Page 277 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

2054 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Division of Labor in Subsistence and Technology Activities

Anthropological studies of cultures over time and around the world show that in
nearly all societies there is a clear division of labor based on sex. Men predominate
in certain activities and women in certain activities, and there is typically little shar-
ing of the work involved in these activities.The following list shows the division of
labor for basic subsistence and technological activities.

Males Mainly Females Mainly Neither Predominates
Hunting Gathering wild plants Agriculture
Trapping Preparing drinks Milking
Herding Dairy production

Fishing Food reparation
Collecting honey Cooking
Working the soil Preserving
Butchering Spinning
Mining Weaving
Smelting Basketry
Metal working Mat making

Lumbering Clothes making
Carpentry Pottery making
Working stone, shell, bone Hide preparation
House building
Net Making
Rope Making
Source: Levinson, D. and M. J. Malone. (1980). Toward explaining human culture (p. 272). New Haven: HRAF Press.

nutrition education programs focus on how meager influences,their husbands make most of the decisions that
resources can be used to greatest effect, but if girls were affect their lives. More education might mean less control
encouraged to understand the causes of food scarcity, over one’s life. No single generalization is possible.
they might challenge policy. African governments fre- African women are usually portrayed as a powerless
quently point to great improvements in education for group subject to poverty and ignorance, in contrast to
girls and women by publishing statistics reflecting a Western women, who are portrayed as educated, mod-
strong commitment in education. Interpreting data pub- ern, and free to make their own choices.These portrayals
lished by governments is problematic, however, because often lead to programs that reinforce patriarchal ideology
statistics are notoriously unreliable in the Third World. and inequalities. African women have access to pro-
Statistics often create the illusion of precision and cer- grams that stress women’s health and reproductive issues.
tainty, but that illusion serves political ends by projecting These programs are useful, but emphasis on such issues
a positive image while obscuring political indifference. recognizes unequal power relations in the family but does
Even thoseAfrican girls who are well educated often are not address ways to remove gender stereotypes.
not able to translate schooling into self-determination.Pro- People in Africa should address women’s problems in
fessional women sometimes find that because of social a multifaceted way. Local women need support from