a great book. <_Jym_>