Anthropology of Gender
Although many perspectives exist, theorists agree that gender has had a profound effect on shaping culture. They also contend that gender roles and gender identities are variously transformed in different parts of the world. The Research Paper will examine how gender is expressed in different communities and will provide you with an opportunity to discuss the status of women in various cultures. In your Research Paper, you will examine the ways in which gender and sexuality have been constructed in specific cultural and historical contexts, and how these categories have been analyzed by anthropologists.
Focus your research on one of the following topics:
Status of Women in Prehistoric Communities: The Start of the Division of Labor
Women and Work in Horticultural Societies
Gender Roles in Traditional Asian Communities: Patterns of Heaven
Sexuality in Islamic Society
Are Women Suitable for Combat Positions in the U.S. Army?
American in Public, Ethnic in Private: Gender Identity Among Transnational Immigrant Women