{"id":1674,"date":"2018-10-26T15:29:50","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T15:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-sexandgender\/?post_type=chapter&p=1674"},"modified":"2018-11-28T16:53:56","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T16:53:56","slug":"m1-definitions-and-concepts","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-sexandgender\/chapter\/m1-definitions-and-concepts\/","title":{"raw":"1.1 Definitions and Concepts","rendered":"1.1 Definitions and Concepts"},"content":{"raw":"

Deborah Amory, SUNY Empire State College<\/em><\/h3>\r\n

OVERVIEW<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThis textbook is designed as a companion volume for the SUNY Empire State College course, GSST 3030 Sex & Gender in Global Perspectives.\u00a0 We have designed this textbook, and the course, to be as open as possible.\u00a0 That means that instead of ordering a textbook printed by a commercial publisher, we designed our own textbook for the course, drawing on educational materials that are licensed in a way that let us remix and reuse them.\u00a0 By using OERs (Open Educational Resources), our goal is to make the course as affordable as possible, so that our students can learn as much as possible without having to worry about the cost of learning materials.\r\n\r\nThe textbook and the course are similarly organized.\u00a0 We have created an introduction to key concepts and ideas in the first module.\u00a0 Thus, Chapter 1 will give you an overview of the course, including an introduction to the study of gender and sexuality from the perspective of anthropologists.\u00a0 The next sections in Chapter 1 address three essential ideas that are foundational to the course: sex, gender, and globalization.\u00a0 Read these sections very carefully, and you may well want to refer back to them as you progress through the rest of the course. It is essential that we all understand the terms and concepts so that we can use them accurately throughout the course.\r\n\r\nThe remaining modules of the course focus on an exploration of gender and sexuality within specific historical, geographic, and cultural contexts.\u00a0 Thus Module 2 focuses on Africa, Module 3 on South Asia, and Module 4 on the Caribbean.\u00a0 Our concern here was to avoid what might be described as a tourist's approach to learning about sex and gender cross culturally.\u00a0 We are not asking you to visit another country for a few days, or a week, to sample the food and watch \"native\" performances.\u00a0 Rather, we are asking you to learn in some depth about a particular region's history, including a specific experience of colonialism and globalization, before we explore case studies that address complex issues of gender and sexuality in that region.\u00a0 This is why it's important to study the geography, history, and culture of a region (including its major religions, languages, etc.), so that we may locate that region's specific social construction of sexuality and gender within its proper historical and cultural context.\r\n\r\nFor each regional module, the textbook contains background information on the history and geography of the region, under sections subtitled \"Introducing the Region\".\u00a0 We also include a section called \"Projects & Profiles\", which introduces you, briefly, to women leaders and\/or activist programs or projects in the region that are designed to improve life for women and girls, and to combat gender inequality.\u00a0 You might consider doing additional research on these projects and profiles on your own.\u00a0 Finally, you will also find additional course materials organized by module in the online course itself.\u00a0\u00a0 These materials include additional required readings (also free to Empire State College students, through our online library), that may be downloaded and printed.\u00a0 You will also find multimedia materials like YouTube videos and documentaries that are accessible through the Empire State College library.\r\n

WHAT IS SEX AND GENDER?\r\n<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nSo, let us begin.\u00a0 In this course, we will explore the meanings and experience of sex and gender from a global perspective.\u00a0 Let's start by asking ourselves a basic question: why learn about sex and gender globally? \u00a0Don\u2019t we all know what it means to be a man or a woman? \u00a0While the answer to that question may seem obvious to some people (\u201cOf course I know what that means!\u201d), the fascinating thing is that when we learn about gender and sexuality cross-culturally, we discover that these are very complicated concepts. \u00a0In fact, ideas about gender and sexuality differ tremendously between different cultures. To make sense of this complexity, we will learn about a range of key ideas, such as sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender ideologies, gender roles, and gender statuses. \u00a0Finally, it is always important to ask -- how will we know that what we are learning is actually true? What evidence do we have that supports a particular claim? To answer these important questions and more, we will rely on the discipline of anthropology, and in particular feminist anthropology, to help us explore experiences of sex and gender from a global perspective.\r\n\r\nIn general discussions in the United States today, people will often use the terms \u201csex\u201d and \u201cgender\u201d interchangeably. \u00a0This is incorrect, and leads to a lot of confusion. So in the beginning, we will spend some time defining these concepts, and related ones -- like gender roles, gender status, and gender ideologies -- so that we have a very clear understanding of the terms we will be using.\r\n

SEX<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nSex is generally understood in our society as the biological component that marks people as either male or female. \u00a0For example, ultrasounds are often used to provide an educated guess at the sex of a baby before it is even born. Chromosomes provide more definitive evidence, as fetuses or infants will typically exhibit an XX or XY chromosomal combination.\u00a0 However, it is important to understand that there are more genetic combinations possible than simply XX or XY, and sometimes genitals are not clearly defined at birth.\u00a0 Intersex individuals (once referred to by the derogatory term hermaphrodites) may display ambiguous genitalia, or possess a different chromosonal combination, such as XXY. \u00a0Intersex people have been born in all societies throughout all of time.\u00a0 In some societies, they are revered as sacred and take on special roles in the community.\u00a0 In others, such as the U.S., they have historically been seen as \u201cdeviant\u201d and are often \u201cassigned\u201d a sex surgically shortly after birth.\u00a0 Since the 1990s in the U.S. this practice has been increasingly challenged. \u00a0For more information on intersexuality, do some research on the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) and the Accord Alliance. The main point is that while we think that \u201csex\u201d is easily defined by the binary opposition between \u201cmale\u201d and \u201cfemale\u201d, there are actually additional complexities to consider.\r\n

GENDER<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nGender has to do with \u201cmasculinity\u201d and \u201cfemininity\u201d, with culturally acceptable ways of being \u201cmale\u201d or \u201cfemale\u201d or being \u201cfeminine\u201d and \u201cmasculine\u201d.\u00a0 Gender refers to the categories of \u201cman\u201d and \u201cwoman\u201d, which we often think of as being \u201cnatural\u201d or \u201cnormal\u201d categories. \u00a0However, these terms refer to categories that are in fact cultural constructs.\u00a0 They are ways of being, doing, and even performing one\u2019s identity that are shaped by a particular culture, even as they are based on the biological labels assigned to us.\u00a0 Think about how we begin to learn gender ideologies the moment the little blue or pink hat is placed on our head after birth.\u00a0 We learn the \u201ccorrect\u201d and \u201cnormal\u201d ways to behave based on the category we are assigned to (\u201cboy\u201d or \u201cgirl\u201d), and then the toys we are given, the advertisements we see, the jobs we occupy, etc.\u00a0 Those of us who defy gender norms are often punished by society for our transgressions.\r\n\r\nIt is important to understand that neither gender identity nor sex is a concrete, \u201cnatural\u201d fact.\u00a0 These terms refer to categories that are much more complicated and fluid.\u00a0 The existence of people who are intersexed and\/or transgender demonstrate the fact that the categories of male\/female or man\/woman are much more complex than mainstream society likes to admit.\u00a0 The contemporary transgender movement in the U.S. makes that argument in convincing ways.\r\n\r\nIt is also important to know that in many cultures, including traditional Native American groups, more than two genders are recognized and often revered. \u00a0For example, in contemporary Native American societies, the term \u201ctwo-spirit\u201d refers to individuals who incorporate both masculine and feminine spirits into their identity.\u00a0 Historically, as Europe colonized most of the world, Western gender systems were imposed on native peoples and local, indigenous categories for both sex and gender were either stigmatized or abolished.\r\n\r\nEstelle Disch argues that we need to move beyond the sex and gender binary that only recognizes two sexes -- male and female -- and two genders, man and woman: \u201cGender itself is a mystified concept for the many people who see it as biologically determined.\u00a0 Recent scholars in gender studies argue convincingly, however, that there is nothing necessary or predictable about gender.\u00a0 In fact, it is becoming more commonly known that human bodies do not come in just two sexes but rather fall along a continuum between female and male\u201d (Disch 2006:15).\u00a0 If we hope to see beyond these binaries, it is helpful to explore the world more broadly, to understand the myriad of ways in which sex and gender have been defined by people through time and across cultures.\r\n\r\nIf sex refers to the biological basis (male\/female\/intersex) for gender (man\/woman\/trans*\/queer), we also want to define some related terms that will come up in our discussions of sex and gender from a global perspective. \u00a0For example, sexuality refers to \u201cwhat we find erotic and how we take pleasure in our bodies\u201d (Styrker 2008, p. 33). \u00a0Sexuality and sexual practices also vary across time and space, and so must be considered socially constructed. \u00a0Sexual orientation refers to the ways in which we seek out erotic pleasure, or how our sexuality is \u201coriented\u201d towards particular types of people. \u00a0Thus heterosexuality refers to an orientation towards pleasure that takes place between men and women, while homosexualty refers to erotic pleasure between men or between women. \u00a0\u00a0Bisexuality refers to an orientation that includes both men and women, while asexuality refers to the absence of a desire or sexual orientation towards other people.\r\n\r\nSo let\u2019s return to a basic question for this course: \u00a0how is gender culturally constructed? Gender -- or what it means to be a man, or a woman -- is shaped by a particular culture and society through a range of practices and ideas. \u00a0Laws, religion, and educational systems all play a key role in shaping how we understand what it means to be a \u201cnormal\u201d man or woman. Strong, formal ideas about gender are called \u201cgender ideologies\u201d, such as the idea in the U.S. that women are overly emotional, and physically weak, while men are stoic and physically strong. \u00a0Gender roles refer to dominant expectations about \u201cproper\u201d behavior, including work, that help to identify one as a girl or a boy, a man or a woman. \u00a0For example, consider this statement: \u201cA woman\u2019s place is in the home.\u201d What does that mean? HIstorically in the U.S., it has meant that \u201ca woman\u2019s place\u201d was thought to be in their suburban home, caring for the kids, while a man\u2019s role was to serve as the \u201cbreadwinner\u201d for his family.\r\n\r\nYou will note, however, that these gender roles were only really available to certain men and certain women, at particular points in historical time. \u00a0For example, after slavery, African American women often still had to work taking care of other women\u2019s children; immigrant women, throughout U.S. history, have also typically worked outside the home. \u00a0For much of American history prior to the 1970s, it was mostly white, anglo-european men who held jobs that paid well enough for them to be the sole \u201cbreadwinner\u201d of their family. The point here is that we want to question our beliefs, and the various ideologies that inform them, as we learn about sex and gender from an historical, global perspective. \u00a0As we shall see, things change -- often rapidly -- through time, and across cultures.\r\n\r\nCheck out the video called \u201cDo You Know The Difference Between Sex and Gender?\u201d<\/a>, that is narrated by \u201cJessie Gender\u201d. \u00a0It will help us understand a little bit about the differences between biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. \u00a0\u00a0This video presents a good introduction to sex and gender in a Western context, that is, how we are starting to think about sex and gender here in the United States and Europe. \u00a0Also, consider what Jessie Gender (the presenter) says about gender being a \u201csocial construct\u201d. We will return to that idea shortly.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NpYlE_EjX9M\r\n

WHY ANTHROPOLOGY?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nGiven the fact that we want to learn more about sex and gender from a global perspective, the next question we might ask ourselves to consider is how will we learn more? \u00a0We could learn more by reading the literature of different peoples, in different languages, to better understand how they tell stories about their lives, and the ways in which people become men, women, or something more in their own cultures. \u00a0Alternatively, we could take a legal approach, and search through historical records to learn how laws determined proper gender and sexual behaviors, and how people were punished for particular crimes relating to sex and gender. For example, in the U.S. there have been laws against cross-dressing (men wearing women\u2019s clothing, and vice versa), or miscegenation (interracial marriage, or interracial sex). \u00a0Another option, and the one that we have chosen for this course, is to rely on the discipline of cultural anthropology to help us learn about sex and gender from a global perspective.\r\n\r\nFor anthropologists, culture is defined as the beliefs, traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that guide the behavior of a people. The anthropologist Edward Tayor defined culture in 1871 as \"that complex whole which included knowledge, belief, arts, morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man (sic) as a member of society.\" Anthropologists seek to understand the internal logic of a culture -- why things that may seem \"strange\" or \"exotic\" to us, make sense to the people of another culture. \u00a0As such, anthropology is fundamentally comparative. Anthropologists seek to describe, analyze, interpret and explain social and cultural differences and similarities. In doing so, we always turn a critical eye on our own practices and beliefs. We often learn and become more conscious about our own culture when we experience or study other cultures. Thus North Americans traveling in China or in Europe often become more aware of their own \"Americanness\" -- they become aware of aspects of their own culture and lifestyle which they often took for granted. \u00a0These stand out in sharp relief against their experiences in a foreign country.\r\n\r\nWe will be watching films and articles created by cultural anthropologists who have conducted extensive fieldwork or ethnography in the country and culture they are writing about. The term ethnography refers both to the books written by anthropologists and to their research process or fieldwork. \u00a0So cultural anthropologists gather information through long term fieldwork, that is by participating in a particular culture over time. Fieldwork is primarily a qualitative research method and involves living among the people you are studying. \u00a0Over time you collect information or data about a particular people through formal and informal interviews and observations which you record in your field notes.\r\n\r\nParticipant observation is the name for the characteristic methodology of ethnographic research. \u00a0It literally means being simultaneously a participant in and an observer of the culture you are studying. That is why anthropologists usually live with the people they are studying for at least a year and often longer. Originally anthropologists studied small scale societies in remote parts of the world, such as hunter-gatherer groups in Africa or indigenous groups in Latin America. Now anthropologists study all types of cultures: western and non-western, urban and rural, industrialized and agricultural. Even the cultures of corporations are now within the domain of anthropology. \u00a0While early anthropologists attempted to describe and understand the whole culture they studied, now most ethnographies (the books that anthropologists write) focus on a specific aspect of culture such as economics, politics or religion, or in the case of our readings, gender and sexuality.\r\n\r\nThroughout this course we will be exploring a lot of practices that some of us may find \"odd\u201d or \u201cunnatural.\" It is essential that we try to approach these subjects as anthropologists would. That is, we will try to understand these practices from what the famous anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski called, \"the native's point of view\". \u00a0In other words, our goal is to try and learn about and understand the perspective of the people who engage in these particular practices and beliefs. Anthropologists call this type of approach cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the position that the values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect, and it is a core value of anthropology.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to cultural relativism, ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to view one's own culture as the best, and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by one's own standards. \u00a0All cultures tend to be ethnocentric, so it is not only western, industrialized cultures that think their way of living is the best. The Sambia in Papua New Guinea, who practiced ritualized homosexuality, also thought that their way of doing things was the \"right\" way. So, we will all have to work hard to try to put aside our ethnocentrism as we explore meanings and practices of sex and gender across other cultures in this course.\r\n\r\nCheck out the video called \u201cAnthropology Syllabus\u201d<\/a>, \u00a0by the anthropologist Michael Wesch from Kansas State University. \u00a0In the video, Dr. Wesch introduces the syllabus he has created for an Introduction to Anthropology course. \u00a0In it, he describes the nine big ideas of Anthropology; they make up the outline of the syllabus he has created. \u00a0It\u2019s a great introduction to anthropology, and to the ideas of cultural construction, and the assumptions we all carry within us that create ethnocentrism. \u00a0The video is a testament to how important it is for us to understand how we -- humans -- make the world we live in.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NQxgju6HD3g\r\n

FEMINISM<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nIf we want to learn about sex and gender from a global perspective, anthropology is a good place to start. \u00a0But not all anthropology escaped the gender ideologies of the time and place where anthropology first started. \u00a0In fact, it wasn\u2019t until the Women\u2019s Rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s that anthropologists started to ask some key questions. \u00a0And it was feminist anthropologists who were some of the first researchers to ask how social constructions of sex and gender varies cross-culturally. \u00a0Why were they interested in knowing the answer to this question? These feminist anthropologists reasoned that if gender roles and statuses are different in different places and times, then it means that there is nothing \u201cnatural\u201d about the ways in which men dominated women in our own culture.\r\n\r\nFeminism is a concept we will be encountering in some of our readings and it seems like a good idea to lay out a working definition before we embark. I take the following definition from Estelle Freedman's book, No Turning Back: the history of feminism and the future of women. This fascinating book is often used in Women's Studies courses and covers the history of feminism and the struggles for women's rights, primarily in the US and the west, but does include some cross-cultural material. Freedman defines feminism as follows:\r\n\r\n\"Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies\" (Freedman 2002: 7).\r\n\r\nFreedman continues with some clarifications of the terms in her definition. She uses the term \"equal worth\" to emphasize that we need to value the traditionally female tasks, such as child rearing, as highly as the types of work usually done by men. She is not saying men and women are the same or that they have to be the same, but she is saying that men\u2019s and women\u2019s labor should be valued equally. By men being privileged in most societies, she is referring to not only formal legal and political rights, but also to cultural preferences and double standards that give men more freedoms and opportunities than women. Finally, by pointing out that gender always \u201cintersects\u201d with other \"social hierarchies\", she is referring to the ways in which the experience of being a woman is fundamentally changed by other social structures such as class, race, age, sexuality, etc. \u00a0Perhaps most importantly, she is not arguing that there is a universal identity as \"woman\" that in and of itself communicates something about the experiences of ALL women in the world. There are other social inequalities that disadvantage both men and women, and feminism cannot ignore those other systems of power and inequality -- like poverty, racism, homophobia, etc. Feminism has been given a bad name because it is often oversimplified and misunderstood. When presented as Freedman does, it becomes a stance that both men and women can embrace.\r\n

SOCIAL & CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS\r\n<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nA central idea in both anthropology and feminism is the idea that what may seem \u201cnatural\u201d in our daily lives and societies is actually the result of human activity or interventions that are \u00a0used to organize or to regulate people and society in general.\u00a0 How does this happen? From the moment we are born, people learn codes of conduct and social rules or norms to live by.\u00a0 These norms seem \u201cnatural\u201d to us, and when we go against the norms we are often considered \u201cdeviant\u201d. \u00a0These social and cultural \u201cnorms\u201d serve the system well and are continually being reinforced and reinvented as people resist or enforce them.\u00a0 This is what we mean when we refer to social constructionism.\r\n\r\nIronically, one of the most powerful ways that social constructionism works is through essentialism.\u00a0 Essentialism is the belief or way of thinking that defines humans and society through specific \u201cinnate\u201d, \u201cinherent\u201d, or \u201cunchangeable\u201d qualities.\u00a0 For example, when men act violently in our society, such actions are often interpreted as \u201cnatural\u201d to men\u2019s characters and actual physical being, so they are \u201cnaturally\u201d part of their gender identity.\u00a0 Social constructionists would argue that the relationship between men and violence is not inherent but is something a patriarchal society is dependent upon, hence, members of such a society are taught and learn to accept that male violence is \u201cnatural\u201d.\u00a0 Social constructionists would argue against a \u201cbiology is destiny\u201d approach to the human condition.\u00a0 Looking at humans and human cultures cross-culturally we can observe incredible variations and diversity that exist in terms of sex and gender. \u00a0This diversity, and the fact that attitudes towards sex and gender also change over time, provides evidence to support social constructionist perspectives. Take a look at Dr. Wesch\u2019s video on \u201cThe Matrix & the Social Construction of Reality\u201d<\/a>. \u00a0In it, he tries to teach and learn from his young son about social constructionism.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rukdvq8v8So&t=324s\r\n

INTERSECTIONALITY<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nA key idea that grew out of feminist movements, and out of feminist analyses of how gender and race are socially constructed, is intersectionality. \u00a0When we talk about intersectionality, we are talking about how different social structures and aspects of our identities intersect in different ways for different people. \u00a0The goal of intersectionality is to understand how racism, sexism, and homophobia (for example) interact together to impact our identities and how we live in our society. At the \u201cintersection\u201d of different social forces we experience ways of being and\/or being able to move about the world that differ from another person whose intersectionality may differ from our own.\r\n\r\nThe theory of intersectionality was first articulated by Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw, a lawyer and critical race theorist who was trying to understand how anti-discrimination law could fail to account for the way in which a black woman might be discriminated against. \u00a0She developed the analogy of an \u201cintersection\u201d, where racism and sexism meets, to help us understand and see the ways in which multiple aspects of our identities, and multiple social forces that helped to shape those identities, could impact us. Crenshaw invented this term, \u201cintersectionality\u201d, in 1989, and the term and the idea was adopted in the years that followed by feminist and feminist anthropologists. \u00a0In 2016, she delivered a TED talk titled, \u201cThe Urgency of Intersectionality\u201d<\/a>. Twenty seven years later, the idea of intersectionality was still an urgent one. Review Crenshaw\u2019s TED talk to get a better understanding of exactly what this term, \u201cintersectionality\u201d, means, where it came from, and why it is still important today.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality\r\n

HISTORICAL CONTEXTS MATTER: COLONIALISM AND GLOBALIZATION\r\n<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThe last two key ideas we will be returning to again and again are colonialism and globalization. \u00a0As we mentioned before, we know that sex and gender (and sexuality) are cultural constructs because ideas and practices vary across space (that is, across cultures, and different global contexts) and also through time.\u00a0 Thus historical context matters.\u00a0 What it meant to be a Native American woman in North America was very different before European colonialists arrived, rather than after. Similarly, in South Asia, and in Africa, when Europeans arrived they brought with them their own assumptions about gender and sexuality, and those assumptions clashed significantly with the assumptions, practices, and gendered conventions of Africans and South Asians. \u00a0Modern globalization, too, has impacted the cultural construction of gender and sexuality around the world -- and continues to do so. Accordingly, colonialism and globalization are key concepts for us to understand and explore. In this chapter we will define and discuss these terms, and throughout the course we will return to examine the specific historical impacts of colonialism and globalization on gender and sexuality in different regions of the world.\r\n

GLOBALIZATION<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nGlobalization generally refers to the process whereby people, companies, technologies and governments interact worldwide, or globally. \u00a0It is not a new phenomenon, and in fact is intimately linked to histories of imperialism and colonialism, starting with the colonization of the \u201cNew World\u201d, or the Americas, in the 1500\u2019s. \u00a0However, modern globalization is typically described as beginning after World War II, when a new global world order emerged. It is also linked to the rise of air travel in the 1970s, and then the development of information and communication technologies like the phone, the fax, and now the internet by the end of the Twentieth Century. \u00a0Economically, globalization refers to the global flow of capital (or money) across borders, and it is characterized by \u201cfree trade\u201d, privatization, and capitalism.\u00a0 In the 21st century, we truly live in a global world, where the rapid transfer of ideas, people, technologies, goods and services across national boundaries and continents has become an almost taken-for-granted norm. This is globalization.\r\n\r\nThe term \u201cglobalization\u201d first appeared in the English language in the 1940s; it is used to discuss the circulation of goods, the fast and furious exchange of ideas, and the movement of people. \u00a0Globalization is also used in many ways, and can be a controversial topic. Some treat globalization as simply an economic issue while others focus more on the social and political aspects. What is clear, however, is that globalization has influenced many different facets of contemporary social life. This actually makes globalization an ideal topic of study for anthropology, where we pride themselves on taking a holistic approach to culture. For our purposes, we will adopt political scientist Manfred Steger\u2019s definition of globalization: \u201cthe intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa\u201d (Steger, 2013, p. 13.)\r\n\r\nA key phenomenon within the history of globalization was the European colonial expansion into Africa, Asia and the Americas. Colonialism refers to the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended period of time. Technically, colonialism can be practiced by any group that is powerful enough to subdue other groups, but it is typically associated with the actions of European countries starting in the 1500s and lasting through the 1900s. During this period, European colonial powers divided up \u201cunclaimed\u201d land with little regard for ethnic groups who already lived in those places, their political structures, belief systems, or lifeways. By 1914, European nations ruled more than 85 percent of the world, and it is not by accident that the image of the world most often seen on conventional maps continues to be very Eurocentric in its orientation. \u00a0(Compare the Gall-Peters projection map<\/a>, which presents a view of the world where each continent is shown in it\u2019s actual relative size, to the more traditional Mercator projection<\/a>.)\r\n

COLONIALISM<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nColonialism in the Americas was the result of European conquest of newly \u201cdiscovered\u201d territories during the Age of Exploration. Columbus was not the first traveler to reach the Americas, but his \u201cdiscovery\u201d intensified Europeans\u2019 desires to colonize this \u201cnew\u201d territory. European leaders began expanding their spheres of influence in Europe before turning their attention to lands further afield; the successes they had in colonizing nearby lands, amplified by a growing demand for trade items found in \u201cthe Orient,\u201d fueled their enthusiasm for exploration outside the region. The Catholic Church also supported this economically motivated mission, as it coincided with a weakening of their religious-stronghold in places like England, Germany, and France.\r\n\r\nOne of the most devastating features of the colonial period was the forced labor of both indigenous Americans, and Africans who were enslaved and shipped off of the African continent. \u00a0Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million slaves were sent to the New World from Africa. Treated as chattel, only 10.7 million Africans survived until arriving in the Americas. The U.S. imported approximately 450,000 of these slaves. The shipment of enslaved peoples to the Americas was part of a global trading system that also included massive shipments of goods to Europe and down the west coast of Africa. While this global trade and the imperialism and colonialism that justified it obviously had enduring impacts on peoples around the world, the total scope and speed of international flows of people, things, and ideas have increased exponentially since the mid twentieth century.\r\n\r\nModern globalization, at least in terms of economics, is perhaps best pinpointed as coinciding with the conclusion of World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference. \u00a0The agreements made at the Bretton Woods Conference led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which later became the World Bank (WB). It also laid the groundwork for the World Trade Organization (WTO). Taken together, these three organizations have had a tremendous role in providing the economic framework for accelerating globalization and in shaping the lives of people around the world. Governing bodies like the United Nations, or regulatory institutions like the IMF and WB, that exist outside the confines of a specific nation-state\u2014now widely referenced as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)\u2014can serve both as powerful international actors and can undermine local sovereignty. \u00a0Although local, regional, and national identities and affiliations retain salience in the global era, their importance has shifted relative to the growing sense many people have of being citizens of the world.\r\n\r\nOne way to understand better this phenomenon known as globalization is to think about where a particular commodity comes from. \u00a0That is, where was the shirt you are wearing produced? If you did not make it, chances are that it has traveled a long way to get to where you live, and that there is a complex story behind it\u2019s making. \u00a0To demonstrate that point, watch Dr. Wesch\u2019s video called \u201cFinding Alexa\u201d<\/a>, which tries to trace the origins of the Amazon Echo, a \u201csmart speaker\u201d with a voice-controlled personal assistant service that goes by the name \u201cAlexa\u201d. \u00a0Dr. Wesch has a whole team of student interns who help to trace the origin story of Alexa, a story that begins in many ways in the African country of Zambia, and the colonial history of mining precious minerals from the earth. \u00a0It will end with more questions, and more recommendations of great videos to watch.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c74Aj_AOOow\r\n

BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

[The Advocate]. (2017, September 18) Do You Know The Difference Between Sex and Gender? [Video File]. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NpYlE_EjX9M&amp=&list=PLpFkhrRNr05Dk1THn6E0D7_TlleCmnJgY&amp=&t=0s&amp=&index=15<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Crenshaw, Kimberl\u00e9. \u00a0(2016, December 7). The urgency of intersectionality. [Video File]. \u00a0Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Ditch, E. \u00a0(2006). Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Reader. \u00a0New York: McGraw-Hill.<\/p>\r\n

Freedman, E. \u00a0(2002). No Turning Back: the history of feminism and the future of women. New York: Ballantine Books.<\/p>\r\n

Steger, M. \u00a0(2013). Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. \u00a0Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\r\n

Stryker, S. (2017). \u00a0Transgender History: The Roots of Today\u2019s Revolution. \u00a0New York: Seal Press.<\/p>\r\n

Wesch, M. (2017, July 10). Finding Alexa [Video File]. \u00a0Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c74Aj_AOOow<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(2015, September 3). \u00a0Anthropology Syllabus [Video File]. Retrieved from \u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NQxgju6HD3g<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(2017, June 28). \u00a0The Matrix & the Social Construction of Reality [Video File]. \u00a0Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rukdvq8v8So&t=324s<\/a><\/p>","rendered":"

Deborah Amory, SUNY Empire State College<\/em><\/h3>\n

OVERVIEW<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This textbook is designed as a companion volume for the SUNY Empire State College course, GSST 3030 Sex & Gender in Global Perspectives.\u00a0 We have designed this textbook, and the course, to be as open as possible.\u00a0 That means that instead of ordering a textbook printed by a commercial publisher, we designed our own textbook for the course, drawing on educational materials that are licensed in a way that let us remix and reuse them.\u00a0 By using OERs (Open Educational Resources), our goal is to make the course as affordable as possible, so that our students can learn as much as possible without having to worry about the cost of learning materials.<\/p>\n

The textbook and the course are similarly organized.\u00a0 We have created an introduction to key concepts and ideas in the first module.\u00a0 Thus, Chapter 1 will give you an overview of the course, including an introduction to the study of gender and sexuality from the perspective of anthropologists.\u00a0 The next sections in Chapter 1 address three essential ideas that are foundational to the course: sex, gender, and globalization.\u00a0 Read these sections very carefully, and you may well want to refer back to them as you progress through the rest of the course. It is essential that we all understand the terms and concepts so that we can use them accurately throughout the course.<\/p>\n

The remaining modules of the course focus on an exploration of gender and sexuality within specific historical, geographic, and cultural contexts.\u00a0 Thus Module 2 focuses on Africa, Module 3 on South Asia, and Module 4 on the Caribbean.\u00a0 Our concern here was to avoid what might be described as a tourist’s approach to learning about sex and gender cross culturally.\u00a0 We are not asking you to visit another country for a few days, or a week, to sample the food and watch “native” performances.\u00a0 Rather, we are asking you to learn in some depth about a particular region’s history, including a specific experience of colonialism and globalization, before we explore case studies that address complex issues of gender and sexuality in that region.\u00a0 This is why it’s important to study the geography, history, and culture of a region (including its major religions, languages, etc.), so that we may locate that region’s specific social construction of sexuality and gender within its proper historical and cultural context.<\/p>\n

For each regional module, the textbook contains background information on the history and geography of the region, under sections subtitled “Introducing the Region”.\u00a0 We also include a section called “Projects & Profiles”, which introduces you, briefly, to women leaders and\/or activist programs or projects in the region that are designed to improve life for women and girls, and to combat gender inequality.\u00a0 You might consider doing additional research on these projects and profiles on your own.\u00a0 Finally, you will also find additional course materials organized by module in the online course itself.\u00a0\u00a0 These materials include additional required readings (also free to Empire State College students, through our online library), that may be downloaded and printed.\u00a0 You will also find multimedia materials like YouTube videos and documentaries that are accessible through the Empire State College library.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS SEX AND GENDER?
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, let us begin.\u00a0 In this course, we will explore the meanings and experience of sex and gender from a global perspective.\u00a0 Let’s start by asking ourselves a basic question: why learn about sex and gender globally? \u00a0Don\u2019t we all know what it means to be a man or a woman? \u00a0While the answer to that question may seem obvious to some people (\u201cOf course I know what that means!\u201d), the fascinating thing is that when we learn about gender and sexuality cross-culturally, we discover that these are very complicated concepts. \u00a0In fact, ideas about gender and sexuality differ tremendously between different cultures. To make sense of this complexity, we will learn about a range of key ideas, such as sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender ideologies, gender roles, and gender statuses. \u00a0Finally, it is always important to ask — how will we know that what we are learning is actually true? What evidence do we have that supports a particular claim? To answer these important questions and more, we will rely on the discipline of anthropology, and in particular feminist anthropology, to help us explore experiences of sex and gender from a global perspective.<\/p>\n

In general discussions in the United States today, people will often use the terms \u201csex\u201d and \u201cgender\u201d interchangeably. \u00a0This is incorrect, and leads to a lot of confusion. So in the beginning, we will spend some time defining these concepts, and related ones — like gender roles, gender status, and gender ideologies — so that we have a very clear understanding of the terms we will be using.<\/p>\n

SEX<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sex is generally understood in our society as the biological component that marks people as either male or female. \u00a0For example, ultrasounds are often used to provide an educated guess at the sex of a baby before it is even born. Chromosomes provide more definitive evidence, as fetuses or infants will typically exhibit an XX or XY chromosomal combination.\u00a0 However, it is important to understand that there are more genetic combinations possible than simply XX or XY, and sometimes genitals are not clearly defined at birth.\u00a0 Intersex individuals (once referred to by the derogatory term hermaphrodites) may display ambiguous genitalia, or possess a different chromosonal combination, such as XXY. \u00a0Intersex people have been born in all societies throughout all of time.\u00a0 In some societies, they are revered as sacred and take on special roles in the community.\u00a0 In others, such as the U.S., they have historically been seen as \u201cdeviant\u201d and are often \u201cassigned\u201d a sex surgically shortly after birth.\u00a0 Since the 1990s in the U.S. this practice has been increasingly challenged. \u00a0For more information on intersexuality, do some research on the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) and the Accord Alliance. The main point is that while we think that \u201csex\u201d is easily defined by the binary opposition between \u201cmale\u201d and \u201cfemale\u201d, there are actually additional complexities to consider.<\/p>\n

GENDER<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gender has to do with \u201cmasculinity\u201d and \u201cfemininity\u201d, with culturally acceptable ways of being \u201cmale\u201d or \u201cfemale\u201d or being \u201cfeminine\u201d and \u201cmasculine\u201d.\u00a0 Gender refers to the categories of \u201cman\u201d and \u201cwoman\u201d, which we often think of as being \u201cnatural\u201d or \u201cnormal\u201d categories. \u00a0However, these terms refer to categories that are in fact cultural constructs.\u00a0 They are ways of being, doing, and even performing one\u2019s identity that are shaped by a particular culture, even as they are based on the biological labels assigned to us.\u00a0 Think about how we begin to learn gender ideologies the moment the little blue or pink hat is placed on our head after birth.\u00a0 We learn the \u201ccorrect\u201d and \u201cnormal\u201d ways to behave based on the category we are assigned to (\u201cboy\u201d or \u201cgirl\u201d), and then the toys we are given, the advertisements we see, the jobs we occupy, etc.\u00a0 Those of us who defy gender norms are often punished by society for our transgressions.<\/p>\n

It is important to understand that neither gender identity nor sex is a concrete, \u201cnatural\u201d fact.\u00a0 These terms refer to categories that are much more complicated and fluid.\u00a0 The existence of people who are intersexed and\/or transgender demonstrate the fact that the categories of male\/female or man\/woman are much more complex than mainstream society likes to admit.\u00a0 The contemporary transgender movement in the U.S. makes that argument in convincing ways.<\/p>\n

It is also important to know that in many cultures, including traditional Native American groups, more than two genders are recognized and often revered. \u00a0For example, in contemporary Native American societies, the term \u201ctwo-spirit\u201d refers to individuals who incorporate both masculine and feminine spirits into their identity.\u00a0 Historically, as Europe colonized most of the world, Western gender systems were imposed on native peoples and local, indigenous categories for both sex and gender were either stigmatized or abolished.<\/p>\n

Estelle Disch argues that we need to move beyond the sex and gender binary that only recognizes two sexes — male and female — and two genders, man and woman: \u201cGender itself is a mystified concept for the many people who see it as biologically determined.\u00a0 Recent scholars in gender studies argue convincingly, however, that there is nothing necessary or predictable about gender.\u00a0 In fact, it is becoming more commonly known that human bodies do not come in just two sexes but rather fall along a continuum between female and male\u201d (Disch 2006:15).\u00a0 If we hope to see beyond these binaries, it is helpful to explore the world more broadly, to understand the myriad of ways in which sex and gender have been defined by people through time and across cultures.<\/p>\n

If sex refers to the biological basis (male\/female\/intersex) for gender (man\/woman\/trans*\/queer), we also want to define some related terms that will come up in our discussions of sex and gender from a global perspective. \u00a0For example, sexuality refers to \u201cwhat we find erotic and how we take pleasure in our bodies\u201d (Styrker 2008, p. 33). \u00a0Sexuality and sexual practices also vary across time and space, and so must be considered socially constructed. \u00a0Sexual orientation refers to the ways in which we seek out erotic pleasure, or how our sexuality is \u201coriented\u201d towards particular types of people. \u00a0Thus heterosexuality refers to an orientation towards pleasure that takes place between men and women, while homosexualty refers to erotic pleasure between men or between women. \u00a0\u00a0Bisexuality refers to an orientation that includes both men and women, while asexuality refers to the absence of a desire or sexual orientation towards other people.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s return to a basic question for this course: \u00a0how is gender culturally constructed? Gender — or what it means to be a man, or a woman — is shaped by a particular culture and society through a range of practices and ideas. \u00a0Laws, religion, and educational systems all play a key role in shaping how we understand what it means to be a \u201cnormal\u201d man or woman. Strong, formal ideas about gender are called \u201cgender ideologies\u201d, such as the idea in the U.S. that women are overly emotional, and physically weak, while men are stoic and physically strong. \u00a0Gender roles refer to dominant expectations about \u201cproper\u201d behavior, including work, that help to identify one as a girl or a boy, a man or a woman. \u00a0For example, consider this statement: \u201cA woman\u2019s place is in the home.\u201d What does that mean? HIstorically in the U.S., it has meant that \u201ca woman\u2019s place\u201d was thought to be in their suburban home, caring for the kids, while a man\u2019s role was to serve as the \u201cbreadwinner\u201d for his family.<\/p>\n

You will note, however, that these gender roles were only really available to certain men and certain women, at particular points in historical time. \u00a0For example, after slavery, African American women often still had to work taking care of other women\u2019s children; immigrant women, throughout U.S. history, have also typically worked outside the home. \u00a0For much of American history prior to the 1970s, it was mostly white, anglo-european men who held jobs that paid well enough for them to be the sole \u201cbreadwinner\u201d of their family. The point here is that we want to question our beliefs, and the various ideologies that inform them, as we learn about sex and gender from an historical, global perspective. \u00a0As we shall see, things change — often rapidly — through time, and across cultures.<\/p>\n

Check out the video called \u201cDo You Know The Difference Between Sex and Gender?\u201d<\/a>, that is narrated by \u201cJessie Gender\u201d. \u00a0It will help us understand a little bit about the differences between biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. \u00a0\u00a0This video presents a good introduction to sex and gender in a Western context, that is, how we are starting to think about sex and gender here in the United States and Europe. \u00a0Also, consider what Jessie Gender (the presenter) says about gender being a \u201csocial construct\u201d. We will return to that idea shortly.<\/p>\n