Objectives: You will examine the relationships between social power, male dominance, and limitations in women's access to social rank and influence.
Films:
"Global Assembly Line" (Documents the economic exploitation of women's labor by international coorporations)
"No Longer Silent" (Indian women's struggles against injustice)
"A Veiled Revolution" (Interviews with Egyptian women about the return to the "Islamic dress")
"Yol" (Portrays violence against women following the release of their
husbands from a Turkish prison)
Note: For information on how to collect child support, call the Child Support Hotline, 1-800 537-7072
Background Material:
In the first week, you will be introduced to the relationship of gender-based differences in social power to social concepts of sexuality concerning jealousy, power, and male dominance. A fundamental concept for this and ensuing topics is idea of patriarchy. The term patriarchy refers to a society in which access to power and prestige is unequally distributed by gender. In a patriarchal society, men have greater access to political power and to prestige outside the domestic setting. The culture and customs of a patriarchal society assume that the male privilege of greater access to public power and prestige is normal to be protected. That is, members of a patriarchal society are socialized into a mind-set that takes male privilege and the institutions that perpetuated for granted, and both men and women in such societies may resist challenges to patriarchal institutions. This patriarchal mind-set can make it extremely difficult for members of a patriarchal society to perceive or acknowledge that some of their customs function in ways that victimize women. Where victimization is perceived, it is common for members of such societies to blame the victims themselves for their own victimization instead of challenging the validity of the institutions and the customs that make the victimization likely. If you correctly understand the concept of patriarchy, you will recognize that to acknowledge the ways in which patriarchal cultures create priveleges for males and marginalize females is not to assert that "men victimize women" but to recognize that certain intitutions and customs benefit men at the expense of women. Perceiving the inequities in patriarchy also does not constitute a denial that men may also be victimized by society and its customs. Most of us live in societies in which the privileges of power and prestige are also unequally divided up in a variety of ways besides gender: For instance, different social classes have unequal access to power, respect, and income. Race, ethnic origins, religion and various other social statuses are also often the basis for inequities in social life. Gender is but one of the many ways in which inequality can be manifest. It is the one which is particularly important for you to learn to recognize in this course.
In this assignment, you will examine readings about the relationships between patriarchal institutions and male dominance. You will learn how patriarchal institutions such as men's clubs and purdah function to keep women subordinated to men both economically and politically. An important concept in this week is that the central role of power in male dominance results in abuses such as rape, dowry violence, and economic exploitation in international economics.
Ernestine Friedl (1978) considered the question of male dominance in a broad range of preindustrialized societies, including societies with foraging, horticultural, pastoral, and agricultural technologies, and demonstrated that the relative status of women and men was conditioned by the economic roles of men and women. In particular, male control over extra-domestic income, especially income that could be used outside the domestic setting in ceremonial distribution was a key factor in male dominance. Women's contribution to family income might equal or excel that of men, but women were still likely to experience subordination if men monopolized the right to distribute wealth to others outside their own family. The analogous role in contemporary industrialized societies is the unequal access of women to economic positions of authority over the incomes of others (e.g., managerial positions and other occupations that play a role in determining other people's salaries). Heidi Hartmann (1976) has documented the economics of sexism in "Captialism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation by Sex," a work that complements that of Friedl by examining the ways in which male control over the labor of women and children was transformed by the rise of economic systems based on widespread exchange and large production units. Hartmann argues that the indirect and impersonal mechanisms of control that emerged with capitalism perpetuated male control over women by enforcing lower wages for women by job segregation, thereby creating pressure for women to marry. This advantages men both economically and domestically, but creates a vicious cycle of subordination for women.
Male dominance manifests itself through various institutions. For instance, Thomas Gregor (1982) examined the role of exclusive men's clubs in a nonindustrial society of South America and found that, as with such clubs in contemporary America, it functioned to perpetuate male economic and political power and male domination of women. Religion and family life may also function to perpetuate male dominance. In this lesson, you will have the opportunity to examine the roles of religion and family values in the Middle East and several other cultures of the world that influence the gender roles of women.
Numerous studies have documented the ways in which a culture's gender symbolism expresses the social roles of men and women. Gender differences often manifest themselves in the ways that parts of the world around us are associated with the realm of men or of women. For instance, in societies in which women are markedly subordinate to men, untamed nature is often regarded as symbolically female in contrast with the "masculine" realm of culture. This week ou will have the opportunity to learn about some of the differences in how the roles of men and women are symbolized (see Ortner, 1974, and Strathern, 1980). Sanday (1981) has also demonstrated that the symbolism of the supernatural also reflects gender: Egalitarian societies often utilize feminine symbolism in their mythologies, while patriarchal societies typically emphasize masculine deities. The religious institution in patriarchal societies can be a powerful force in maintaining the subordination of women. Phyllis Chesler (1989) gives one example that illustrates this point. The institution of religion is a powerful force in molding people's attitudes and values. So it is often a prominent factor in maintaining gender stratification. The gender ideology of religion includes the gender symbolism of creation mythologies and religious rules regarding men's and women's roles in society.
According to Sanday(1981), religious creations story symbolism is related to gender roles in society. Where men's and women's roles are equal in everyday life, female deities are prominent in creation stories, and female sybolism predominates: The female creators usually originate from within something such as water or earth, and working alone or in conjunction with male deities, they bring forth humans from the earth, mold them from clay, transform them from plants or animals, or carve them from wood-images that symbolize birth, creativity, and progress. In contrast, where women's roles are markedly subordinate to those of men, the religious symbolism of creation typically emphasize male gods who come down from the sky, and themes of warfare, aggression, and sexuality. In these societies, humans are usually created out of the god's body, by acts of sexual intercourse or through self-fertilization by the god, or by being born.
In male-supremicist societies, characteristics that are associated in the local cultural symbolism with feminine characteristics are used as explanations for the origins of various forms of evil, such as sin, illness, and death. For instance, in the Judeo-Christian origins story, it is Eve who succumbs to the temptation of the serpent and commits the first sin, the cause of death and the curse of pain in childbirth. In Greek mythology, illness, greed, and death were released into the world through Pandora's impulsiveness and uncontrolled curiosity. This use of feminine symbolism is particularly common in male-dominant societies. In these societies, symbols derived from women frequently have negative connotations. For instance, menstrual blood may be regarded as supernaturally dangerous, especially to men.
In societies that lack significant gender stratification, feminine symbolism often has a much more positive connotation. For instance, origin stories may rely on metaphors of childbirth, and women's ability to bear children may be a source of symbolism in which feminine essence is the source of life and fertility.
Where gender equality is present, women's roles are likely to include those of shaman or priest. For instance, among many of the Indians of northern California, shamans were always women. In patriarchal societies, the shamanistic or priestly roles in the dominant religious organization are often restricted to men. Thus, the exclusive ceremonial men's houses of South America and the New Guinea highlands and comparable ceremonial groups among Aboriginal Australians had political, economic, and religious functions that fostered male supremicism. Women were typically forbidden to participate or even observe the religious rituals practiced by men in these settings. In male dominant societies that excluded female participation in male religious ritualism, women often maintained a seperate system of religious rituals. For instance, in many Moslem countries where men may hold a number of different positions as ritual practitioners within Islam, the dominant ecclesiastical religion, women may participate in a variety of "women's cults" in female shamans enter trances and become possessed by spirits to serve as mediums, diviners, and curers for their clients.
Mary Nelson (1989), suggests that social change in the roles of women can be a source of antagonism towards women. For instance, the Inquisition occurred in Europe during a time when women were entering new forms of employment. Hundreds of thousands of women, particularly those who were not following the traditional gender roles of women, were accused of witchcraft and put to death--a practice that came to an end soon after men as well as women became potential targets of witchcraft accusations.
In the contemporary secular cultures of the West, the women who move from earlier traditional gender roles are still common likely victims of social antagonism. For instance, in the United States employed women have been blamed in political debates for a supposed decline in family values and an increase in social problems among children. Even psychiatric labelling sometimes has been used to legitimize the victimization of women. In the last century, women who did not conform to mainstream values about gender roles sometimes found themselves defined as mentally ill. More recently, several new gender-related diagnostic categories have been suggested by American mental health practitioners, including one category that portrays battered women as provokers of their own abuse and another that potentially could be used by a man as a legal defense against rape.
Reading Assignment:
You are expected to select articles to read from the following list.
1. Thomas Gregor, "No Girls Allowed," Science 82, vol. 3, no. 10 (December), 1982, pp. 26-31 -- A cross-cultural comparison that shows the role of private men's clubs in excluding women from positions of social influence and power.
2. Ernestine Friedl, "Society and Sex Roles," Human Nature, vol. 1, nol. 4, 1978, pp. 68-75 -- Demonstrates the roles of environmental adaptation and economics in determining the rank of women.
3. Strathern, Marilyn, "No Nature, No Culture: The Hagen Case." In Carol P. MacCormack and Marilyn Strathern (Eds.), Nature, Culture and Gender, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp. 174- 222 -- Evaluates the cultural symbolism of gender among the Hagen of New Guinea.
4. Karen Adams & N. Ware, "Sexism and English Language: The Linguistic Implications of Being a Woman." In Jo Freeman (Ed.) Women: A Feminist Perspective Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1989 (fourth edition), pp. 470-484 -- Examines the role of language in gender stereotyping.
5. Leonard I. Stein, "Male and Female: The Doctor-Nurse Game," Archives of General Psychiatry, June, 1960. Illustrates the interaction of dominant and subordinate roles in a patriarchal system.
6. Peggy Reeves Sanday, "The Environmental Context of Metaphors for Sexual Identities," "The Bases for Male Dominance," and "Why Women?" In Peggy Reeves Sanday, Female Power and Male Dominance: On the Origins of Sexual Inequality, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Pp. 55-75, 163-183, 184-214 - Contrasts the gender symbolism in the creation stories of patriarchal and egalitarian societies and interprets the relationships between male dominance and cultural symbolism.
7. Heidi Hartmann, "Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation by Sex," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 1, no. 3, part 2 (1976), pp. 137-169, reprinted in Elizabeth Abel and Emily Abel (Eds.), The Signs Reader: Women, Gender & Scholarship. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Pp. 193-225 -- A look at how patriarchy evolved with the rise of capitalism.
8. Elizabeth W. Fernea and Robert A Fernea, "A Look Behind the Veil," Human Nature, January 1979, pp. 68-77 -- A discussion of the role of the veil in the lives of women in an Islamic culture.
9. Alan Weisman, "The Other Side of Nogales," La Frontera, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1986, reproduced in City Magazine February 1987, pp. 34-41 -- Discusses the economic and sexual exploitation of women workers in U.S. assembly plants in Mexico.
10. Maurice Godelier, "The Origins of Male Domination," New Left Review (May-June, 1981), no 127 pp. 3-17 -- Examines the causes of male supremacism.
11. Phyllis Chesler, "The Walls Came Tumbling Down," On the Issues, vol. 11 (1989), pp. 7-11 - A first-hand account of the persecution of Jewish women who held prayer services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
12. Sherry Ortner, "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" In Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo (Ed.), Women, Culture and Society, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1974, pp. 67-87 -- Analyzes the cultural symbolism of gender.
13. Mayling Simpson-Hebert, "Women, Food and Hospitality in Iranian Society," Canberra Anthropology, vol. 10, no. 1 (April 1987), pp. 24-34 -- Examines how the subordination and seclusion of women in Iranian society influences the ettiquette of dinner invitations and their role in the maintenance of family honor.
14. Carol C. Laderman, "Putting Malay Women in Their Place." In Penny Van Esterek (Ed.), Women in Southeast Asia, Occasional Paper No. 9, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University, 1984, pp. 79-99 -- Describes the customs that limit women's roles in Malaysia.
15. Richley Crapo, "American Factories in Mexico", from Cultural Anthropology (3rd edition), Guilford, CT: DPG, pp. 326-327. --
Describes the exploitation of women in U.S. and Canadian factories in the U.S.-Mexican border free-trade zone.
16. UPI, "Chinese Are Killing Newborn Girls at High Rate", Columbus Citizen-Journal, 11 Nov. 1982. Describes female infanticide resulting from the conflict between a desire for sons and the national one-child per family policy.
17. Judith Stone, "Paternity Suit", Discover, Nov. 1970, pp. 32-35. A humorous but true illustration of differences in the experience and mind-sets of men and women.
18. Anthony Layng, "What Keeps Women 'In Their Place'?" USA Today Magazine, May 1989, pp. 89-91. An exploration of the origin of gendered economic roles.
ANNOTATED SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST
Brown, Paula, and Georgida Buchbinder (Eds.). (1976). Man and Woman in the New Guinea Highlands. Special publication of the American Anthropological Association, no. 8. A look at gender in a culture area of strongly patriarchal societies. 301.41995 M315
Charlton, Sue Ellen, Jana Everett, and Kathleen Staudt (Eds.). (1989). Women, the State, and Development. Albany: State University of New York Press. The relationships between states, socio-economic development, and feminist theory. Includes consideration of the effects of state policies and ideologies on defining gender differences and women's control over their productive and reproductive lives. HQ 1240 .W663 1989
Collier, Jane F. (1988). Marriage and Inequality in Classless Societies. Stanford: Stanford University Press -- On gender relations in foraging societies. GN 489.2 .C65 1988
Dahlberg, Frances, (Ed.). (1981). Woman the Gatherer. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. A collection of articles about women's influence on cultural evolution. GN 479.7 .W64
David, D., and B. Brannon (Eds.). (1976). The Forty-Nine Percent Majority. Redding, MA: Addison-Wesley -- A collection of gender issues for the 1970s.
Davies, Miranda (Ed.). (1987). Third World - Second Sex (Vol. 2). London: Zed Books, Ltd -- A collection of feminist issues in Third World countries. HQ 1870.9 .T48 1987 vol. 2
Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon (Eds.). (1987). Rural Women and State Policy: Feminist Perspectives on Latin American Agricultural Development. Boulder, CO: Westview Press -- Examines the effects of development on women in Latin America. HQ 1240.5 .C29 .R87 1987
Errington, Frederick, and Deborah Gewertz. (1987). Cultural Alternatives and a Feminist Anthropology: An Analysis of Culturally Constructed Gender Interests in Papua New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A reevaluation of women's status in a very patriarchal society. DU 740.42 .E77 1987
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock. (1965). Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village. NY: Doubleday. A personal account of the experiences of life in a small Iraqi village as the wife of an anthropologist. DS 70.7 .F4 1965
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock. (1988). A Street in Marakech: A Personal View of Urban Women in Morocco. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. An American woman's account of Moroccan life.
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock, and Basima Quattan Bezirgan. (1977). Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. A collection of women's views on gender in the Middle East. HQ 1170 .M53 1977
Finlay, Barbara. (1989). The Women of Azua: Work and Family in the Rural Dominican Republic. NY: Praeger -- Women's lives in a contemporary agrarian environment. HD 6073 .A292D654 1989
Friedl, Erika. (1989). The Women of Deh Koh. An ethnography of women's lives in an Iranian mountain village. HQ 1735.2 .F75 1989
Gale, Fay (Ed.). (1970). Women's Role in Aboriginal Society. Australian Aboriginal Studies, no. 36. Canberra: Australian National Institute of Aboriginal Studies. An anthropological study of women's roles in native Australia.
Gallin, Rita S., and Anne Ferguson (Eds.). (1990). The Women and International Development Annual, vol. 2. Boulder, CO: Westview Press -- A recent look at gender and development.
Goodale, Jane C. (1971). Tiwi Wives: A Study of the Women of Melville Island, North Australia. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. An account of women's lives in a society in which marriage was mandatory for women of all ages.
Grant, Judith. (1994) Fundamental Feminism. NY: Routledge. -- Sets for the contemporary debates within feminist theory and politics. HQ1190.G7 1994
Hafkin, Nancy, and Edna Bay (Eds.). (1976). Women in Africa. Stanford: Stanford University Press -- Analyzes the status of women in African societies.
Hajib, Nadia. (1988). Womanpower: The Arab Debate on Women at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press -- Stresses the importance of changing economic and political conditions which can lead to the reinterpretation of tradition.
Hossain, Rokeya Sakhawat. (1988). Sultana's Dream. NY: Feminist Press. The translation of a story of role reversal by an Indian woman. PR9420.9 .R65 .S86 1988
Matthasson, Carolyn J. (Ed.). (1974). Many Sisters: Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective. NY: Macmillan. A collection of essays by women anthropologists and sociologists about the lives of women from a world-wide sample of both traditional and contemporary societies. 301.412 .M432 1974
Morton, Patricia. (1991). Disfigured Images: The Historical Assault on Afro-American Women. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. A look at the history of stereotypes used in the portrayal of black American women. E 185.86 .M64 1991
Nash, June, and Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly (Eds.). (1983). Women, Men, and the International Division of Labor. Albany, NY: SUNY Press -- Discusses the gendered division of labor in the international industrialized economy. HD 5710.7 .W65 1983
O'Barr, Jean F (Ed.). (1982). Perspectives on Power: Women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Durham, NC: Duke University Center for International Studies, Occasional Papers Series, Number 13. A collection of interpretations of gender in various world areas.
O'Brien, Denise, and Sharon Tiffany. (1984). Rethinking Women's Roles: Perspectives from the Pacific. Berkeley: University of California Press. Women's roles in Polynesia. GN 668 .R45 1984
Poscatello, Ann (Ed.). (1979). Male and Female in Latin America: Essays. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. A series of views on gender in Latin America. ISBN 0-829-5306-4
Powers, Marla N. (1986). Oglala Women: Myth, Ritual, and Reality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. The roles and duties of traditional Lakota women. E 99.03 .P67 1986 (1988 ed. also available)
Roberts, Claire, and Iris Berger. (1986). Women and Class in Africa. NY: Africana Publishing -- Examines the status and roles of women in African societies. HQ 1788 .W57 1986
Russell, Diana E. H. (1989). Lives of Courage: Women for a New South Africa. NY: Basic Books -- Twenty-four South African women discuss their struggles against apartheid and sexism. HQ 1236.5 .S6R87 1898
Sacks, Karen. (1979). Sisters and Wives: The Past and Future of Sexual Equality. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Analyzes male-female roles in terms of their differing relationship to the means of production and clarifies women's status in a variety of traditional African societies. GN 479.7 .S2 1979
Sacks, Karen, and Dorothy Remy (Eds.). (1984). My Troubles Are Going to Have Trouble With Me. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press -- The effects of industrialization on women and men. HD 65095 .M9 1984
Sadawi, Nawal el. (1983). Woman at Point Zero. London: Zed Press. Arab women in literature. PJ 7819 .E4 .S22X 1983
Sanday, Peggy R. (1981). Female Power and Male Dominance: On the Origins of Sexual Inequality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press -- An anthropological look at the symbolism and practice of gender differences. HQ 1075 .S26 1981
Sangari, Kumkum, and Sudesh Vaid, (Eds.). (1990). Recasting Women: Essays in Indian Colonial History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press -- Analyzes the gender implications of changes in post-colonial India. HQ 1743 .R43 1990
Schlegel, Alice, (Ed.). (1977). Sexual Stratification: A Cross-Cultural View. NY: Columbia University Press -- An anthropological collection of studies that address the issue of gender equality and inequality in a series of nonWestern societies. 301.41 Se92ss
Sivard, Ruth Leger. (1985). Women: A World Survey. Washington, D.C.: World Priorities. Presents comparative information of the conditions of women in various aspects of life such as education and income in simple tables. HQ1154 .S547 1985
Steinem, Gloria (Ed.). (1980). Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. NY: HOlt, Rinehart and Winston -- A classic collection of feminist concerns in 1980. HQ 1413 .S675 .A36 1983b (special 1983 edition)
Strathern, Marilyn. (1988). The Gender of the Gift: Problems with Women and Problems with Society in Melanesia. Berkeley: University of California Press -- a feminist examination of gender roles in Melanesia. DU 490 .S79 1988
Strathern, Marilyn. (1972). Women in Between. London: Seminar Press. An anthropological study of the status of women. ON ORDER
Warenski, Marilyn. (1978).Patriarchs and Politics: The Plight of Mormon Women. NY: McGraw Hill. An historical study of gender in Mormonism. 261.83412 W229
Warren, Mary Anne. (1984). Australian Women: New Feminist Perspectives.
Melbourne: Oxford Univerisity Press. A feminist interpretation of gender
in Australia.
Lesson 2. Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children
Objectives: You will learn about the traditional anthropological theories about the universality of the incest taboo and contrast them with contemporary feminist considerations about incest as sexual abuse. You will learn about the social mechanisms that traditionally have supported the taboo against incest in societies in which extended families are economically and politically important institutions and explore the effects of the historic decline in these mechanisms.
Resources:
Covenant House 1-800-999-9999
Covenant House provides counseling, shelter, and referal services.
National Network of Runaway and Youth Services
Department P, P.O. Box 8283
Washington, D.C. 20024
202-488-0739 or 1-800-448-4663
NNRYS provides information about the nearest shelter program.
National Runaway Switchboard: 1-800-621-4000
NRS encourages runaway children to reestablish contact with their families.
Film:
"To A Safer Place" (An incest survivor revisits scenes of her childhood)
Background Material:
This week you will read about the various ways of thinking about incest. The first readings deal with the universality of the incest taboo and the classical theories that have been developed to account for this universality. The readings then shift their focus to the more practical issues raised by feminist concerns relating to incest as an abuse of power. You will aided in moving from the traditional relativistic focus of classical social and behavioral science theorizing to a concern for issues of victimization. The focus on incest as victimization based on the abusive use of social power prepares students for analyzing other topics such as rape, homophobia, prostitution, pornography, and reproductive rights as interrelated human issues that are connected by a common thread of issues about unequal access to social power and the relationship of power to the nature of patriarchy and its perpetuation.
A variety of theories have been proposed for the existence of an incest taboo in societies throughout the world. These have ranged from early, simplistic instinct theories to more recent ideas about the effects of socialization on sexual attraction and of the impact of incest on life within the family and on the political and economic viability of families. Anthropological theorizing has emphasized the social functions of incest and the incest taboo, rather than on the psychological impact of incest, and have given little attention to issues of the "politics" of incest as an abuse of power within the family.
The taboo against incest has been thought of as a cultural universal. With the exception of a handful of societies which have legitimated certain incestuous relationships (such as the incest implicit in the royal marriages of siblings in societies such as ancient Egypt or Hawaii), all societies seem to have forbidden sexual contact between at least parents and children and between siblings. Indeed, most nonindustrialized societies have included a much broader range of kin and even pseudo-kin (such as nursemaids) under the prohibition. Theories about why the incest taboo is so widespread have been proposed using biological, psychological, sociological, economic, and political grounds. The earliest explanations of the incest taboo simply attributed its universality to "instinct," an idea that has generally been discarded since if there were an instinctive avoidance of incest, rules against it would not be necessary (and its the widespread nature of the rules that needs explaining) and incest would be unlikely to occur (but it does). Later biological theories emphasized the possible detrimental genetic effects of incest to human groups, but they have not generally remained popular for two reasons. First, most societies have limited knowledge about the nature of biological heredity, and it is doubtful that the harmful effects of close inbreeding on a species with fertility rates as high as are typical of human societies could cause the extinction of any society that lacked an incest taboo. Therefore, most theorists have looked elsewhere to explain the universality of the prohibition.
A psychological approach still advocated is based on Westermark's (1889) notion that "propinquity breeds contempt," that is that children who are reared together are simply not likely to be sexually attracted to one another due to a kind of "boredom factor." Several studies have suggested that young people are more likely to prefer strangers to other potential partners they have grown up with. For instance, unrelated children reared in the communal dormitories of certain Israeli kibbutzim have a demonstrated tendency to marry persons from other communities. Detractors of these studies argue, on the other hand, that this marriage effect is due to circumstance: By the time the children are old enough for mate selection, they have been dispersed due to the universal military obligation. Studies (Wolf, 1966) of quasi-sibling marriage in Taiwan in which the bride-to-be is raised from childhood by the in-law family have shown such marriages to have higher rates of infertility, impotence, and divorce than other Taiwanese marriages. Although there may be some merit to the idea that sexual attraction is greater between strangers than between persons reared together, this approach is more relevant to sibling incest taboos than to parent-child sex prohibitions and also fails to address the fact that incest does occur.
The sociological approach emphasizes the role of the taboo in preventing the role confusion that incestuous relationships could have within families if incest were acceptable (Starcke, 1889). If, for instance, a daughter was also a co-wife of her own father, conflict could arise about when it would be appropriate to play a subordinate or more equal role in respect to either the mother or the father. This approach is generally regarded as overly simplistic in failing to recognize that humans generally manage to juggle a lot of potential role conflict without tremendous difficulty. For instance, newly married children hosting their parents in their new homes could experience role conflict over who should play the dominant role in the new setting, the parents in their traditional dominant role or the children as hosts and family heads in their own residence. We manage to live with such conflicts and usually work out customary accomodations that let one person play a dominant role in one setting and another the dominant role in other settings. At best, role conflict does not seem to demand an incest taboo enough to explain its universality.
Economic and political implications of the incest taboo maintain a lot of popularity among anthropological theorists (e.g., White, 1948; Harris, 1968). The most common argument runs along the following lines: Prohibiting incest is an indirect means of forcing each new generation to marry outside the natal family. If sex is unavailable between parents and children or between siblings, then marriages between these persons is also impossible. Sexual partners must be found outside the family of origin, and these relationships--when legitimized as marriages--become the basis for economic and political alliances between the in-law families. Families that "marry out" become economically and politically more secure and powerful, since in-laws may be called upon for aid in times of economic need or political strife such as feuds between neighboring families. Families that allow incest tend to be isolates that eventually lose out in competition with families that are more powerful through the marriage alliances that result from the incest taboo. In effect, the incest taboo codifies the rule of "Marry out or die out!," as incestuous families became the exception to the usual rule. This approach sees the incest taboo as a cultural rule that has adaptive value and is supported by recent research that does indicate that incest is more common among marginal and socially isolated families.
A feminist approach to incest differs from all the previous ones in being less concerned with intellectual theorizing and more with the practical issues of incest as the sexual abuse of one person by another. The concept of social power in gender roles and generational roles becomes a central focus in feminist discussions of incest. The feminist focus on incest as victimization of one person by another brings the concept of power to center stage. Differential access to social power is based both on gender and relative age. In most societies, male roles have greater access to power than do female roles, and older persons have greater power than younger ones. Both parent-child and sibling violations of the incest taboo can be examined as innappropriate uses of social power by one individual to gain sexual access to another that would otherwise be denied. From this perspective, the purpose of the incest taboo is to protect the rights of the less powerful member of the relationship. This view of the nature of the incest taboo receives support from anthropological research that indicates that the specific form of incest that is most strictly prohibited varies from society to society, depending on which relationship is most likely to be abused. For instance, in strongly patriarchal societies it is typically father-daughter incest that is most strongly sanctioned, while in societies in which a woman's brother is the economic provider and head of household it is usually sibling incest that is most strongly punishable. In an anthropological context, this approach would also note that traditional, non-industrialized societies in which extended families exert great influence over individuals' social roles, the family is a much more effective force in sanctioning violations of the incest taboo than is the nuclear family which developes in response to the economically fragmenting effects of industrialization. This is not to suggest that enforcement of the taboo is perfect in preindustrialized societies, but it may account for some of the apparant increase in incest which has been noted by legal and health care practitioners in the United States in recent decades.
A feminist approach to incest is somewhat compatible with the role-conflict view of the incest taboo, although it would focus more particularly on the psychologically traumatic aspect of the role conflict situation than on the sociological aspects of role conflict. The period of childhood socialization is the time during which children acquire the foundations of trust which serve as the basis for their continuing successful interpersonal relationships with other people throughout the rest of their lives. Incest impairs the victim's ability to trust others and form bonds of emotional intimacy. It is therefore a form of victimization. The more powerful individuals in an incestuous relationship will find it inherently difficult to distinguish between their own needs and those of their subordinate victims. Thus, the power holders in such relationships find it easy to rationalize the imposition of their own choices as something other than victimization (such as responses to the victim's alleged seductiveness) or may further victimize the already exploited individual by threats and intimidation to keep the relationship secret. The victim is thereby subjected to debilitating anxiety and/or guilt, having been forced into a subjective sense of responsibility for creating and protecting the familial relationship. Therapists indicate that the traumas that result from incestuous abuse can result in repression of memories of the abuse that may only surface years or even decades later.
Reading Assignment:
1. Elizabeth Stork, "The Unspeakable Family Secret," Psychology Today, May 1984, pp. 38-39,42,44-46 -- Discusses the high frequency of incest, its relationship to family structure and its effects on victims.
2. Mary Orson, "Wonderland," Salt Lake City Magazine, Early Spring 1990, pp. 63-65 -- A gripping account of the effects of incest by a survivor.
3. Leslie A. White, "The Definition and Prohibition of Incest." In Leslie A. White, The Science of Culture: A Study of Man and Civilization, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971, pp. 303-329 -- Critiques the traditional attempts to explain the incest taboo and suggests an argument for the adaptive benefits of the taboo based on its social effects.
4. Gail Sheehy, "Are You Ready to Listen?" Parade Magazine, July 29, 1984, pp. 4-6 -- How people respond to their children's disclosure of sexual abuse.
5. Marvin Harris, "The Origin of Incest Taboos." In Marvin Harris, The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture, Columbia University Press: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968, pp. 197-199 -- A brief history of some of the prominent anthropological theories of the origin of the incest taboo.
6. Yehudi Cohen, "The Disappearance of the Incest Taboo," Human Nature, vol. 1, July 1978, pp. 72-78 -- Argues that the practical conditions that have traditionally supported the incest taboo have become progressively weaker.
7. Domeena C. Renshaw, "Incest: Handling the Disclosure," Sexual Medicine Today, February 1983, pp. 6-8, 10-11, reprinted in Ollie Pocs (Ed.), Annual Editions: Readings in Human Sexuality 85/86, Guilford, CT: The Dushkin Publishing Group, 1985, pp. 233-236 -- Briefly discusses the roles of medical, psychiatric, and legal institutions in dealing with incest.
8. Gregory C. Leavitt, "The Disappearance of the Incest Taboo: A Cross-Cultural Test of General Evolutionary Hypotheses," American Anthropologist, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 116-131, 1989 -- Demonstrates that as societies become technologically and socially more complex and as trade institutions develop, the number of relatives included in the incest taboo declines and punishments become less severe.
9. Sandra Butler, "Incest: Whose Reality, Whose Theory," Aegis: Magazine on Ending Violence Against Women, Summer/Autumn 1980, pp. 48-55 (P.O. Box 21033, Washington, D.C.) -- A dated, but groundbreaking article written when the practice of incest was widely denied in the United States.
10. Sylvia B. Patten, Yvonne K. Gatz, Berlin Jones, and Deborah L. Thomas, "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the Treatment of Sexual Abuse," Social Work, May 1989, pp. 197-203 -- Examines clinical aspects of trauma in incest survivors and discusses therapy for incest victims.
11. Lyn Wenzel, "Will It Ever End," New Directions for Women, 1993,
Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 3ff.
ANNOTATED SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST
Arens, W. (1985). The Original Sin. NY: Oxford University Press. An anthropological examination of incest that includes information on societies that did not prohibit incest. HQ 71. A73 1986
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy (Ed.). (1987). Child Survival: Anthropological Perspectives on the Treatment and Maltreatment of Children. Boston: D. Reidel Publishing Company -- A cross-cultural collection of articles on the anthropology of children.
Fox, Robin. (1984). The Red Lamp of Incest: An Inquiry into the Origins
of Mind and Society. South Bend, IN: Notre Dame.
Lesson 3. Patriarchy, Female Infanticide, and the Physical and Mental Abuse of Women
Objectives: You will explore the relationships between male dominance and the status of females with a focus on the causes of physical abuse and female infanticide. In the process, you will gain insights into the social dynamics and cultural-ecology of female subordination.
Films:
"A Small Happiness" (Examines the Chinese preference for sons)
"A Cry in the Dark" (Recounts the story of an Australian woman accused of infanticide)
"Our God is a Woman" (Describes the Bizhago, a western African society in which men are described as being a "minority")
Note: Logan's CAPSA (Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse) operates a shelter and safe environment for women and children who need help, support, or protection. Their crisis telephone number is 753-2500.
Background Material:
In the third week you will be introduced to the issue of female infanticide and physical and mental abuse as manifestations of patriarchy that are closely related to the problem of sexual abuse. You will explore the relationships between male dominance and the status of females and in the process you will gain insights into the cultural-ecology of female subordination.
The physical abuse of women is a major worldwide problem. For instance, Lori Heise reports that "In Bankok, Thailand, a reported 50 percent of married women are beaten regularly by their husbands. In the barrios of Quito, Ecuador, 80 percent of women are said to have been physically abused. And in Nicaragua, 44 percent of men admit to beating their wives or girlfriends. Equally shocking statistics can be found in the industrial world" (1989a, p. B1). According to Teri Randall (1990), in the United States, abuse by a partner or spouse is the single most common cause of injury to women and the most common cause of women's visits to emergency rooms in hospitals. Injuries from abuse by husband or lover are more common than injuries from automobile accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. The annual cost of family violence in the United States include $44 million direct costs, 175,000 days missed from paid work, 21,000 hospitalizations, 99,800 days of hospitalization, 28,700 emergency room visits, and 39,900 doctor visits.
A central article for this week is Carole Sheffield's "Sexual Terrorism: The Social Control of Women" (1987), which does an excellent job in demonstrating the interrelatedness of topics which are covered throughout the course. The physical and mental abuse of women in patriarchal societies has taken many forms, including female infanticide, the physical abuse of women in both domestic and nondomestic settings, religious persecution of women, mental hospitalization of women as a means of social control, and a wide variety of other forms that Carole Sheffield (1987) has broadly referred to as "sexual terrorism." Sheffield defines sexual terrorism as any use of violence and fear that helps maintain male control and domination of females. She cites particularly rape, assault, the sexual abuse of children, and sexual harassment as examples of sexual terrorism.
Acts of sexual terrorism have several things in common: Crimes of violence of these kinds cut across socioeconomic lines. They are the crimes least likely to be reported, or result in trial or conviction. The victim is often held responsible for the violent acts of sexual terrorism, and the acts themselves are often not taken seriously. The abusive use of power inherent in these acts is masked by the common perception that they are really about sex. Adrienne Rich (1980, pp. 240-241) has summarized the characteristics of male power in terms of eight categories that complements Sheffield's shorter list: Male power includes the power of men (1) deny women their own sexuality, (2) to force male sexuality upon them, (3) to command or exploit women's labor and its products, (4) to control or expropriate women's children. (5) to confine women physically or prevent their movement, (6) to use women as objects in male transactions, (7) to cramp their creativeness, and (8) to withhold society's knowledge and cultural attainments from women.
Female infanticide, the killing of female infants, has occurred widely in human societies, especially under conditions in which male offspring are highly valued (cf. Miller, 1987). Marvin Harris (1974) has argued that female infanticide was the primary means of population control in human societies prior to the development of effective means of contraception. So widespread was female infanticide in the Middle Ages, for instance, that infant deaths due to suffocation during night-time nursing (when parents "fell asleep" and roled over onto the infants) were rationalized as "accidental" even though statistics make it clear that it was daughters rather than sons who were the overwhelming victims of such "accidents." Even the Church made it clear that although they were regrettable, such deaths were not to be viewed as "sins," since they were merely byproducts of the natural activity of taking the infant into the parental bed to suckle it.
Gideon M. Kressel (1981) analyzed the killing of sisters and daughters in Arab Muslim society to defend the honor of the patrilineal family. Family honor is extremely important in many Islamic countries, and often deeply depends on the sexual purity of the female members of the family. Female sexual purity is so important that in many Islamic countries it is insured by the practice of purdah, or seclusion. Purdah is a requirment that women remain isolated from public view. Common features of purdah are the restriction of women to the inner parts of the home when guests are present and the rule of being veiled the woman is outside the home. Violation of the rules of purdah are severely punished in some countries that follow the custom. Where the murder of sisters or daughters is practice to restore family honor, it occurs when the girl or woman has been publicly accused of consorting with a male. The act need not have included sexual intercourse. For instance, Kressel cites the example of a thirteen year old who was drowned after she had been berated by her brother when he caught her holding hands with a boy. In these murders the attacker is usually a brother, but is also frequently the father. The victim is most often in her teens, but may be a married woman. The homicide occurs after a public attack on the family's honor that the family is unable to address by other means. Means of dealing with the situation without resort to homicide include arranging a marriage between the couple, but such means are not always followed. For instance, if the boy were of a lower-ranked lineage, the marriage might not be acceptable to the girl's father, since it would lower the esteem of his lineage. Kressel believes such acts are a means for patrilineal kin groups to reassert their honor by demonstrating their loyalty to the social values of the society in which they are competing for social standing. So these homicides are not thought of as murders, but as acts that enhance the families prestige and demonstrate the religious commitment of the attacker to societal values.
Various articles in this section suggest possible causes of male supremacist domination of women. For instance, Marvin Harris (1974) points out that the superior rank of males is particularly extreme when the male role in warfare is compatible with their day-to-day domination of local community life. Thus, in societies in which warfare is between neighboring communities of the same society, the aggressive role of males as warriors is intertwined with their daily social roles as members of their local communities and families. In such societies, women are expected to play extremely subordinated roles and are often treated as mere objects of barter between warriors. On the other hand, when warfare (or economic activities such as long-distance trade) remove men from their local communities for prolonged periods, the day-to-day economic and political life of local communities is in the hands of women, and inheritance is typically from mother to child. In such societies, women often have exceptionally high rank. Men's aggressive warrior roles in such societies convey upon men no special privileges when they return home, since property is owned and inherited by women. Mary Nelson (1989), on the other hand, suggests that social change in the roles of women was itself a source of antagonism in an article about the Inquisition, which occurred during a period when women were entering new forms of employment. During this period, hundreds of thousands of women, particularly those who were not following the traditional gender roles of women, were accused of witchcraft and put to death--a practice that came to an end soon after men as well as women became potential targets of witchcraft accusations.
In the contemporary secular cultures of the West, the traditional role of religion in legitimizing the victimization of women has been somewhat supplanted by the scientific institutions of medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, but women who deviate from their traditional gender roles are still the most likely victims. You will explore the role of psychiatric labelling to legitimize the victimization of women in readings about the feminist implications of recently suggested revisions in American Psychiatric Association diagnostic categories that could lend themselves to legal defenses against rape or the portrayal of battered women as provokers of their own abuse.
Reading Assignment:
1. Marvin Harris, "The Savage Male." In Marvin Harris, Cows, Pigs, Wars and and Witches: The Riddles of Culture, NY: Random House, 1974, pp. 83-107 -- Argues that warfare and male control over the tools of war explain the rise of male supremacism in preindustrialized societies.
2. Marvin Harris, "The Origin of Male Supremacism and the Oedipus Complex." Chp. 6 of Marvin Harris, Cannibals and Kings: The Origins of Cultures, NY: Random House, 1977, pp. 55-66 -- An extension of his discussion of male supremacism.
3. Carole Sheffield, "Sexual Terrorism: The Social control of Women." In Beth B. Hess and Myra Marks Ferree (Eds.), Analyzing Gender: A Handbook of Social Science Research, 1987, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 171-189, reprinted in Jo Freeman (Ed.) Women: A Feminist Perspective, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1989 (fourth edition), pp. 3-19 -- A groundbreaking analysis of rape, wife battery, incest, pornography, harassment, and other forms of sexual violence.
4. Anon., "A Step Backwards for Women? Controversial Diagnoses Proposed for DSM-III-R," News for Women in Psychiatry vol. 4 (1986), no. 2, pp. 1-3 -- Memo to the Board of Trustees, American Psychiatric Association from the Committee on Women in Psychology, American Psychological Association regarding the proposed revisions to the DSM-III.
5. Diana E. H. Russell and Nicole Van de Ven, "Forced Incarceration in Mental Hospitals and Marriage." In Diana E. H. Russell and Nicole Van de Ven (Eds.), Crimes Against Women: Proceedings of the International Tribunal, Millbrae, CA: Les Femmes, 1976, pp. 140-143 -- The personal testimony of one woman who was subjected to enforced hospitalization when she left an oppressive marriage in Ireland, a country that does not permit divorce.
6. Gideon M. Kressel, "Sororicide/Filiacide: Homicide for Family Honour," Current Anthropology, vol. 22, no. 2 (April 1981), pp. 141-158 -- Analyzes the killing of sisters and daughters in Arab Muslim society to defend the honor of the patrilineal family.
7. "Appendix A: Proposed Diagnostic Categories Needing Further Study" From Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III-R, Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1987 -- Proposed psychiatric categories ("Self-Defeating Personality Disorder," and "Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder") that define women's victimization as mental disorders that women may have, thereby implicitly holding them responsible for their own victimization.
8. Barbara D. Miller, "Female Infanticide and Child Neglect in Rural North India." In Nancy Scheper-Hughes (Ed.), Child Survival: Anthropological Perspectives on the Treatment and Maltreatment of Children, Boston: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1987. Pp. 95-112 -- Documents the extent of female infanticide.
9. Jill Matthews, excerpts from Good and Mad Women: The Historical Construction of Femininity in Twentieth Century Australia, London: Unwin, pp. 3-29, 202-206 -- Discusses mental hospitalization as a tool for the subordination of women.
10. Mary Nelson, "Why Witches Were Women." In Jo Freeman, Women: A Feminist Perspective (fourth edition), Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1989, pp. 335-350 -- Argues that social changes in the roles of women were at the base of women's oppression as witches in Medieval Europe.
11. MS. "Domestic Violence", Ms, 1994, Vol. 5, No. 2 (September/October), pp. 33-37.
ANNOTATED SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST
Matthews, Jill. (1985). Good and Mad Women: The Historical Construction of Femininity in Twentieth Century Australia. London: Unwin Hyman -- Examines the various uses of institutionalized social power to enforce gender roles.
Tifft, Larry. (1993). Battering of Women: The Failure of Intervention and the Case for Prevention. Boulder, CO: Westview Press -- Examines the empirical data on battery and intervention. HV 6626.2 .T54 1993