Gender Roles Anthropology 393
Cultural Construction of HIV/AIDS
Josephine MacIntosh
Gender Roles Anthropology 393
Cultural Construction of HIV/AIDS
Josephine MacIntosh
Shifting Language
Previously known as sex roles
Currently known as gender roles
The term sex is properly used in a biological context
The term gender is properly used in a cultural/social context
Sex
A social status usually based on genital appearance (what we can see)
Persons may be:
Female
Male
Intersexed or Hermaphodrite (having sex characteristics of both females and males)
(Aaron H. Devor, 2000)
Gender
A social status usually based on the convincing performance of femininity or masculinity (Aaron H. Devor, 2000)
Persons may be
Women or girls
Boys or men
Transgendered
Gender Roles Are …
Culturally constructed
They affect how we:
Perceive and are perceived
Evaluate and are evaluated
Learned through interaction w/ group
Not inherited
They prescribe expected behaviours
They vary from group to group
3 New Guinea Tribes Margaret Mead’s Classic Study (1935)
Arapesh
Both genders worked cooperatively, non-aggressive, responsive to others, sexual contact not a driving force (feminine?)
3 New Guinea Tribes Margaret Mead’s Classic Study (1935)
3 New Guinea Tribes Margaret Mead’s Classic Study (1935)
Tchambuli
Females dominant
Males more dependent
Mead’s Conclusions
Many, if not ALL, masculine and feminine traits are socially constructed
Gender roles are NOT biologically based
Additionally- male dominance in contemporary society reflects a prior need for physical strength to ensure survival
Current value structure continues to give men higher status tasks and assignments
Gender Expectations
Things you like doing that are expected of your gender
Things you don't like doing that are expected of your gender
Things you like doing that are expected of the other gender
Things you like doing but can't because of your gender
Sexual Stratification
Division of labour based on gender
Gender similar to racial or caste distinctions
Lower ranking gender or class kept from prestigious work
Jobs that women do are automatically ranked as less important
Sexual Stratification
BUT… the sexual division of labour is an ancient primate trait
Does it serve us to try to change this?
Sexual Stratification
What about the feminization of poverty?
Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50% of what men earn
How might this affect HIV infections among women?
Dimensions of Social Inequality
Social status depends on
Wealth (money, access to resources)
Power (agency, independence)
Prestige (social esteem)
Does everyone have the same choices and opportunities?
In a class system?
In a caste system?
Gender Roles & Status
Males are afforded more choices and opportunities because masculinity is an achieved status
Prove you’re a man
Females have fewer choices and opportunities because femininity is an ascribed status
Act like a lady
Gender Roles & HIV
Prevailing gender roles
Considered by many to be the most pervasive and universal problem associated with HIV prevention
One of the few ethnographic commonalities between women as a group
Globally, may present the largest obstacle to HIV prevention
Women Are…
Generally of lower social status
Often economically dependent
Expected to be sexually passive
Often labelled negatively if they are too knowledgeable about sex
The prevailing attitude is that only sluts and whores use condoms
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