Cross cultural research into gender roles
Why carry out cross cultural research into gender roles?
To investigate what is nature and nurture; if gender behaviour is consistent across cultures it implies that it is nature.
Most, but not all, cross cultural research shows us that gender is consistent across cultures.
Wood and Eagly used data (recorded observations) from thousands of various types of cultures all over the world and coded them using content analysis to discover any similarities or differences in gender role activities performed by men and women. The data was gathered using an ethnographic approach. They found across various non-industrialised cultures men generally contributed more than women to providing food and women contributed more to child care, especially in infancy.
What is an ethnographic approach?
A qualitative method which involves precise recording of observations of people in various societies.
What is impressive about this study?
The amount of cultures studied.
What does it imply about gender roles?
That gender is nature and therefore biologically influenced.
Can you see any potential problems with the ethnographic approach used?
- Accuracy of the initial observations
- Genuine nature of the behaviour observed- did the participants change their behaviour?
- Context of behaviour can be lost by ‘recoding’ it into certain traits
- coding of behaviour could be subject to cultural bias.
However, other research shows that gender roles are not consistent across cultures. Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was an early researcher here who also used an ethnographic approach to studying cultures which involved her immersing herself within a culture, conducting participant observation and interviews.
In 1935 she described the cultures of three different ‘pre-industrialised’ societies in New Guinea: The Arapesh, the Mundugumor (now called ‘Biwat’) and the Tchambuli tribe (now called Chambri).
The Arapesh were described as having gender roles that were similar to both men and women with childcare a shared responsibility. Males and females were sensitive and had a peaceful temperament. The Mundugamor by contrast showed masculine traits in both genders, they were aggressive and insensitive. With the Tchambuli the roles were reversed with men displaying artistic traits and social sensitivity, showing concern for others and staying home to rear children. The women were assertive and practical.
What does Mead’s work seem to be suggesting about gender?
It is culturally determined.
Mead’s research has been much criticised for observer bias and cultural bias.She may have over-emphasised the role of nurture over nature because of her own beliefs, so she may not have been objective. This belief that she held was a reflection of the beliefs held by her own culture at the time, hence she is culturally biased and ethnocentric since she imposed the beliefs of her culture on the way she interpreted the behaviour on another culture.
Gewertz(1981) observed the Tchambuli in the 1970s and found that males were more aggressive than females. He argued that Mead studied these tribes when they were facing a change in their lifestyle and were forced to behave differently from normal and so were more aggressive than normal; this shows how important it is to consider the context of a culture’s situation when looking at their behaviour.
So, this shows that a re-test of Mead’s result did not give the same result. What is this an issue for and why does it matter?
Reliability – if the result isn’t consistent across time it can’t be trusted and we cannot draw firm conclusions on the impact that culture has on gender.
Cook 1992 studied an unusual case of role reversal on the Island of Margarita, off the coast of Venezuela. Women were largely traditional in their roles i.e. nurturing children and they have very little actual power within their community. The men are often away for large periods of time hunting for food and they held largely traditional roles. However, the women differed from what may be expected in one key way.
The women exhibit high levels of aggression, often physical with other women and occasionally with men.
It is likely that the women show this behaviour to enable them and their children to survive, so their behaviour is determined by their situation. Why is this the case?
Possibly because their environmental conditions dictate their behaviour the women are left alone to fend for themselves and their children as the men are away. It may be a culturally accepted part of the female role which has allowed them to survive.
Conclusion
What does the cross cultural research on gender roles show us?