One of the more fascinating things that I read in this chapter pertains to the two cultures of New Guinea in which there were remarkable similarities between men and women. In fact, despite their various differences; both the gentle friendly and relatively docile Arapesh culture and the savage barbaric Mundugumor culture of New Guinea both see men and woman are as equals with each gender sharing similar roles during child baring and hunting in each respective culture. One fact that I found interesting about the women of the Mundugumor culture is that they lacked a maternal instinct and viewed the idea of child bearing to be repulsive (the book specifically states that Mundugumor women actively dislike children) which is a stark contrast to most of western society in which it is the cultural norm for women to have a high maternal instinct and the actively enjoy the act of bearing children (Kimmel 60-61). Another interesting thing that I learned in this chapter was about a group of biological men from a Native American tribe …show more content…
The textbook brings up the point that circumcision is used in many cultures as a bonding ceremony between young boys and their fathers, and the act is usually performed without any mothers (or women in general) present. Female circumcision by comparison is generally performed by women (however in some cases it is performed by male family members) and usually involves actions that aim to prevent sexual pleasure in order to prevent promiscuous behavior. When you look at the difference in effect that each ceremony has on the lives of its participants it is obvious that many of these cultures are worried more about sexual promiscuity in woman than acts of infidelity caused by men. It is almost as if their saying that it is the women's fault that men cannot control their sexual
It shows how these species possess different views of human nature based upon how we cooperate with others as well as how we compete in order to survive. In “Apes in the Family”, De Waal states that “Vernon, a male bonobo at the San Diego Zoo, who used to rule a small group that included one female, Loretta, who was his mate and friend… The first thing Loretta and the other female did upon meeting was have sex…Sex between Loretta and her new female friend became more and more common, spelling the end of Vernon’s rule,” (DeWaal 18). This demonstrates the peaceful transition of power from one male to another female in bonobos without having violence. It tells us about a new way of understanding of our behavior and that there is more to our survival other than our violent
Lucy Westenra presents a rejection to motherhood when she eats the body of a child and throws it away. ‘the new woman represented a threat not only to the social order, but also to the natural order. ’-101 ‘the child that she had clutched strenuously to her breast’ p.188 ‘scientific research defined a woman entirely in terms of body, one which characterised women’s bodies as devoid of passion. Science greatly feared sexual excess, which it felt could lead to men’s debilitation, which in turn could weaken the entire race. Since men’s passion was considered strong and more naturally inclined to excess, the controls were, instead, placed on women.
In “Three Generations of Native American Women’s Birth Experience”, the story starts out with a girl as a pregnant teenager about to give birth
The topic of birth is an interesting one and is explicitly found in the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. There was a vivid difference between the Hmong traditional practices and the way Lia was born. It is to each and every ones own opinion to think and have a take on the differing birth practices. I find them to be odd, and extremely unorthodox especially in modern times however going back less than a hundred years, talking to my great grandmother, that is the way people gave birth. At home, wherever they were, they would work until the day they gave birth and the had to take the baby out themselves, wash it and cut the cord.
Most of the fathers how are circumcised agree that they are normal circumcised guys and they want their sons to be normal too. They believe that their sons should look like them and they also feel like circumcision is not only expect from women, but it’s part of being a man as well. Those who have been circumcised but who are not going to have their sons go through it say that they feel pain once and a while from the scars of circumcision and it pains them to have sex. Others say that their circumcisions are the cause of their erectile dysfunction (ED) and impotency.
In the book” The Spirit Catch and You Will Fall” by Anne Fadiman described how Hmong and Western cultures has clashed over a post-natal care of the child and childbirth which caused a lot of stress and anxiety for Nao Kao family and the medical staffs at the Merced Community Medical Center. In Hmong culture, woman conceives, carries and
Koume Ono Ritsumeikan University Introduction to Anthropology The most surprising thing to me about reading Mary Douglas anthropology book, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, is that I was actually fascinated about everything she argues in the book, many things I had questioned about but did not know the answer or simple facts that make you realized how our society structure works. Which is why in these book review paper I will emphasize more in some chapters rather than the book itself in one big paragraph. Mary Douglas, analyses the ideas of pollutions and taboo in different cultures and also different timing (primitive cultures, modern cultures) focusing in the Gestalt psychology. However, one of the things I liked the most about her writing style is that she avoided limited explanations, explained everything in details and giving examples making it easier for the
Pregnancy and birth for the modern Ojibwe woman differs very little from current American practices. Both AN and her brother were born in a hospital, their mother received prenatal care, and both were formula fed. When asked about breastfeeding views patient was unsure if she would want to breastfeed when she has children as her mother didn’t and she feels that it would be very embarrassing to breastfeed in public. AN states that Ojibwe women are very modest and do not feel comfortable being exposed in public
Leta S. Hollingworth was an American psychologist who focused most of her research on giftedness, educational psychology, psychology of women, and the variability hypothesis. She conducted numerous studies to reject the variability hypothesis that deemed women for destined for mediocrity and did her dissertation on how women were not mentally incapacitated during menstruation (Held, 2010). Hollingworth wrote six articles on the social factors that contributed to the social status of women. (1) One being “Social Devices for Impelling Women to Bear and Rear Children,” this article focused on the eight social constructs that motivated and pressured women to have and raise children. Of the eight, seven were first proposed by E. A. Ross in his book
It was thought to be improper to see a woman give birth. “Childbirth was one area of life that was distinctly female; men...generally excluded from the birthing chamber” (Married Life). Although this allows for many sexist ideas to be shared, it also allows for the beautiful relationships between women to be created. Women had to stick together in a world run by men. They became a strong, quiet network of friends and families that wove their way through hard times and
As expressed by Young (2002), male dominance was not present in the Lakota society, both genders had complimentary roles within their community and both were considered equally important. While woman were the caretakers, they did not think of themselves less than their husband’s counterpart who had to hunt to support his family and protect them against other
Sethe embraces the dominant values of idealised maternity. Sethe’s fantasy is
Individuals or groups of people have always had one thing in mind and that is surviving. Surviving means able to expand themselves without losing their traditional social structure and trying to fit in a larger network. Keeping track of who you are and come from holds the cultural meaningful by holding the group together. The Neolithic Revolution has been able to evolve and become a crucial part of being human by lineage exogamy, patrilineal, and matrilineal descent, and kinship and new reproductive technologies. Lineage exogamy means that lineage members must look for their marriages partners in other lineages.
In Emily Martin’s article, “The Egg and the sperm how science has constructed a romance based on stereotypical male-female roles”, she textually analyzed how scientific accounts of reproductive biology are framed and constructed by cultural stereotypes. She explains with examples how sperm has always been seen as the powerful and aggressive, whereas the egg as weak. Sperm are seen as “active”; therefore it is considered masculine and the egg as “passive “so they are feminine. The main idea of the research throws light on the social relationship of individuals with one another and the gender role, which is the extension of our biological process within ourselves.
The few personal stories from the women who experienced circumcision offer powerful additions to the horrifying nature of genital mutilation and how the poorly done operation forever ruins the women’s hygiene and health. The result of Soraya Mire’s choice to only showcase the graphic parts of female circumcision takes away the cultural meaning and importance of the practice. Soraya Mire’s strong opinion on female circumcision relates closely with the Western approach to viewing external cultures and disagreeing with practices that