Gender and sex are not synonymous. We’re taught to believe that being born male makes you a man and being born female makes you a woman, but this is simply not the case. There are many parallels in Margaret Mead’s article “Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies” with what we learned in class this term about gender roles and how they are learned and not “natural”. In her article she elaborates that gender roles are learned and provides evidence using the Arapesh, Mundugumor, and Tchambuli tribes. Each of these tribes have very different gender roles countering those of American society. These ideals show also that sex and gender are in fact two very separate things despite popular belief. For the purpose of this essay, I will cite
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For example, the Mundugumor people she studies is a “ruthless, aggressive, positively sexed” society “with the maternal cherishing aspects of personality at a minimum” (Macionis 230). Mead described this with “an undisciplined and very violent male” personality (Macionis 230). In another culture Mead studied, the Arapesh, they were “trained to be cooperative, unaggressive, [and] responsive to the needs and demands of others” (Macionis 230). Finally, Mead studied the Tchambuli tribe where the women of the tribe are “dominant, impersonal, [and] managing” whereas the men of the tribe are “less responsible and the emotionally dependent person” (Macionis 230). We can see here already that obviously that gender roles can not only be flipped but also equal. Introduction to Sociology describes a process called gender role socialization where we learn about gender “through factors such as schooling, the media, and family” (Giddens 216). We learn how to be boys and girls, men and …show more content…
And nowadays gender fluidity is more common than ever. Furthering this idea of gender fluidity is the idea of the two-spirit (Giddens 221). A two-spirit is the “useful shorthand to describe the entire spectrum of gender and sexual expression” for tribes such as the Navajo people (Giddens 221). In addition the Navajo describe a person “who constantly transforms” as a nádleehí, although this typically refers to a male-bodied person with a feminine nature (Giddens 221). Although the Navajo are an ancient tribe, this, too, proves that gender is not as universal as we
For example, the Mundugumor people she studies is a “ruthless, aggressive, positively sexed” society “with the maternal cherishing aspects of personality at a minimum” (Macionis 230). Mead described this with “an undisciplined and very violent male” personality (Macionis 230). In another culture Mead studied, the Arapesh, they were “trained to be cooperative, unaggressive, [and] responsive to the needs and demands of others” (Macionis 230). Finally, Mead studied the Tchambuli tribe where the women of the tribe are “dominant, impersonal, [and] managing” whereas the men of the tribe are “less responsible and the emotionally dependent person” (Macionis 230). We can see here already that obviously that gender roles can not only be flipped but also equal. Introduction to Sociology describes a process called gender role socialization where we learn about gender “through factors such as schooling, the media, and family” (Giddens 216). We learn how to be boys and girls, men and …show more content…
And nowadays gender fluidity is more common than ever. Furthering this idea of gender fluidity is the idea of the two-spirit (Giddens 221). A two-spirit is the “useful shorthand to describe the entire spectrum of gender and sexual expression” for tribes such as the Navajo people (Giddens 221). In addition the Navajo describe a person “who constantly transforms” as a nádleehí, although this typically refers to a male-bodied person with a feminine nature (Giddens 221). Although the Navajo are an ancient tribe, this, too, proves that gender is not as universal as we