Gender in cross-cultural perspective

This reader introduces students/readers to the most significant topics in the field of anthropology of genderdrawing not only from classic sources, but also from the most recent, diverse literature on gender roles and ideology around the world. It takes a clear, accessible approach to the subject matter, making coverage appropriate for students from various levels.

NOTE: New articles have an asterik and are in bold.

Contents
Preface xiii
About the Authors xv
I. Biology, Gender, and Human Evolution
Animal Models and Gender, Marlene Zuk
The Role of Women in Human Evolution, Margaret Ehrenberg
Gender and War: Are Women Tough Enough for Military Combat? Lucinda J. Peach
Lifeboat Ethics: Mother Love and Child Death in Northeast Brazil, Nancy Scheper-Hughes
The Cultural Nexus of Aka Father Infant Bonding, Barry S. Hewlett

II. Gender and Prehistory
The Archaeology of Gender Today: New Vistas, New Challenges, Margaret W. Conkey
*The Fashioning of Women, J. M. ADOVASIO, OLGA SOFFER and JAKE PAGE
Warriors and Rulers: Royal Women of the Classic Maya, Stanley Guenter and David Freidel

III. Domestic Worlds and Public Worlds
The Domestic Sphere of Women and the Public World of Men: The Strengths and Limitations of an Anthropological Dichotomy, Louise Lamphere
'It's a Pleasure to Cook for Him': Food, Mealtimes, and Gender in Some South Wales Households, Anne Murcott
Fatherhood and the Mediating Role of Women, Nicholas W. Townsend
Cities of Women, Mary Weismantel

IV. Equality and Inequality: The Sexual Division of Labor and Gender Stratification
Woman the Hunter: The Agta, Agnes Estioko-Griffin and P. Bion Griffin
Gender, Horticulture, and the Division of Labor on Vanatinai, Maria Lepowsky
Pastoral Nomadism and Gender: Status and Prestige, Economic Contribution, and Division of Labor Among the Tuareg of Niger, Susan Rasmussen
Women and Work in a Postrevolutionary Society: Urban Cooperatives and the Informal Economy in Nicaragua, Florence E. Babb

V. The Cultural Construction of Gender and Personhood
*My Encounter with Machismo in Spain, David D. Gilmore
Rituals of Manhood: Male Initiation in Papua New Guinea, Gilbert H. Herdt
The Named and the Nameless: Gender and Person in Chinese Society, Rubie S. Watson
*Gender and the Stories Pittsburgh Police Officers Tell About Using Physical Force, Bonnie McElhinny
The Making and Unmaking of Persons: Gender and Body in Northeast India, Sarah Lamb

VI. Culture, Sexuality, and the Body
Is There a Muslim Sexuality? Changing Constructions of Sexuality in Egyptian Bedouin Weddings, Lila Abu-Lughod
From Pollution to Love Magic: The New Anthropology of Menstruation, Alma Gottlieb
Hijras: An 'Alternative' Sex/Gender in India, Gayatri Reddy and Serena Nanda
Measuring Up to Barbie: Ideals of the Feminine Body in Popular Culture, Jacqueline Urla and Alan C. Swedlund

VII. Gender, Property, and the State
Thinking About Women and the Origin of the State, Rayna Rapp
Dowry, Bride-Burning, and Female Power in India, Linda Stone and Caroline James
Encountering the State: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Women's Political Experience, Josephine Caldwell Ryan
Japanese Mothers and Obent s: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus, Anne Allison

VIII. Gender, Household, and Kinship
*Beyond the 'Pattern of Heaven': Gender, Kinship and the Family in China, MONICA CABLE
*Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Labyrinth of Working and Parenting in a Poor Community, SHARON HICKS-BARTLETT
Matrifocality, Power, and Gender Relations in Jamaica, Marsha Prior
The Female World of Cards and Holidays: Women, Families, and the Work of Kinship, Micaela di Leonardo

IX. Gender, Ritual, and Religion
Spirit Possession and Gender Complementarity: Zâr in Rural Northern Sudan, Janice Boddy
'Tradition' and Threat: Women's Obscenity in Giriama Funerary Rituals, Janet McIntosh
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