| Summary, etc. |
The initial idea for this reader came from the experience of teaching undergraduate courses in<br/>gender and anthropology. In reviewing the textbooks available for an introductory course, we came<br/>to the conclusion that there was a need for a readable text that built on the classic contributions of<br/>the 1970s while incorporating the more recent and diverse literature on gender roles and ideology<br/>around the world. Although a number of sophisticated theoretical works devoted to this subject<br/>existed, we felt there was a dearth of classroom material available in one volume and appropriate for<br/>less advanced students, whether undergraduates or beginning graduate students.<br/>We have had several goals in mind as we selected materials for the sixth edition. As in previous<br/>editions, we want to introduce students to the most significant topics in the field of the anthropol-<br/>ogy of gender. These include the study of men and women in prehistory; the relationship between<br/>biology and culture; the cultural construction of masculinity, femininity, sexuality, personhood, and<br/>the body; variations in the sexual division of labor and economic organization; women's involvement<br/>in ritual and religion; and the impact of the state and the global economy on gender relations and<br/>gender identities. In this edition, we have added some additional articles on lesbian and gay identities.<br/>We have always considered it important to maintain the broad cross-cultural coverage evident<br/>in the first edition of this book. This breadth encourages comparative analysis of the themes under<br/>discussion and allows us to address issues of gender in industrial society as well as in developing<br/>societies. In this edition, we have added a few more articles based on research in North America as<br/>well as replaced some older articles with those based on more current field research in some of the<br/>sections. Some may find a favorite article no longer in the book. We thought hard about this and<br/>decided, based on our own experiences of teaching the class, that several of these articles no longer<br/>had an impact on twenty-first century students. We are always willing to receive feedback regarding<br/>these "classics."<br/>In the sixth edition, we have asked several new authors to write original pieces (Covey, Gulbas,<br/>Joyce, Parikh, Matza, Bowen, Lewin, Santos, and MacDonald) or to adapt previously published pieces<br/>for use here (Hirsch, Childs, Brennan, Moodie, Osella and Osella). In this edition, we have also<br/>continued to expand the number of studies that deal with masculinity and male gender roles (Santos,<br/>Osella and Osella, Lewin).<br/>Although we have maintained a commitment to combining theoretically and ethnographically<br/>based essays in the book, in this edition we have included more case studies, choosing to incorporate<br/>the broader theoretical questions in our section introductions. In these introductions, we continue to<br/>review as clearly as possible some of the significant issues debated in particular subject areas within the<br/>anthropology of gender. These introductions, updated for the current edition, are intended to orient<br/>students to the essays in the section and to provide a context in which readers can understand more<br/>fully each essay. Each introduction concludes with a list of references that can be used by teachers<br/>and students to examine further the questions raised in that section.<br/>We have maintained the order of the fifth edition but retitled and reorganised the final section to<br/>We do not expect all instructors to assign the sections in the order that they appear in the text.<br/>better represent the articles contained in it. The order makes sense to us, but our ultimate goal is<br/>be related to essays in other sections. We also have no intention of imposing a particular theoretical<br/>to provide for maximum flexibility in teaching. Indeed, there are essays in some sections that can<br/>that reflect a variety of theoretical orientations to enable instructors to emphasize their own approach<br/>perspective, although our own predilections may be apparent to some readers. We include readings<br/>desires, can be complemented by the use of full ethnographies. |
