ANTHROP 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Arapesh Languages, American Anthropologist, Margaret Mead
Document Summary
Anthro 1aa3: food sex and death- lecture 2: gender and sex. Refers to biological distinctions such as the chromosomal, hormonal, or physical differences between males and females. Therefore in our society, we perceive there to be two sexes. Sex is about biology and how you are born as a male or female. It is a culturally constructed form of identity that consists of the roles people are expected to play because of their sex. Culturally constructed = shaped by cultural values, ideals and expectations; learned behaviors. You are born m/f however you are not born knowing how to act a m/f, you learn those traits through media, toys, the way our parents and others speak to us, etc. Gender is learned behavior and it is not natural. We think of our identities as something natural and biological and therefore it is something that we cannot change. If parents don"t impose it they receive it from media.