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 Gender and Anthropology
Frances E. Mascia-Lees and Nancy Johnson Black
A major accomplishment of synthesis and distillation! Is the difference in men’s and women’s behavior the result of the human species’ long evolutionary struggle for survival, or is it due to society’s child-rearing practices and cultural mythologies? Is the exclusion of women from the highest positions of power and authority a universal trait of human societies, or does women’s access to such positions depend on how a society is organized? Gender and Anthropology focuses on the central questions that have concerned anthropologists interested in the nature and determinants of gender roles and gender inequality.
This concise treatment clearly traces how anthropologists have used different theoretical orientations to examine such questions and how these approaches have changed over time in relation to changing social and political conditions. Ranging from work in the nineteenth century to contemporary anthropological studies, this work analyzes evolutionary, psychological, materialist, Foucauldian, structuralist, sociolinguistic, and reflexive approaches to understanding gender behavior and gender stratification. Gender and Anthropology explores how anthropological data from around the world are crucial for questioning unproven but widely held assumptions about men and women in contemporary societies. A major accomplishment—a succinct presentation that unfolds our culture’s view of women!
 $12.95 list, 118 pages 10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-066-8 13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-066-8 © 2000 “Gender and Anthropology is excellent. It is a major accomplishment of synthesis and distillation.” — Naomi Quinn, Duke University
“In Gender and Anthropology, authors Frances Mascia-Lees and Nancy Johnson Black provide a concise, critical, and lucidly written guide to the last 30 years’ research and theory in gender within anthropology that is explicitly directed to undergraduate students. The brevity of each chapter and the necessary simplification of the arguments actually make it a useful adjunct to undergraduate study and an affordable volume as well.” —American Anthropologist
“This little book is one of the clearest, most concise statements on social theory in general, let alone on gender, that I have ever read. Kudos!” —R. O. Havenlandt, University of Great Falls
“I have waited years for a simple, student-accessible theory book . . . the feminist oriented literature has become so sophisticated, involuted (or should I say poorly written) and dominated by a post-colonial critique, that it totally alienates my students. This, at last, presents us with a comprehensive overview of analytic and theoretical approaches in the anthropology of gender studies that is easy for students to read and critique.” —Dona Davis, University of South Dakota
“. . . an exceptionally clear introduction to the topic.” —Leland Searles, University of Minnesota
“I found this volume to be an excellent, concise overview . . . the authors identify historical events, intellectual trends, and political issues that have shaped research and theory on gender in anthropology.” —Jean N. Scandlyn, University of Colorado, Denver
“. . . a much-needed approach in the teaching of gender issues and perspectives.” —Lioba Moshi, University of Georgia
Table of Contents
1. The History of the Study of Gender in Anthropology 2. Analyzing Theories 3. The Evolutionary Orientation 4. The Psychological Orientation 5. The Materialist Orientation 6. Structuralist Approaches 7. Discourse Analysis and Sociolinguistic Orientations 8. The Reflexive Approach 9. The Relevance of Anthropology to the Contemporary World |
