ANTHRO 145 Spring 2009 Last Update 1/22/2009 WOMEN AND MEN IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE    Tu-Th 2:20-3:45 pm. . . Davison 101 Prof. Daniel M. Varisco Daniel.M.Varisco@hofstra.edu Office: 200E Davison (463-5590)   Office Hours: Tues 10-11 am; Wed. 10:00-11:00 or by appt.

Purpose of Course Required Course Texts Course Schedule Course Requirements Reading the Assignments Class Attendance Exams RAG Class Assignment Essays Student Project Grading

Purpose of Course This course will examine the range of anthropological views about male/female sexuality and gender roles from various cultural traditions.  The focus of the course is on the link between biology (through hominid evolution) and culture in defining and gendering male and female.  Among the issues to be discussed are the evolution of primate sexuality, hominid reproductive strategies, menstrual taboos, mate choice, circumcision, the ethnographic contributions of Margaret Mead, gender equality, gender diversity (homosexuality and transsexuality), sex in the media and cyberspace and sexism in language.  Comparison will be made to attitudes about gender and sexual behavior in contemporary American society.  The course will be a mix of lecture, film, and class discussion.  Given the sensitive nature of much of the material to be covered in this course, the professor requests that the discussions be conducted in an open-minded, mature and mutually responsible manner.

Required Course Texts • Lepowsky, Maria (1993)  Fruit of the Motherland:  Gender in an Egalitarian Society.  New York:  Columbia University Press. • Mead, Margaret 2001/1928  Coming of Age in Samoa.  New York:  Perennial Classics.              • Nanda, Serena (2000)  Gender Diversity:  Crosscultural Variations.  Lake Grove, IL:  Waveland Press. • Shlain, Leonard  (2003)  Sex, Time and Power:  How Women’s Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution.  New York:  Penguin Books. • E-Reserve articles (online for ANTH 145) and Blackboard

Course Schedule

1/29            Introduction to course and class survey

2/3            Human Sexuality:  The Basics
READ:  female anatomy (http://www.innerbody.com/image/dige04.html and http://www.innerbody.com/image/repfov.html), male anatomy (http://www.innerbody.com/image/repmov.html),
READ: Friedl (1994) “Sex the Invisible” (friedl94.pdf) on Blackboard

PART 1.  EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SEXUALITY

2/5            Bonobos in Paradise:  A History of Primate Sex
READ: “The First Primates” (http://anthro.palomar.edu/earlyprimates/early_2.htm) , “Apes” (http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/prim_7.htm), de Waal (1995:82-88) “Bonobo Sex and Society” (http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/globalrights/sexorient/bonobos.html) and de Waal (2007) “Bonobos Left and Right” (http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-08-08.html#feature), Shlain, ch. 9 (pp. 101-114).

2/10           Sexual Reproduction in Hominid Evolution
READ: Shlain, Preface (pp. ix-xix) and chaps. 1-4 (pp. 2-43)

2/12            Female Menstruation and Ovulation
READ: Shlain, chaps. 5-7 (pp. 45-82), ch. 13 (pp. 165-185)
CAE 1: IS THE FEMALE ORGASM ADAPTIVE?

2/17            Mate Choice and Sexual Strategy
READ: Shlain, chaps. 14-15 (pp. 187-225)

2/19 Circumcision: Cutting Edge Views
READ: Shlain, ch. 8 (pp. 85-97); “Does Circumcision have a History?” (http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=5&id=70&Itemid=48), “Female Genital Mutilation” (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/)

2/24            Sexing our Earliest Ancestors #1
Film:  “Quest for Fire” (1983)  V-2085

READ: Review of film in American Anthropologist (quest.pdf on Blackboard)

2/26           Sexing our Earliest Ancestors #1
READ: Shlain, chaps. 21-23 (pp. 307-349)
CAE 2: QUEST FOR ACCURACY: REVIEW OF “Quest for Fire”

PART 2. MALINOWSKI, MARGARET MEAD AND THE STUDY OF GENDER

3/3 Malinowski and the Paternity Question
READ: Malinowski (1916:353-357, 406-430, in malinowski.pdf on Blackboard)

3/5             The Ethnography of Margaret Mead
READ: Mead, xi-xxviii, chaps 1-VI (pp. 1-60)

3/10            On Margaret Mead
[Film:“Anthropology on Trial” (V-876)
READ:  Mead, chaps. VIII-XI (pp. 77-128)                                   

3/12            The Samoan Controversy  
READ:  Mead (ch. VII, pp. 61-76, appendices II-III), Shankman (1996, shankman.pdf on Blackboard)

3/17            Sexism and Language
READ: Rancour-Laf erriere (1985) (rancour.pdf on Blackboard); Wajnryb (2005:204-236) [E-Reserve]: George Carlin “Seven Words” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Nrp7cj_tM; “The Word ‘Fuck’” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hgsw5Hg0Ag&feature=related)  

3/19            Midterm exam           

PART 3.  GENDER EQUALITY:  A CASE STUDY

3/24            A Case Study from Vanatinai
READ: Lepowski, Preface (pp. vii-xviii, chaps. 1-2 (pp. 1-80)

3/26            Sexual Choice in Vanatinai
READ: Lepowski, chap. 3 (pp. 81-124) and Nanda, ch. 4 (pp. 57-70)           

3/31            Ancestors and Spirits
READ: Lepowski, chaps. 4-5 (pp. 125-205)

4/2 Gender Equality
READ: Lepowski, chap. 8 (pp. 281-306)
CAE 3: WHAT MAKES GENDER EQUALITY POSSIBLE?

4/7-4/9  Spring Vacation

PART 4.  STUDENT PROJECTS

4/14            Student Presentations 4/16            Student Presentations 4/21            Student Presentations

PART 5.  THE AMBIGUITY OF SEX AND GENDER

4/23           Homosexuality in Anthropological Perspective
READ: Shlain, chaps 16-17 (pp.  227-258), Nanda, Introduction (pp. 1-9), ch. 7 (pp. 101-106)

4/28            Transsexuality:  A Third Sex?
READ: Nanda, ch. 1-3 (pp. 11-56), ch. 6 (pp. 87-100)
CAE 4: IS THE TWO-SEX MODEL OUTDATED?

PART 6. EPILOGUE

4/30      Inscribing the Body
READ:  Benson (2000) on Blackboard (benson.pdf); “Not Naked but Nude” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/feb/08/photography.art) and “A Brief History of Tattoos” (http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html)

5/5            The Future of the Sexes
READ: Shlain, ch. 24 (pp. 351-365 and epilogue, pp. 367-370)

5/14           Final Exam:  1:30-3:30 in class

Course Requirements

3.  RAG. The class website RAG (http://people.hofstra.edu/daniel_m_varisco/145rag1-09.html) contains a guide to all of the assigned readings for this section. Each student must take notes independently on these questions and hand in the RAG the day of each exam (midterm and final) for credit. These notes will result in a study guide for the exams. All of the short answers on the midterm and final will come from questions in this study guide. Each RAG is worth 12 points, for a total of 24 points.

The grading criteria for each RAG are as follows: 2 points (impressive) 1 point (adequate)

a. Comprehensive responses to most questions (more than phrase or simple gist)
b. Recognizes key issues involved
c. Raises specific questions about what is read
d. Provides personal views and opinions (you will not be graded on what you say, but you must make an effort to state how the course material affects your understanding of the material
e. Awareness of anthropological approaches and methods
f. Overall level of effort and engagement with material.

a. Demonstration that the information is understood

b. Use of relevant and appropriate information and examples from the course

c. Critical analysis of key concepts and perspectives

d. Understanding of anthropological perspectives
e. Synthesis and reformulation in your own words

f. Clarity , completeness and coherence of response

 

Exams cannot be made up without advance notice for a legitimate reason.

Each student is required to write class assignment essays related to assigned readings, film viewings, and discussions in class. The student must hand in the assignment on the day due. These assignments must be typed and at least 2-3 pages (500-750 words) in length. The idea of the assignment is to show how you interact with the material you are reading or seeing. You must specifically relate your ideas and opinions to the assigned reading or topic.

The grading for this journal is "outcome based," which means that a particular assignment can be revised or expanded as necessary to meet the established criteria for full credit of 6 points per assignment, assuming the first is handed in on time. No revisions will be accepted after the last official day (5/5) of class. The criteria for grading the CAE are:

a. Appropriate length and degree to which you interact with the material
b. Use of appropriate and relevant examples from the course material
c. Critical analysis of key concepts and perspectives
d. Shows awareness of anthropological approaches and methods
e. Coherent argument and clear presentation of points
f. Handed in on day due

?• CAE 1 (DUE 2/12): IS FEMALE ORGASM ADAPTIVE? After reading the assigned chapters in Shlain (esp. ch. 7), pick what you think is the most probable explanation for the evolutionary significance of human female orgasm and which proposed explanation you think is the least persuasive. Explain why you think the way you do. Be aware of the role of concealed ovulation, which distinguishes human females from other primates.

• CAE 2 (due 2/26): QUEST FOR ACCURACY: REVIEW OF “QUEST FOR FIRE” Based on the information presented in the course thus far, critique the depiction of sex and gender relations in the film “Quest for Fire.” Consider the film’s inclusion of widely different hominid species at the same time as part of your critique. Also look at the role of “frontal sex,” presented in the text as unique to the most advanced species. If you were to write the script for this film today, what changes would you make to better reflect the role of female sexuality discussed in Shlain?

• CAE # 3: (due 3/31): WHAT MAKES GENDER EQUALITY POSSIBLE? Lepowsky asks: "What can people in other parts of the world learn from the principles of sexual equality in Vanatinai custom and philosophy?" Based on the points raised in her case study, discuss three important points explaining gender equality and explain how they are relevant for gender relations in our own society.

• CAE 4: (DUE 4/14) IS THE TWO-SEX MODEL OUTDATED? In her Gender Diversity Nanda describes examples of gender identity that do not neatly fit into the binary model of male/female. While it could be said that homosexuality does not problematize the male-female binary, how should intersexuality be classified? Is there a need to propose a cultural category of a “Third Sex or “Third Gender” to accommodate transsexuals and intersexuals? Argue for or against such a category, using examples from Nanda.

6.  STUDENT GROUP PROJECTS

Purpose: The aim of this project is to explore aspects of how American society is gendered and/or sexualized feedback from fellow students. Students will choose a topic and work together (not necessarily the whole group at one time) in a group of about four people. The point is to do ethnographic observations, conduct interviews or reflect on your own actions. Each group will present their findings to the class on one of the three days allotted for presentations with interaction from the rest of the class. This should be a creative effort, involving a short skit, video, use of images or internet. Time will be provided in class for short planning sessions. Each student must submit a 1-2 page summary of his or her contribution to the project.

Grading: Presentation (total up to 8 points). Up to 4 points for entire group and up to 4 for each individual's report. Each of the following criteria are worth 1 point.

a. Clear application of anthropological method or theory in the analysis
b. relates comparatively to relevant examples from the course material
c. clarity and coherent explanation of points made
d. originality and creativity 

Grading in this course is based on a 100 point scale (although the student has the opportunity to earn 108 points in the course). In general, the "A" range will extend from 90-100, the "B" range from 80-89, the "C" range from 70-79, the "D" range starting at 64. The point accumulation breaks down as follows:

ITEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Exam #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Exam #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

RAG #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

RAG #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Class Assignment Essays (CAE) . . . . . . . . . 24

Student Project Webservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108