kinship and women

  • Discussion Posts

    • Importance of participation in discussion posts for grading.
    • These posts keep students engaged with course content.

  • Kinship and Women's Oppression

    • Contrast between two forms of women's oppression:
    • 1. Kinship systems: Women as gifts within social exchanges, highlighting the inherent commodification.
    • 2. Objectification: Viewing women as objects devoid of social connections.
    • Key question: What is the difference between these forms of oppression?

  • Forms of Power

    • Power dynamics in kinship societies versus mass or feudal societies.
    • Small-scale kinship societies may exhibit less hierarchical oppression but still show visible forms of women's oppression.

  • The Concept of Gifts

    • Distinction between gifts and objects:
    • Gifts, particularly women in kinship contexts, are not just objects but come with relational importance.
    • Gifts foster ongoing relationships and social connections (e.g., marriage ties).
    • Levinas framework emphasizes women's roles as facilitators of social organization.

  • Women as Gifts

    • The societal structure based upon women's exchange in marriage limits female agency.
    • In modern contexts, these dynamics still manifest where women may still be seen as exchangeable objects.

  • Historical Context

    • Change from kinship-based societies to modern nation-states; change in social organization.
    • Rise of nation-states impacting identity as citizens rather than kin.

  • Freud and Social Organization

    • Freud's theories arising from modern bourgeois family structures; the evolution of familial roles and desires.
    • Child's development of desire and the influence of maternal relationships and their dynamics.
    • Key to understanding current social oppressions relates back to these early familial structures and the changes in power dynamics over control.

  • Objectification and Body Image

    • Modern power structures promoting self-objectification through media versus the more communal self-image in kinship societies.
    • Continuous evolution of oppression specific to women is not eliminated by moving away from kinship to nation-state identities.