Cultural Anthropology BLOG 3: Sex Is Determined, Gender Is Presumed

This week's readings centered around gender and how people learn the assigned gender roles to them as their culture decides. In America, there is generally two types of gender: man and woman. One could also go beyond these two roles and explain that trans-gender individuals are a third gender of American culture. However, in many countries, one could identify four, five, or six genders. How can this be, one might ask? Are there other human genitalia that has not been discovered yet by the general public? How many body parts do some people decide to 'change'- does this affect what type of sex someone is to be? Currently, and since the beginning of human existence, there have always been two sexes: male and female. Gender, although based in biological differences, does not rely of the bodily differences between males and females; gender is determined through the attitudes and roles in each society given to different groups of people. Just as people have different occupations or religious practices that are encouraged in different cultures, there are different presumed actions, or gender roles, which are encouraged and trained into the individuals of each culture.

It is easy to see the training of gender most often if one spends time with children. In American society, the gender roles of man and woman are taught at an early age and encouraged through positive or negative reinforcement by members of society. I remember in kindergarten class making a book called 'About Me' to give to my parents. For one of the pages, we were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. To my surprise, we were given two choices of cut-out pictures to paste onto this page category: a fireman or a ballerina. Curiously, I raised my hand and told my kindergarten teacher that I didn't want to be either of these things when I grew up. She told me to simply pick one. Although in this instance, I was given the choice for which adult role I desired, it is clear that this elementary school activity, at least for this page, was saturated with the idea of "man" and "woman" gender roles. The lack of alternative choices suggests that even at 5 years old, I was being pressured to fit in to one of our society's designated gender types.

However, although gender may seem innate or unchangeable, it can be seen more easily in American society that gender roles are actually negotiated and decided between members of a culture, rather than being "natural". A most prominent example of this negotiation is the current battles between gay rights and state legislature. Washington D.C. recently changed over in legalizing same-sex marriage. Gender roles, along with legal documents, are being changed. More often than ever before has it been accepted in America that a man's role is not simply to love a woman, and a woman does not have to marry a man. These gender roles are changing as the acceptance of same-sex lovers is becoming more frequent. Although there are still certain taboos and stereotypes around gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders, these "lifestyles" or decisions in partners is becoming more accepted and therefore the roles of both man and woman are being changed.

Again illustrating that gender is not innate, but a cultural decision, many cultures around the world have valid gender structures that are much different than Western or European structures. A society called the Bijago (bih-ZHA-goh) practice a gender structure which is in many ways the opposite of American culture. Men's main role in Bijago society is to attract women and be chosen for marriage. These cabaros, or Bijago men, are encouraged to be "beautiful, intelligent, and strong", as one cabaro described for an anthropological study. A cabaro must gather palm wine by climbing trees, adorn himself with beautiful fabrics and jewelry, and learn intricate dances in the hope that someday an older woman of the tribe will choose him for marriage. This system of gender roles provides very little power to the man and very little control for a cabaro to find satisfaction in his own life. Much like the cabaros, American women are encouraged to look young and beautiful for men in the hope of attracting a life partner, through the influence of television, advertisements, the music industry, health and beauty magazines, and even mothers who are insistent of having their daughters succeed with the opposite sex. As a Bijago woman informed the anthropologist/interviewer, "A woman's life is much better than a man's life."

In my own life, I see that the idea of gender saturates my own idea of who I am. During my J-Term class at Luther which was called "Being A Good Alien", I was asked to write about who I was. As I was brainstorming, I found that I was writing down words such as, 'daughter', 'sister', and 'young woman'. Although these ideas can be linked to how I connect with my family, it is obvious that my first ideas of identity are mainly based on my gender. My actions are defined by how I relate to others or my sociability, which is presumably a female trait in American society. These roles connect the fact that I have female genitalia with other roles, presuming that my genitalia will decide what kinds of actions I take and what kind of lifestyle I will have. It is assumed that I may spend a considerate amount of money on beauty products, marry a man, and bear children, all things which would assign definite priorities in my life for the sake of other people. Because I have a vagina and breasts, I will always be a 'woman' in American society, rather than Mara Dobervich.