Woman, Culture, and Society

Author: Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo
Secondary Author: Louise Lamphere
ISBN: 0804708517

Sixteen women anthropologists analyze the place of women in human societies, treating as problematic certain questions and observations that in the past have been ignored or taken for granted, and consulting the anthropological record for data and theoretical perspectives that will help us to understand and change the quality of women's lives. The first three essays address the question of human sexual asymmetry. Recognizing that men's and women's spheres are typically distinguished and that anthropologists have often slighted the powers and values associated with the woman's world, these essays examine the evidence for asymmetrical valuations of the sexes across a range of cultures and ask how these valuations can be explained. Explanations are sought not in biological "givens" of human nature, but in universal patterns of human, social, psychological, and cultural experience—patterns that, presumably, can be changed. The remaining papers explore women's roles in a wide variety of

Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publish Date: 1974-01-01

Subjects: Social Science / Sociology / General, Social Science / Women's Studies, Social Science / Gender Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Anthropology)