Anthropology of Gender

The course introduces students to past and contemporary anthropological/ethnological debates on gender. It highlights anthropological approaches to understanding gender around the world, including intersections of gender with other identities or categories (culture, class, ethnicity, etc.)
The content of the course is outlined by the following thematic sections:
I. Historical overview of anthropological/ethnological interest in gender;
II. Understanding of fundamental concepts (sex/ gender, gender identity, intersectionality, feminism, etc.);
III. An overview of dominant themes that have characterized anthropological/ethnological research on gender (criticism of gender binarism and the category of the "third sex", marginalization of the female perspective in early anthropological works, division of labor, gender segregation (public/private), diversity of sexual and marriage practices, the construction of femininity and masculinity, localized negotiations of gender in different environments, anthropology of love, emotion and intimacy, etc.); III. Selected chapters from contemporary research on gender in different contexts that highlight changes in the understanding of gender relations over time.

The course also introduces students to the power of various ideologies (nationalism, different religious doctrines, colonialism, racism, neoliberalism, etc.) on the understanding of gender and gender inequality. It explores how economic and political changes affect our understanding of gender relations and complex power relations in contemporary world. The course also explores how researcher’s gender affects the fieldwork experiences, relationships and the production of ethnographic text.

Basic Literature:
1. Ortner, Sherry B. 1972. “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?” Feminist Studies 1 (2) (October 1): 5– 31. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3177638
2. Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1993. Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. University of California Press: 128-166, 340-399. [COBISS.SI-ID - 27893858]
3. Mascia-Lees, F. E. in N. Johnson Black. 1999. Gender and Anthropology. Waveland Press.
4. Vance, C. 1991. Anthropology Rediscovers Sexuality: A Theoretical Comment, Soc. Sci. Med. 33(8): 875-884. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(91)90259-F
5. Mead, M. 1928. Coming of Age in Samoa. New York : Blue Ribbon Books. [COBISS.SI-ID-37868544]
6. Shostak, M. 2000 (1981). Nisa: Life and World of !Kung Woman. Harward University Press. [COBISS.SI-ID-165011715]; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/9780674043596/html#conte…
7. Brown, J. K. (2006) “A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex,” v Feminist Anthropology: A Reader. Pp. 66-71.
8. Martin, E. 1991. The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, Signs 16(3): 485-501. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174586
9. Powis, R. in A. Strong, ur. 2017. Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York, London: Routledge. [COBISS.SI-ID-182653955]
10. Parrenas, R. 2015. Servants of Globalization: Migration and Domestic work. Stanford University Press. http://nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/logi…
11. D'Emilio, J.. 1993. “Capitalism and Gay Identity,” V: The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. H. Abelove, ur. New York: Routledge.
12. Kaberry, P. M., 2004 (1952), Women of the Grassfields. London, New York: Routledge. [COBISS.SI-ID-182709763], http://nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/logi…
13. Jezernik, B.. 1993. Spol in spolnost in extremis. Ljubljana: Društvo za proučevanje zgodovine, literature in antropologije. [COBISS.SI-ID-738308]
14. Bell D. in dr. 1993. Gendered Fields: Women, Men and Ethnography. New York: Routledge. [COBISS.SI-ID - 104840195]
15. Abu Lughod, Lila. 1993. Writing Women’s Worlds: Bedouin Stories. Berkeley: University of California Press. [COBISS.SI-ID – 65886976]