¶ … Components of a Good Life," Hewlett (2013b) focuses on AKA and Ngandu concepts of female adolescence, including issues associated with puberty and rites of passage to adulthood. The author links the cultural components of female puberty with evidence from psychological development. Adolescence is a transitional period or life stage, generally characterized by psychic and social exploration, identity formation, and increased risk taking. Hewlett's thesis in this chapter is that gender is constructed as a process involving interactions between human biology/developmental psychology, culture, and the ecology of politics and economics.
Hewlett's (2013b) data is gathered from field studies, including in-depth open-ended interviews with Aka and Ngandu women. Secondary sources are also cited in the bibliography, especially when referring to psychological or sociological research that substantiates the primary theses of the chapter. The author attempts to draw connections between research in evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, and cultural anthropology. The anecdotes and observations gathered in the field bolster prior research, and the research is heightened and substantiated by the direct evidence from Aka and Ngandu women.
The emphasis on the field work is on shifts in gender roles, norms, and customs with regards to the transitional period of adolescence. Focusing on women in two different tribes, Hewlett (2013b) illustrates two remarkably different normative structures and worldviews. The Aka and Ngandu have completely different concepts of female sexuality and female roles in society. Ngandu are patriarchal; the Aka more egalitarian. Evidence for these differences comes from objective observations of task differentiation, divisions of labor, and customs related to marriage and other rites of passage.
For example, the Ngandu have strict gender divisions of labor with women confined to domestic chores and childrearing. The Aka do not have...
Gender Roles In the world today, the most common way in which human beings probably distinguish themselves is by their gender. All human beings, or at least the vast majority, are born as clearly male or female. Perhaps this is also why this distinction has, since ancient times, served as a factor in human relationships and indeed vast-scale human oppression and even slavery. Indeed, to this day many women suffer indignities
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Gender Role Analysis How Gender is Shaped by Education How Gender is Shaped by Public Policy How Gender is Shaped in the Workplace This report discusses the role played by social institutions such as schools, workplaces and policy making institutions in the shaping of gender roles and norms in society. These institutions hold control over desired resources such as information, wealth and social progress. They control the distribution of these resources by making it
Gender Roles in Everybody Loves Raymond Even with the fact that society as a whole has experienced significant progress during recent years, it seems difficult for the media to stop using stereotypes when relating to particular groups. Philip Rosenthal's television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond is a perfect example concerning gender roles and how the media tends to use them with the purpose of shaping particular characters. In spite of its humor,
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References Anderson, I. (2007). What is a typical rape? Effects of victim and participant gender in female and male rape perception. The British Psychological Society, 46, 3225-245. Anderson, I. & Lyons, a. (2005). The Effect of Victims Social Support on Attribution of Blame in Female and Male Rape. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35(7), 1400-1417. Davies, M. & McCartney S. (2003). Effects of Gender and Sexuality on Judgments of Victim Blame and Rape
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