The Battle Of The Sexes — страница 2

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the psychology of the sexes but they are relatively insignificant and hardly justify the elaborate gender-role distinctions or sexual inequalities found in many societies. The social implications and gender roles for both men and women are not genetically defined, because then, they would be exactly the same in all cultures. Even to the extent that gender is cultural, these conceptions should vary even if they do not usually vary a great deal from culture to culture. A cross-cultural study could provide us with significant information about variation in gender roles among the many cultures of the globe. An interesting example as far as the significance of cross-cultural evidence is concerned is the investigation which was conducted by Margaret Mead ( 1935 ) . She investigated

three isolated tribes in New Guinea. In one tribe, the Arapesh, men andwomen had remarkably similar attitudes and behavioural patterns. The men and women of the Mundugumor tribe, on the other hand, were typically selfish and aggressive, traits defined as more’masculine’ in most Western societies. The third tribe, the Tchambuli, the female gender were domineering and dictarial while the men were submissive, artistic and more emotional towards the children. Nevertheless, these cases are not identified very often and ‘the overall cross-cultural tendency points to a very strong pattern of male dominance’ ( I. Robertson ). For instance, even in the industrialized Western societies, high political status is still, almost, a males’ privilege. This last fact points to another

cross-cultural characteristic; different occupations have been divided according to gender. For example, home maintenance is usually considered a women’s task while hunting a man’s one. This means that the two sexes are treated differently in different cultures and content of masculinity and femininity is culturally defined. Although conceptions of gender vary, most societies are marked by inequalities between the sexes due to sexism. The culturally generated ideology can be described as the belief that one sex is inferior to another and that unequal treatment is therefore justified. Obviously, religion endorses sexism and this can be proven if we read through the sacred texts of all religions. The Koran, the sacred text of Islam, declares: ‘Men are superior to women on

account of the qualities in which God has given them pre-eminence.’ In this way, women are excluded from high socio-economic statuses. Similar teachings are found in our own religion, Greek Orthodox , aswell. Even though the feminist movement has gained great strength in the last decade sexism is culturally accepted by most women and therefore they remain submissive. For example, now that men’s ideals for womanhood is shifting towards a leaner and more athletic look, dieting has become a female obsession. These traditional gender roles and social stereotypes, structure the experiences and behaviour of most men and women and their basic options and opportunities in life. Despite the fact that biological, psychological, cultural and anthropological evidence clearly shows that

humans can be socialized into a wide range of gender roles, most societies are marked by striking inequalities between men and women. No society relies on ‘nature’ to produce its particular gender roles, whatever they may be; in every culture, children are systematically socialized into acceptance of the prevailing assumptions. Throughout history both genders have accepted the system of social stratification and that is what Marx called ‘false consciousness’. This means that aslong as the status quo is taking for granted no significant changes will appear in the future and gender equality will remain impossible. Bibliography Robertson, Ian ( 1987 ) Sociology . Worth Publishers Inc, United States of America. Henley, Nancy ( 1977 ) Body Politics: Power, Sex and Nonverbal

Communication. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall Coates, T ( 1994 ) Vision of Gender Equality. New York, Random House Unknown Feminism and Gender Equality In The 1990’s . Webpage: http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/ ercarlso/papers.htm Unknown Gender Differences . Webpage: http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/