[lbo-talk] Misogyny and fascism

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Thu Oct 26 15:07:43 PDT 2006


joanna wrote:
>
>
> Miles Jackson wrote:
>
>>
>> Interesting anthopological work on this: as societies shift from
>> hunting and gathering to agrarian mode of production, the social role
>> of women becomes more limited, men gain more economic power, and
>> political authority is increasingly held by men.
>
> That seems counterintuitive somehow. Can you say more?
>
> Joanna

Karen Sacks (if I recall correctly) conducted ethnographic research on African hunting and gathering tribes as they transitioned to horticulture. By a number of meaningful economic and political indicators, women were substantially better off in the hunting and gathering tribes than they were in sedentary horticultural societies.

Sacks suggests that women have a more explicit, socially recognized economic role in hunting and gathering societies (the tribe is mostly dependent on women for subsistence; calories from hunting are sporadic at best); this translates into political autonomy and respect. In sedentary horticultural/agrarian societies, women become the "helpmate" of the economic provider (the man deals with the economic surplus of crops); this translates into lower prestige and less political/economic autonomy for women.

Miles



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