Sex and Gender

Most of you mentioned the role of Christianity in shaping our ideas about gender. Religion - in our society and in American Indian societies - plays a key role in a societies ideas about sex and gender. America was settled primarily by Europeans from a Christian tradition and that influence is still with us today.

The relationship between sex and gender is also an important point, particularly in regards to our society. In American society, sex and gender are viewed as the same thing. In fact, sex is a biological term and gender is a cultural term. Yet, we, as a society, do not make that distinction. Hence, we have difficulties dealing with people who don't fit into our traditional gender roles - homosexuals, transexuals, transvestites, hermaphrodites, etc. If you are biologically a male there is a pretty rigid gender role that you are expected to fill. It is the same with females. And, a large part of that gender role has to do with sexuality - heterosexuality.  Those that fall outside of those traditional roles are seen as deviants.

A third gender is a cultural category, not a biological one. And, third gender is not the same thing as homosexuality. It refers to a person's social role and behaviors, not necessarily sexuality. Third genders generally take on the role associated with the opposite sex, but not necessarily engage in homosexual behavior. In some African tribes, such as Nuer, women who are infertile may take on the traditional male role and "marry" a woman. However, this is not a sexual relationship. The "husband" gives gifts to obtain a wife and bring her into the residential compound just as a man would. The wife contributes her labor to the household. There is no sexual relationship between "husband" and "wife." The "wife" has sexual relations with a man to have children, yet those children belong to compound into which she married. In a society where a woman is defined by her child-bearing role, this provides a place in society for women who cannot have children.

Remember that culture is integrated. As one aspect changes, it will affect other aspects of culture. As we become a more culturally diverse society those aspects of culture that were strongly influenced by one culture are likely to undergo changes as well.

And we are seeing changes in our society's accepted gender roles. I have seen many changes in my life time. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. That is what was expected. If families could afford it, the woman stayed home and raised the children. Today, most families can't make it on one income. Both parents work. That has resulted in changes in how we define the roles of men and women. Gender is culturally defined, and changes as cultures change.

Could the acceptance of a third gender be more likely in societies where cooperation is more important? As societies become larger, it is not as important that we "include" all people. We can afford to ostracize. In smaller societies, it is more important to include all people as productive members of the community, and the acceptance of these differences may be a way of doing that - providing them with a clearly defined role.

Inequalities: Class and Caste

For this week (October 31 - November 6) read Chapter 10 in your text and the following articles:
Rising Wealth Inequality
Class Mobility:  Is the American Dream a Myth

Discussion Assignment
What is the "American Dream?" Discuss the real vs the ideal perception of the American Dream. Are there discrepancies between the real and the ideal perceptions?  If you see differences, what do you think accounts for the difference between those perceptions? 

Respond to at least two classmates.

The Chapter 10 quiz is posted on Moodle.

Political Organizations - Becca Libby

All sides of our government have their sacred values from which they base their opinions, just like most individuals. In fact, many politicians use the values of particular individuals and groups of people to sway their feelings one way or the other. Much of the partisanship we see is based upon this. When politicans on either side of the political playing field use the people to create conflict between one another it splits the people apart. Here in the south, many people have very strong right wing views on things like sexual orientation, religion, and of course politics. So naturally, when politicians come to this area of the county to campaign, they know just the right topics to exploit. When people hear a politician bashing gays, or Muslims, they automatically assume whatever they have said must be correct without questioning it. This only further separates the groups of people in this country, and promotes ignorance. For some reason, even with our congress which was created to discuss issues and find the most logical answer to questions, we still cannot agree on even the simplest issues.

America is great because we have the right to choose what religion we practice, where we want to live, how we want to raise or children, all the way down to what we want to wear when we wake up in the morning. People are proud to be a part of this country for these reasons, so why do so many politicians and individuals still discriminate against people who choose not to practice Christianity? Freedom of religion means ANY religion. I understand the values that many people have, especially those that stem from their religion, but breaking these ignorant barriers we have built around anything and everything that is not white and christian would make us the nation we have always said that we are.

Sacred Values-Sara Bugler

Once I read "Sacred Barrier to Conflict Resolution" I was more aware of what Americans value as opposed to other countries. For instance we have been in the war with the Muslim world now for a while and we still do not understand thier culture. They don't value the idea of personal freedom as much as Americans do. We see thier women being oppressed by wearing certain clothing or abiding by certain rules, but these are more laws of thier religion, not of oppression. I think that in some circumstances some women may be getting oppressed or devalued by thier oppressers, but as a whole the Muslim religion is not about oppressing a woman. The give and take from these is that Muslims can be angry that we are over there fighting a war for what we don't or won't understand. Americans see themselves as saviors to these poor oppressed people. We also are spending a great deal of money to fight this war, and not getting the results of apprehending the suspects we thought were out there. I know many people who are stationed in Afghanistan now and fighting for us, in no way am I saying what they are doing doesn't matter, I think the government needs to understand the situation better.

Political Organization-Sierra Armstrong

Sacred Values have a way of creating barriers that get in the way of solving political conflicts. Many countries have their own sacred values. America as a whole values freedom more than the Muslim countires as a whole, but I think as a whole Muslim countries value their religion far more than Americans value the religion they believe in. However we think or whatever we value, we think others should think it and value it too.
Our government has become very partisan especially in the war on terrorism. We have paid so much attention on how the Muslim people do not have freedom and are being suppressed. But what if freedom is not as sacred to them as we think it is. We believe that everyone should be free. But that is America. We are pushing our values on to them. Do you want another group of people invading your home for something that you don't care that much about. And that is what we have done, we have invaded a country and pushed what we value on to them. They are a different culture altogether and value different things.
A trade-off in this case is American soldiers being sent off to countries fighting people who care nothing about freedom. We are fighting for something that they don't value, even though we do. Another trade-off is all that money being wasted on countries who don't value it. Americans believe that freedom is the right and just thing and want others to able to enjoy it. But why use that money on it when they do not value it.

Political Organization- Abbey Dahl

Between reading the article from last week, "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?", and this weeks article, "Sacred Barriers to Conflict Resolution," I have realized that the American politics have become quite partisan. American's values have evolved since 1776 when the United States of America was at last formed after the Revolution. It seems that since we fought so strongly for our freedom, we feel obligated to help other countries gain long lasting freedom as well. This is where a part of the partisanship in politics begins to form. Some citizens strongly support going to help other countries for their freedom, where other protestors in contrast believe that it is not our obligation to fight for freedom in other countries.

Along with freedom, equality is part a crucial part of our culture. Since the Civil Rights Movements many ethnicities have peacefully protested for equality, just like the feminists. This is why I believe that after September 11th, 2001 woman from America thought that Muslim women were being repressed. Prior to the tradegy that struck America, the culture of Muslim's was studied, but not to specific detail. Then after the terroist attack, because of wearing burqas women were suddently repressed from society. It is a sacred value of their view of equality, and a part of their interesting culture that answers the question: Why Muslim women must wear a burqa?

An economic trade-off for protecting the sacred values of others was stated in the artice to be for the well-being of children, and the goodness in the community. Symbolic concessions that could be in help in resolving a conflict could start with a stated apology. As it stated in the article apologies aren't that "special", but it could be a start to a more stronger resolution like a agreed treaty between to countries.

Partisanship in the US government

There is much partisanship in our US government. No members of the two political parties will admit partisan ship to their party, but it is obvious due to the fact that great ideas have been proposed on how to fix our economy. President Obama proposed a few good ideas and bills to fix our economy yet as soon as they hit the Republican controlled Congress his ideas are shot down, and because of this nothing has been done to fix our economy. The Tea party has caught a lot of fire from both the democrats and republicans simply because they are a young and rapidly growing political party. I think the two big parties are afraid due to the idea that they may not make it into office again in the next election. Some other decisions aren't based on just political parties but also religion. The idea of "separation of church and state" is not present in our government today. The refusal to allow mosques to be built in New York and other places evidence of a violation to separation of church and state. I say this because certain officials in the local government are denying Muslims a place to worship simply because it is an Islamic Mosque. In doing they they are being unconstitutional in violating the second amendment of the constitution. There is a lot of partisanship in US politics.