Anthropology Study Guide

5 Subsistence strategies

Hunting and Gathering, Pastoralism, Horticulture, Agriculture, Industrialism

Ethnocentrism

to view your own culture as superior to others

Gender

The cultural construction of male and female characteristics

Gender Roles

Tasks and activites a culture assigns to the sexes

Division Of Labor

Allows two or more cooperating adults to focus or allow for the development of next generation

Gender Stereotypes

Oversimplified ideas about the characteristics of genders

Gender Stratification

Describs unequal distribution of rewards

Third Gender

Concept when society labels an individual as neither male nor female

Margaret Mead's Study

Visited different cultures in Papa New Guiena and showed that all gender roles are not the same across cultures.

Arapash

Women and Men have the standard American Gender Roles

Mundugmor

women are aggresive while men are passive

Tchambuli

women are mangerial and men are dramatic

Descent

Principles that link one generation to another in a systematic manner

Descent Group

Group of Kin related by common descent by certain specifed rights and obligations across generations

Lineage

Unilineal descent group in which relationships among memebers are known and demonstrable

Lineage Types

Matrilineal and Patrilineal

Matrilineal

based on or tracing descent through the female line

patrilineal

based on or tracing descent through the male line

Clan

Unilineal descent group in which relationships between members cannot be demonstrated and are simply assumed

Moiety

Similar to a clan, but the common ancestor is blurred and often only mythical

Bilateral Descent

line of descent traced through both the maternal and paternal sides of the family

Exogamy

Rule that states you must marry outside a particular group

endogamy

Rule that states you must marry withing a particular group

Hypergamy

When a man marries a woman of a lower status or the woman marries up which elevates her position in society

Polgyny

One man with multiple wives

Polyandry

One woman with multiple husbands

Monogamy

Having only one significant other at a time

Serial Monogamy

One partner at a time but more than one throughout life

Incest Taboo

Taboo on parent, child, or sibling romantic relationships but frequently extends beyond immediate family

Parallel Cousins

Father to brother offspring or Mother to sister offspring depending on the type of lineage

Cross Cousins

Father to sister offspring or Mother to brother offspring depending on the type of lineage