anthropology paper

B R A I N S T O R M F O R 2 M I N U T E S

What kind of person are you? What is your identity?

In your freewrite, did you mention… ?

� Your ethnic or racial background (I’m white, etc.) � Your gender (I’m a woman, etc.) � Your national citizenship or regional identity (I’m

American, I’m a Buckeye, etc.) � Your family relationships (I’m a sister, a father, etc.) � Aspects of your character (outgoing, tactless, warm,

romantic, sense of humor, addictive personality, etc.) � Projects that you are seriously committed to (major,

career, developing athletic or artistic skills, etc.) � Pastimes that you really enjoy (volunteering,

watching films, gaming, drinking with friends, etc.)

feminine masculine

� Friendly, warm, nice � Interest in romance,

marriage, relationships � Hobbies: acting,

singing, cooking, etc. � Careers/majors:

teaching, nursing, or humanities

� Tough, funny, strong � Interest in sports (as a

fan or athlete or both) � Hobbies: gaming,

drinking, etc. � Careers/majors:

science, business, technical fields

How many of your descriptions were gendered?

E N C U L T U R A T I O N A N D P E R S O N H O O D , C O N T I N U E D

Adolescence, identity, sexuality and subcultures

The life cycle and culture

Linear view

Circular view

birth

childhood

adolescence

adulthood

elder

death

birth childhood adolescence adulthood elder death

Adolescence and identity

� What do you think about adolescence as a life stage? � Do you see any general patterns? Do you think these

are caused by biology, culture, or both? � Why do we say adolescents “explore” or

“experiment?” Why are behaviors and practices allowed for young people that aren’t accepted in older people?

Mead in Samoa Research question:

“Are the disturbances which vex our adolescents due to the nature of adolescence itself or to the civilization? Under different conditions does adolescence present a different picture?” (Mead Coming of Age in Samoa

1928)

Her answer?

YES. Samoan adolescence is totally different.

Mead became a cultural icon– a larger than life figure who was the only anthropologist most people knew.

This started when Mead was very young, in the 1920s.

Her focus on cultural critique made her both controversial and beloved by some.

Derek Freeman’s critique

� Freeman was a New Zealand anthropologist who studied Samoa from the 1940s to 1970s

� Freeman said Mead: ¡ Did not understand

Samoan culture ¡ Was misled by her

informants ¡ Had her conclusions

distorted by her preconceived theory of cultural determinism

Nature vs. nurture

Margaret Mead cultural determinism

Derek Freeman biological determinism

Comparative empiricism and the biocultural approach

� One problem with absolute cultural constructivism: there are consistent cross-cultural patterns ¡ The nearly universal gendered division of labor (hunters usually

men, gatherers usually women) ¡ Masculinity as a competitive/dominating achievement

÷ Comparatively greater role for homosocial masculine competition and rites of passage, especially for adolescents

÷ More violence is attributable to men cross-culturally ¡ Transgender roles appear to be more common in societies that have

otherwise strict gender dimorphism � These patterns may not be biologically determined– and

in many cases there are exceptions to the patterns– but there seems to be some common biosocial dynamics that lead to common patterns in gender norms

“The Fierce People” Napoleon Chagnon

� Chagnon argued on the basis of quantitative data gathered among the Yanomamo of the Amazon, that men who killed more reproduced more too– and therefore, violence is rooted in evolutionary biology

� Many ethical and empirical questions about Chagnon’s work ¡ Did he encourage killings?

÷ Introduced steel axes ÷ Encouraged fights for his

ethnographic documentary films (ex. The Ax Fight)

¡ Was his data generalizable? ÷ Yanomamo practices cannot be

assumed to be “what our ancestors did”

The importance of male violence?

Masculine rites of passage

Gilbert Herdt (1994) Fellatio and masculinity

� Herdt studied a native group in Papua New Guinea

� Tribes in this area are famous for intense rites of passage for young men

� Among the Sambia, younger adolescents (initiates) perform fellatio on adult men as part of their rite of passage

� Ingesting semen is seen as an important part of becoming a man

Sexuality studies

� “Sexuality” does not simply refer to “sexual orientation,” or which sex/gender one is attracted to relative to one’s own sex/gender

� Sexuality includes: ¡ Attitudes ¡ Beliefs ¡ Concrete practices ¡ Desires ¡ … around sexual intercourse and other sexual behaviors

� Anthropologists have found sexuality to be very diverse

� …including the definition of what is “sexual”

DON’T look to your textbook for a good anthropological definition of sexuality. Lassiter uses the term to refer to sex, gender, and sexuality.

Ways of looking at identity

Egocentric identity

� A perception of one’s “self” as a freestanding entity, constituted through an essence that is contained within your body or mind

Sociocentric identity

� Identity as constituted by the social process of interaction, performance, and the fulfillment or denial of social norms

Personhood (cultural ideas of the self)

Egocentric personhood

� The self is understood primarily as an individual

� Emphasis on autonomy � Boundaries of the body

are the boundaries of the self

� Connected to language ¡ Self-fulfillment ¡ Self-expression ¡ Independence=good

Sociocentric personhood

� The self is understood as already embedded in relational networks (e.g. kin groups)

� Emphasis on interaction and interdependency

� Boundaries of the self are permeable or fluid

� Connected to language

Adolescence and “identity projects”

� In a pluralist consumer society, the compelling social task for adolescents is to situate themselves within diffuse networks of social belonging through identity performance

� This can involve conformity to mainstream norms, or it can involve joining a subcultural identity group

subculture

� “a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with that of the larger culture” (Oxford English Dictionary)

� Dick Hebdige (from the discipline of cultural theory) analyzed punk rock subculture in his 1979 book

� He argued that the style of punk rock artists and their fans, because it defied the norms of the dominant society, was a form of resistance and rebellion

Subcultures & adolescent identity

� Subcultures are especially common for adolescents to participate in and join

� It may look like rebellion, but it’s not entirely… ¡ Subcultural repertoires ¡ Individuals conform within the

group to certain dress, language, norms, and forms of interaction

¡ As Hebdige argued with regard to the British punk scene, these communities offer alternative spaces and modes of connection and identity for those alienated from the larger society

How about you?

� Do you belong to a subculture? ¡ Centered on music: rap, metal, punk, jazz, etc. (not so much pop

or hip hop, which is currently “mainstream”) ¡ Centered on religion: Amish, Mennonite, Catholic worker, etc. ¡ Centered on hobbies or interests: gaming, fandom (ex. Star

Trek, Rocky Horror), collecting, sexual practices � If so, what ties this subcultural group together? � Do you have an admiration for a subculture whose

expressive cultural productions (music, art) you admire and follow religiously?

subculture

� Subcultures can be partially defined by religion, race or ethnicity, sexuality, political commitments, etc.

� Example 1: the Amish � Example 2: the “bear”

subculture among gay men � They may be unified by

forms of music, dance, sexual practice, moral commitments, etc.

OPPOSITIONAL CULTURE- a name for the attitudes and cultural repertoires of young people (often young men) who reject normative cultural morality and perform a tough identity– often by embracing the stigmatized stereotype of their group!

There is a feedback loop between others’ perceptions and treatment of them and their identity

Subcultures and stigma: some common reactions to being frequently stereotyped

� Conform: accept the symbolic system at a subconscious level and live your life in a way that kinda conforms to the stereotype

� Politics of respectability: try to prove that you are not what the stereotype says about you ¡ This never works perfectly ¡ Constant annoyance, but a sense of agency/power ¡ Always reacting to stereotypes

� Strategic essentialism: embrace the stereotype and play it up; get the most power, attention or satisfaction you can out of it – provides a sense of agency and empowerment but risks reinforcing it

Fa’afafine

Let’s go back to Samoa and think about identity, personhood, and sexuality some more.

Discussion questions

As you watch the film clip, think about: � What is distinct about the fa’afafine category,

compared to categories related to gender and sexuality in the US (gay, transgender, etc.)?

� What is the role of family and enculturation in constructing fa’afafine identities and roles?

� Do you think that fa’afafines constitute a subculture?

Third gender?

� Fa’afafine, or “in the manner of a woman,” is the Samoan term for persons born male who act as women in their public and private roles, and are socially recognized as women

� Origins of fa’afafine are unknown, but Mead claimed to have observed them in the 1920s, while Freeman never mentioned their existence

� Influences on fa’afafine identity and social roles include: ¡ Gender-segregated feminine labor roles ¡ Transnational “drag queen” cultures ¡ Pre-Christian Samoan norms for the sexuality of young women