Many anthropologists argue that males hold formal authority over females in every society, potentially due to biological inheritance (aggression in males, docility in females).
Ernestine Friedl challenges this view, suggesting that relations between men and women are shaped by culturally defined division of labor based on sex, not inherited predisposition.
Access to resources that circulate publicly enables women to attain equal or dominant status.
Examples From Different Cultures
Yanomamö Indians (Venezuela): Men expect quick service from women and have the right to beat them for non-compliance.
Semai agriculturalists (Central Malaya): Violence is avoided; men suffer emotionally (punan) when rejected by women.
Cultural examples are used to support arguments about sex roles, but biology's effect can be clarified by examining early human societies and the relationship between technology, social organization, environment, and sex roles.
Equality between sexes is rare; male dominance is widespread, with no known societies where women consistently dominate.
Resource Control and Social Structure
No evidence exists of a society where women control all strategic resources and their activities are most prestigious.
Iroquois and Lovedu: Women had significant roles (food distribution, political leadership, queenship) but men still owned land and held ultimate authority.
Patriarchies are strongest where men control goods exchanged outside the family; control over distribution leads to political power.
Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Hunter-gatherers subsist on wild plants, small animals, and hunted game and represent a long period of human history with technologically simple and egalitarian societies.
Male power in these societies stems from control of animal protein, a scarce and necessary nutrient.
Men distribute meat, gaining honor and creating obligations, while women's gathered foods are typically confined to household distribution.
Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Hunting
Variability in game supply requires frequent expeditions for gathered food.
Hunting and gathering require different skills.
Carrying burdens is incompatible with hunting.
Small population sizes limit specialized roles.
Pregnancy and child care also pose difficulties for women hunters.
Types of Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Degree of male dominance varies with the amount of meat available and supplied by men.
Four types:
Communal Hunts (Washo Indians): Men and women work together, leading to relative equality.
Individual Collection (Hadza of Tanzania): Men and women work alone, exchanging little food, resulting in near-equality.
Separate but Sharing (Tiwi of North Australia): Men hunt, women gather, men are dominant because they provide most of the meat.
Male Provisioning (Eskimo): Men provide all food, women are subordinate.
Examples of Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Washo Indians: Everyone participated, little difference in male and female rights, distinctive feature is the relative equality of sexes.
Hadza of Tanzania: Near-equality due to independent work; men distribute little meat, status is slightly higher than women.
Tiwi of North Australia: Male hunters dominate female gatherers; men supply large quantities of meat; betrothal practices reflect male power.
Eskimo: Inequality between sexes is matched by inequality in food supply; women are treated as objects; men control trade.
Generalizations and Industrial Society
Status goes to those who control distribution of valued goods and services.
Equality arises when both sexes work side-by-side, distributing products equally.
In industrial society, women gain little power if discretionary income is spent on domestic needs.
Power comes from investing and controlling valued resources.
Women in management, executive, and professional roles can trade goods, services, and favors, obligating others.
Household Dynamics
Women with income function more equally with husbands.
Housewives contributing unpaid services are vulnerable to dominance, similar to Eskimo women.
Societies adjust birth frequency and child care to accommodate women's productive activities.
In industrial societies, child-care arrangements develop with increased female labor force participation.
Conclusion
Change in social relationships between sexes is demanded as women gain access to positions controlling resource exchange.
Male dominance may become archaic, and industrial societies may become as egalitarian as the Washo.