ANTH 1150 Lecture : gender.doc
19 Apr 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Cross cultural constructions of gender suggest that it is not rooted in biology, but is rather a social construction. Sex refers to the biological fact of being male or female organs an individual has. Gender refers to the cultural significance a given society places on the biological facts of sex. Some feminists question even the biological distinction and the notion that there are two (and only two) distinct sexes. Anthropologists first became interested in this question with the rise of feminist thought in anthropology. They sought to challenge the notion that women are naturally inferior to men. Our society is based on a two gender model -- one is male or female. Adult males are supposed to be masculine, adult females are supposed to be feminine. Our model also emphasizes heterosexuality as the norm (although this is changing) Said to be born that way but most likely some are anatomically male and some hejira have had surgery.
