Kinship, gender, sexuality

Weeks 7-8

Kinship
Ideology that justifies structure of domestic groups Expectations and beliefs about relationships based on parentage through descent, known as consanguineal relations, and to relatedness through marriage, known as affinal relations. Kinship is emic
o

We decide who is family

Kinship
Kinship systems universally consist of:
o

Terms for various categories of consanguineal and affinal kin Terms for kin that are more socially significant than others Expected rights and obligations of the different categories of kin to each other

The basis of kinship is the tracing of relationships through marriage and descent

Descent
The belief that certain people play an important role in the creation, birth and nurturance of certain children Descent group: a publicly recognised social entity whose members trace their connection back to a common ancestor through a chain of parent-child links
o

links dont have to be biological

Not everyone sees descent as dependent on blood

Descent
For example:

Ashanti (Ghana):
o o

only the mother contributes blood and the physical characteristics to the child father determines the spiritual characteristics dont believe semen and sex have anything to do with childbirth woman is impregnated by her ancestral spirit foetus formed by mothers blood and the ancestors spirit father ensures the foetus develops through regular and frequent sex to nourish it after it is born, father provides food and wealth to child

Trobriand Islanders:
o o o

o
o

Tracing your descent

1. Unilineal Trace descent through female or male line Very clear who is a member and who isnt Form a co-resident domestic group Regulate marriage (exogamous) Own land as a corporate group and share it out to members Settle disputes and/or engage in war Political unity

Matrilineal descent

Among horticulturalists where womens work is particularly important Women are of enhanced importance

Patrilineal descent

Where male labour is particularly important Pastoralists and intensive agriculturalists Men have the most power

Tracing your descent

2. Cognatic Both male and female parentage are taken into account to determine rights, obligations, expectations Very many relatives Most common is bilateral: kinship traced through both the mother and the father

Tracing your descent

Cognatic (cont.) Ambilineal: one or more common ancestors (male or female) from which descent flows
o o

descent flows through women and men can choose to focus on some female ancestors and not others, and on some male ancestors and not others at another point

e.g., man might choose to ally with his wifes kin group if his brothers have control over the family land

Kinship terminologies
Hawaiian terminology (and the Kiowa): People of the same generation and sex are called the same thing: cousins brothers and sisters uncles and aunts fathers and mothers great uncles and great aunts grandparents great grandparents brothers and sisters Ambilineal descent since people can trace descent from either fathers or mothers side, kin on each side is seen as equal Cousins cannot be marriage partners No one is left unrelated; hence no one is left uncared for

Kinship terminologies
Eskimo terminology (foragers, industrialised societies) particular terms for each member of the nuclear family all other relatives fall into a few categories
o

e.g., father is distinguished from the fathers brother (father vs. uncle)

but the fathers brother is not distinguished from the mothers brother (both = uncle)

in bilateral societies in which only immediate family members are important on a day to day basis

Kinship terminologies
Iroquois terminology: (South India) Parental siblings of the same sex are considered parents (father/mother) Parental siblings of different sex are aunt/uncle or father/mother in law Children of parental siblings of same sex are brother/sister and cannot marry each other Children of parental siblings of different sex are cousins and encouraged to marry each other In unilineal societies where it is important to keep mothers and fathers kin separate Mother's eldest brother is more important to her children than their father
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~anthrop/tutor/kinterms/termsys.html

Fictive kinship
Kinship is flexible Negotiation of kinship status to create certain relationships
o

o o

people can be made fictive kin: create relationships that would normally apply to real kin relationships bring a person into obligations of kin relationship anthropologists are often made fictive kin in the communities they study

e.g. Wade Davis in Ecuador: put a child through school

Kinship in poor communities

Carol Stack: Urban African American families Face discrimination, poverty Flexible kinship networks as adaptive response to poverty and racism Extensive networks of friends and relatives creating survival strategies Trade and exchange goods, care for children Reciprocity within these networks: You have to have help from everybody and anybodyThe poorer you are, the more likely you are to pay back.

Kinship in poor communities

Child-keeping: informal circulation of children
o

i.e. sharing of parental responsibilities

Performing reciprocal obligations kin Family includes friends and kin who interact on a daily basis and help with basic functions (child care, eating)
o

Grocery shop together, pool food stamps, eat together, give each other things Eat in one household, sleep in another, contribute financially to another

Members of various households at the same time:

o

Kinship in poor communities

Childs kin determined by the recognised mama
o

o o

Mother does still have rights in relation to the child, but mama has motherhood rights A child can be raised by non-biological relative if the mother is judged to not be performing her maternal duties The child is still part of the biological mothers network Child can access fathers network if father acknowledges him/her (he own it) and helps with the child

Pay part of hospital bill, bring milk and nappies for baby, tell people hes the father If father cant assist financially, his kin is expected to

What is this?
When a girl starts her period she takes part in a ceremony that joins her temporarily with a young man
o o o

This relationship may or may not involve sex, lasts only a few days When they break up, neither have any responsibility for each other The union shows to the rest of the society that she is an adult, and it establishes her eligibility for sexual activity


When she becomes sexually involved with a man approved by her household, he has to give her presents three times a year, and in return is allowed to spend nights with her
o o o

He has no financial responsibility towards her She can have more than one partner if she likes The gift exchange demonstrates who has sexual rights with whom


When the woman becomes pregnant, some man, biological father or not, has to formally declare paternity, by giving presents to the woman and the midwife
o

No more obligations to the child, because the childs mothers brothers, with whom the woman and the child live, take care of financial and educational responsibilities This establishes the childs legitimacy

Marriage
That was marriage A relationship established between a woman and one or more person An assurance that the children born to the woman would have full birth rights common to normal members of his or her society, provided that the child is conceived and born under certain approved circumstances.

Incest taboo
Determines who can have sex with whom Anthropologists: Assumed it was natural Said it was to avoid conflict Said it was to avoid birth defects But it does exist, so why do some cultures allow it and others not?

Incest
Rules against incest are related to rules against endogamy: marriage within a group Exogamy is marriage outside of a group
o o

Creates alliances Gain access to scarce resources

Allowing incest in order not to share?

o

E.g. Incan empire (Peru): marriage of king and his sister

Families
Marriage can establish a new family. Or not. Did the Nayar?

Consanguine family: blood relatives as a group.

Families
Conjugal families: Married pair lives together Basic unit: nuclear family (most common among foragers and industrialised societies)
o

Mobility

Monogamous family: one husband, one wife Polygamous family: more than one spouse

Polygamy
Polygyny Man has several wives Need to be wealthy (have to pay bride price) Often in horticultural societies
o o

Women make substantial contribution to household (farm work) Women have quite a lot of power

Co-wives roles clearly defined (senior, junior wives)

Polygamy
Polyandry (Tibet, India, Nepal)
One woman marries several men (rare) Limits population growth (men are tied to one woman) thus limited pressure on resources Makes a lot of male labour available o Tibet: herding, trading, farming enough men to do all of that Usually fraternal polyandry Conjoint marriages: men marry another woman o if wife is old / wife has married several men and cant manage all the domestic responsibilities

Contracting marriages
Bride price/wealth Goods given to brides family Usually when bride will live with husband
o

i.e. brides family has lost productive member Women contribute a lot to survival Women are valued as child bearers Land is abundant and there is enough work for all women

Where:
o o o

Contracting marriages
Dowry Bride brings goods/wealth with her to new household Husband may control it In case of widowhood/divorce Can be sign of wealth used to attract wealthy husband Can lead to female infanticide

Types of marriage
Nandi (Kenya; farmers/pastoralists)
Listen auntie, I dont mean to be rude, but youre not getting any younger, are you?

Lord you rude. Anyway, dont worry, I know what Im going to do.

Types of marriage
Were getting married!!! Huh?? Youre a woman!! And you! Youre already married!
Wow, the people in the Trobriand Islands warned us on facebook that youre not so bright. Look, when youre as old as me and you dont have any children, you can take a wife. Otherwise I wont have given my husband anyone to pass on his property to, or to pass on his line.
OK fine, but whats in it for you youre young! Why would you want to be married to an old woman sorry no offenseAnd whats this about facebook??

Actually, its win-win! I get male heirs (or at least I hope she has boys) to raise my status cos Im now a father. And I act a bit more like a man, just so everybody realises.

Yeah, and remember that whole having a baby out of wedlock thing? And how nobody really wanted to marry me because of it? Well, if I marry her people will talk to me again! Cos Ill be respectable finally and my kids will be legitimate. Plus, Im sure shell be a much better husband than a real man would be

Ghost marriages
Pater: the legitimate father of a child, publicly recognized, who gives a child his or her rights: kinship identity, rights to the family herd Genitor: the biological father of the child Nuer (Sudan): keep cattle in the lineage by passing them onto paters sons lineage will benefit from other cattle acquisition by sons kinship group expanded by these add-ons to the lineage

Ghost marriages: the Nuer

Husband dies before couple has children (sons) Wife stays married to his spirit or "ghost Wife chooses a boyfriend, lives with him Boyfriend is "genitor" of any children born to them But "pater" is the ghost of the dead husband: lineage membership, cattle inheritance, etc Or after death: woman marries "ghost" of a deceased Nuer, sets up her own sexual arrangements; children are children of the ghost (pater)

Legitimacy
Most important function of marriage Assigns birth status to the child Legally entitles the child and/or the mother to the husbands property upon his death Determines who is responsible for the child and who controls the childs future

Legitimacy: Nuer
Conception with one man even though married to another (dead) man does not threaten legitimacy If a young wife of an old man had extramarital sex (sometimes one of her husband's own kin) and has a baby, that is OK because he would still be pater

Sexuality
It is important to notethat sexual and gender identities that are not accepted by Western civilization are not necessarily unnatural.human societies exhibit a wide range of norms and beliefs about what natural sexual or gender identities may be and be about. Forms of sexuality considered to be perverse by one social or cultural group are considered to be right, good, useful and natural by others and can indeed serve useful purposes (i.e., enhance survival and well-being). Wickstrom (2005) Variation is the norm. (Thomas 2005)

Sexuality
Sex: biological characteristics Gender: sociocultural expectations based on sex Gender identity: sense of being male / female / something in between or both. Non-mutually exclusive gender: maleness / masculinity is not the binary opposite of femaleness / femininity; range of gender possibilities may identify with aspects of both genders Sexual orientation: sex(es) to which one is attracted.

Sexuality
Anthropologys contribution: Deconstructing natural categories Feminism challenging biological determinism
(that biology determines your identity) o The same physical acts may have different social significance o Third sex/gender o The problem with applying homosexual to other cultures

Sexuality
Is this homosexuality? Azande (Sudan): Homosexual behaviour normal, especially when women not available / sex with women was taboo Warriors took boy-wives, paid bride price to parents Parents = mother-in-law etc; boy = my lover When boy became warrior, new warrior took a boywife When warrior became an elder, took a female wife, had children, etc

Transgendered identity
When gender identity does not match assigned sex Does not imply sexual orientation Heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual, bisexual, asexual Transgender identities:
Transsexual**, cross dresser/transvestite, drag king/queen

Transsexuals
Identify / want to live as member of opposite sex to their assigned sex If they have gender reassignment therapy they may no longer identify as transsexual First reassignment therapy in 1920s London (MTF) Biological basis?
o o

Brains in MTF transsexuals are female-structured Brains in FTM transsexuals are male-structured

Intersex
Ambiguous genitalia 1:100 (Thomas) In Western societies disorder Genital corrective surgery on babies/children But known to have existed since ancient times Erik/Erika Schinegger

Caster Semenya?

"God made me the way I am and I accept myself."

Third gender/sex
Intersex sometimes included in larger category of third gender Those who are a distinct gender identity from male/female Counter to heteronormativity E.g. hijras (India), kathoey (Thailand)

Hijras (India)
5-6 million Natal males Neither man nor woman, but many identify as women
o

Some remove penises, others do not want to because they are not trying to be a woman

Religious justification for ambiguity Traditionally performers Many survive through sex work

Kathoey (Thailand)
Natally male A second kind of woman third sex Thai Buddhism: kathoey are reincarnations of people who were sexually perverse
o

Everyone has been / will be kathoey

Kathoey are popular tourist attraction Used to live in rural areas, but urban migration Work in entertainment Government of Thailand downplays their existence

Sexuality and modernity in China

James Farrer Chinese youth in the disco participate in a globalised super-culture What do they do in this space of foreign sexuality? They do NOT take a partner or expect to find one But they express their sexuality: halter tops, miniskirts: sexual self-confidence urban cool (women), sober dress (men)

Sexuality and modernity in China

Men: breakdancing (zhanwu) Women: voluptuous dancing (saowu), Latin dances
o

I like to see people watch me. I have a desire to show off myself

Not goal-oriented sexual drive looking good Expressing themselves within a foreign dance culture in new ways

Sexuality and modernity in China

Youth are experimenting with expressions of sexuality using foreign culture Create an autonomous sexual self in the super culture of the global disco Use elements of foreign culture to create the globality of the disco : music videos, Westerners, foreign DJs, dancers, decor The experimentation is possible because the disco is foreign
o

The behaviour is allowed because of its link with an elite cosmopolitan culture of modern youth