Feminist Anthropology: A Reader

472 Pages·2006·2.25 MB·English

by  Ellen Lewin

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Feminist Anthropology
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Blackwell Anthologies in Social &Cultural Anthropology
SeriesEditor:ParkerShipton,BostonUniversity
SeriesAdvisoryEditorialBoard
FredrikBarth,UniversityofOsloandBostonUniversity
StephenGudeman,UniversityofMinnesota
JaneGuyer,NorthwesternUniversity
CarolineHumphrey,UniversityofCambridge
TimIngold,UniversityofAberdeen
EmilyMartin,PrincetonUniversity
JohnMiddleton,YaleEmeritus
SallyFalkMoore,HarvardEmerita
MarshallSahlins,UniversityofChicagoEmeritus
JoanVincent,ColumbiaUniversityandBarnardCollegeEmerita
Drawingfromsomeofthemostsignificantscholarlyworkofthenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies,the
Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology series offers a comprehensive and unique
perspectiveontheever-changingfieldofanthropology.Itrepresentsbothacollectionofclassicreaders
andanexcitingchallengetothenormsthathaveshapedthisdisciplineoverthepastcentury.
Each edited volume is devoted to a traditional subdiscipline of the field such as the anthropology of
religion,linguisticanthropology,ormedicalanthropology;andprovidesafoundationinthecanonical
readingsoftheselectedarea.Awarethatsuchsubdisciplinarydefinitionsarestillwidelyrecognizedand
useful – but increasingly problematic – these volumes are crafted to include a rare and invaluable
perspective on social and cultural anthropology at the onset of the 21st century. Eachtextprovidesa
selectionofclassicreadingstogetherwithcontemporaryworksthatunderscoretheartificialityofsub-
disciplinarydefinitionsandpointstudents,researchers,andgeneralreadersinthenewdirectionsinwhich
anthropologyismoving.
PublishedVolumes:
1 LinguisticAnthropology:AReader
EditedbyAlessandroDuranti
2 AReaderintheAnthropologyofReligion
EditedbyMichaelLambek
3 TheAnthropologyofPolitics:AReaderinEthnography,Theory,andCritique
EditedbyJoanVincent
4 KinshipandFamily:AnAnthropologicalReader
EditedbyRobertParkinandLindaStone
5 LawandAnthropology:AReader
EditedbySallyFalkMoore
6 TheAnthropologyofDevelopmentandGlobalization:
FromClassicalPoliticalEconomytoContemporaryNeoliberalism
EditedbyMarcEdelmanandAngeliqueHaugerud
7 TheAnthropologyofArt:AReader
EditedbyHowardMorphyandMorganPerkins
8 FeministAnthropology:AReader
EditedbyEllenLewin
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Feminist Anthropology
A Reader
Edited by
Ellen Lewin
Lewin:FeministAnthropology 1405101954_1_pretoc FinalProof page 4 16.11.2005 12:18pm
Editorialmaterialandorganization(cid:1)2006byBlackwellPublishingLtd
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Firstpublished2006byBlackwellPublishingLtd
1 2006
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Feministanthropology:areader/editedbyEllenLewin.
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-1-4051-0195-0(hardcover:alk.paper)
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ISBN-13:978-1-4051-0196-7(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:1-4051-0196-2(pbk.:alk.paper)1.Feministanthropology.I.Lewin,Ellen.
II.Series:Blackwellanthologiesinsocialandculturalanthropology;8.
GN33.8.F442006
301—dc22
2005013797
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
EllenLewin
PartI Discovering Women across Cultures 39
Introduction 41
1 Belief and the Problemof Women and the ‘Problem’Revisited 47
Edwin Ardener
2 ANote on the Division ofLabor by Sex 66
Judith K. Brown
3 IsFemale toMale asNatureIs toCulture? 72
Sherry B. Ortner
4 The Traffic in Women: Noteson the ‘‘Political Economy’’of Sex 87
Gayle Rubin
5 The Use and Abuse ofAnthropology:Reflections on Feminism
and Cross-cultural Understanding 107
Michelle Z. Rosaldo
6 Toward a Unified Theory ofClass, Race, and Gender 129
Karen Brodkin
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vi CONTENTS
PartII Questioning Positionality 147
Introduction 149
7 Writing againstCulture 153
Lila Abu-Lughod
8 MyBestInformant’s Dress: The EroticEquation in Fieldwork 170
Esther Newton
9 FeministInsider Dilemmas: ConstructingEthnic Identity with
Chicana Informants 186
Patricia Zavella
10 Contingent Stories of Anthropology, Race, and Feminism 203
Paulla A. Ebron
PartIII Confronting the USA 217
Introduction 219
11 Bringingthe Family to Work:Women’s Culture on theShop Floor 222
Louise Lamphere
12 Procreation Stories: Reproduction,Nurturance, and Procreation
inLife Narratives of AbortionActivists 235
Faye Ginsburg
13 EthnicallyCorrect Dolls:Toyingwith the Race Industry 250
Elizabeth Chin
14 StrategicNaturalizing: Kinship in an Infertility Clinic 271
Charis Thompson
PartIV Maintaining Commitments 289
Introduction 291
15 Dirty Protest: Symbolic Overdetermination and Gender
inNorthern Ireland Ethnic Violence 295
Begon˜a Aretxaga
16 Women’s Rights are Human Rights:The Merging of Feminine and
FeministInterestsamongEl Salvador’sMothers ofthe Disappeared
(CO-MADRES) 311
Lynn Stephen
17 Searchingfor ‘‘Voices’’:Feminism, Anthropology,
and theGlobalDebates over Female Genital Operations 333
Christine J.Walley
18 Imaginingthe Unborn inthe EcuadoranAndes 358
Lynn M. Morgan
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CONTENTS vii
PartV Interpreting Instability and Fluidity 375
Introduction 377
19 ‘‘Likea Mother toThem’’: Stratified Reproduction and
West Indian ChildcareWorkers and Employers in New York 380
Shellee Colen
20 Femininityand Flexible Labor:FashioningClass through Gender
on theGlobalAssembly Line 397
Carla Freeman
21 Tombois inWest Sumatra: Constructing Masculinity
and EroticDesire 411
Evelyn Blackwood
22 ‘‘What’sIdentity Got to Dowith It?’’:Rethinking Identity in
Light of the MatiWork in Suriname 435
Gloria Wekker
Index 449
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Acknowledgments
The task of representing the field of feminist anthropology for this reader has been
enormously challenging. Not only is the field growing before one’s eyes – a truly
moving target – but it has broadened over the years in ways that make a succinct
statementofitscontributionsallbutimpossible.Ithasbeenexcitingtorevisitmany
of the writings that inspired me over the years and to get acquainted with newer
work that has gone furtherthan could have beenimagined thirty years ago.
I want to thank the editorial staff at Blackwell who made this volume come to
fruition.JaneHubersuggestedthevolumeafterlookingatthesyllabusofacourseI
wasteachingonthehistoryoffeministanthropology.Throughouttherevisionsand
rethinkings that followed, she encouraged me when I wondered whether I could
satisfy all the competing demands a project like this made, spurring me on with
unfailinggoodhumor.Herassistant,EmilyMartin,hasbeenamiracleoforganiza-
tion throughout. The series adviser, Parker Shipton, offered many provocative and
wise comments and kept me on my toes. And the meticulous attention given the
manuscriptbythecopyeditor,VeronicaIons,wastrulyawe-inspiring.Atlast,Ihad
encounteredsomeonewhosepassionforcorrectpunctuationandcitationrivaledmy
own!
During the planning of the volume, I benefited from the advice of a number of
colleagues. Carole Browner, Meena Khandelwal, Lynn Bolles, and Evelyn Black-
wood had particularly useful comments, and I also appreciated the suggestions
offered by the anonymous readers for Blackwell. My research assistants Natalia
ChernyayevaandJillMoffetthelpedwiththedetailsofassemblingthemanuscriptat
various stages and I appreciate their attention to consistency and accuracy under
sometimestryingcircumstances.Ialsoamthankfulfortheresourcesmadeavailable
to me at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Iowa,
whereI was inresidence during thefinalpreparations of thevolume.
MylocationintheAnthropologyDepartmentattheUniversityofIowahasbeena
specialsource ofinspirationtomeasIworkedonthisvolume. Astheonlyanthro-
Lewin:FeministAnthropology 1405101954_3_posttoc FinalProof page 9 16.11.2005 12:18pm
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
pology department offering an organized graduate specialization in feminist an-
thropology,ithasbeenanexcitingplacetoteach,aplacewherethefieldisaccorded
therespectitdeserves.Mycolleaguesinthefeministtrack,pastandpresent,haveset
consistentlyhighstandardsforwhatfeministanthropologycanbeandhavekeptme
informedaboutaspectsofthefieldIcouldn’thavegraspedonmyown.SoIwantto
give particular thanks to all of them: Florence Babb, Virginia Dominguez, Laura
Graham, Meena Khandelwal, Mac Marshall, Beth Pauls, Erica Prussing, Mary
Whelan, and most importantly Margery Wolf, who was on the scene when I
discovered feminist anthropology and helped me to find my way in it many years
later.
Theeditorandpublishergratefullyacknowledgethepermissiongrantedtorepro-
ducethe copyrightmaterialinthis book:
1 Edwin Ardener, ‘‘Belief and the Problem of Women’’ and ‘‘The ‘Problem’
Revisted,’’ pp. 1–27 from Shirley Ardener, Perceiving Women. London: Malaby
Press,1975 [1968]. Reprinted with permission of Shirley Ardener.
2 Judith K. Brown, ‘‘A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex,’’ pp. 1073–8 from
AmericanAnthropologist,72(1970).(cid:1)1970byUniversityofCaliforniaPress.Repro-
ducedwithpermissionofUniversityofCaliforniaPressviaCopyrightClearanceCenter.
3 Sherry B.Ortner,‘‘IsFemaletoMale asNature IstoCulture?,’’fromMichelle
Z. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, Women, Culture, and Society. Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 1974. (cid:1) 1974 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland
Stanford Jr. University.Reprinted with permissionof thepublisher and author.
4 GayleRubin,‘‘TheTrafficinWomen:Notesonthe‘PoliticalEconomy’ofSex,’’
pp.157–210fromRaynaR.Reiter,TowardanAnthropologyofWomen.NewYork:
MonthlyReviewPress,1975.(cid:1)GayleRubin.Reprintedwiththekindpermissionof
the author.
5 Michelle Z. Rosaldo, ‘‘The Use and Abuse of Anthropology: Reflections on
FeminismandCross-CulturalUnderstanding,’’pp.389–417fromSigns,5/3(1980).
Reprinted by permission ofthe Universityof Chicago Press.
6 KarenBrodkinSacks,‘‘TowardaUnifiedTheoryofClass, Race,andGender,’’
pp. 534–50 from American Ethnologist, 16/3 (1989). (cid:1) 1989 by University of
California Press. Reprinted by permission of University of California Press via
Copyright Clearance Center,and theauthor, nowKarenBrodkin.
7 LilaAbu-Lughod,‘‘WritingagainstCulture,’’pp.137–62fromRichardG.Fox,
ed. Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present. Santa Fe, NM: School of
AmericanResearchPress,1991.(cid:1)1991bytheSchoolofAmericanResearch,Santa
Fe. Reprintedby permission ofSchool of American Research, SantaFe.
8 Esther Newton, ‘‘My Best Informant’s Dress: The Erotic Equation in Field-
work,’’ pp. 212–35 from Ellen Lewin and William L. Leap, Out in the Field:
Reflections of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois
Press,1996.(cid:1)1993byUniversityofCaliforniaPress.Reproducedwithpermission
of University ofCalifornia Press viaCopyright Clearance Center,and theauthor.
9 Patricia Zavella, ‘‘Feminist Insider Dilemmas: Constructing Ethnic Identity
with Chicana Informants,’’ pp. 138–59 from Diane L. Wolf, Feminist Dilemmas in
Fieldwork. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996. Reprinted with permission of University
of NebraskaPress,Lincoln,and theauthor.
Lewin:FeministAnthropology 1405101954_3_posttoc FinalProof page 10 16.11.2005 12:18pm
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
10 PaullaA.Ebron,‘‘ContingentStoriesofAnthropology,Race,andFeminism,’’
pp. 211–32 from Irma McClaurin, Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics,
Praxis, and Poetics. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001. (cid:1) Paulla
A. Ebron.Reprinted withthe kind permissionof theauthor.
11 Louise Lamphere, ‘‘Bringing the Family to Work: Women’s Culture on the
ShopFloor,’’pp.519–40fromFeministStudies,11(1985).Reprintedbypermission
of thepublisher,FeministStudiesInc.
12 Faye Ginsburg, ‘‘Procreation Stories: Reproduction, Nurturance, and Procre-
ationinLifeNarrativesofAbortionActivists,’’pp.623–36fromAmericanEthnolo-
gist,14/4(1987).(cid:1)1999byUniversityofCaliforniaPress.Reprintedbypermission
ofUniversityofCaliforniaPressviaCopyrightClearanceCenter,andtheauthor.
13 Elizabeth Chin, ‘‘Ethnically Correct Dolls: Toying with the Race Industry,’’
pp.305–21from AmericanAnthropologist,101/2 (1999).(cid:1)1999byUniversity of
California Press. Reproduced with permission of University of California Press via
Copyright Clearance Center,and theauthor.
14 Charis Thompson, ‘‘Strategic Naturalizing: Kinship in an Infertility Clinic,’’
pp.175–202fromSarahFranklinandSusanMcKinnon,RelativeValues:Reconfig-
uringKinshipStudies.Durham,NC:DukeUniversityPress,2001.(cid:1)2001byDuke
University Press. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the publisher and the
author.
15 Begon˜aAretxaga,‘‘DirtyProtest:SymbolicOverdeterminationandGenderin
NorthernIrelandEthnicViolence,’’pp.123–48fromEthos,23/2(1995).(cid:1)1995by
University of California Press. Reproduced with permission of University of Cali-
fornia Press viaCopyright Clearance Center, and theauthor.
16 LynnStephen,‘‘Women’sRightsAreHumanRights:TheMergingofFeminine
and Feminist Interests among El Salvador’s Mothers of the Disappeared (CO-
MADRES),’’ pp. 807–27 from American Ethnologist, 22/4 (1995). (cid:1) 1995 by
University of California Press. Reproduced with permission of University of Cali-
fornia Press viaCopyright Clearance Center, and theauthor.
17 Christine J. Walley, ‘‘Searching for ‘Voices’: Feminism, Anthropology, and the
GlobalDebatesoverFemaleGenitalOperations,’’pp.405–38fromCulturalAnthro-
pology,12/3 (1997).(cid:1)1997 byUniversityofCaliforniaPress.Reproduced withper-
missionofUniversityofCaliforniaPressviaCopyrightClearanceCenter,andtheauthor.
18 LynnM.Morgan,‘‘ImaginingtheUnbornintheEcuadoranAndes,’’pp.323–
50 from Feminist Studies, 23/2 (1997). Reprinted by permission of the publisher,
Feminist Studies, Inc.
19 Shellee Colen, ‘‘‘Like a Mother to Them’: Stratified Reproduction and West
Indian Childcare Workers and Employers inNew York,’’pp. 78–102 from FayeD.
GinsburgandRayna Rapp,ConceivingtheNewWorldOrder: TheGlobalPolitics
of Reproduction. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995. (cid:1) Shellee
Colen. Reprinted withthe kind permission of theauthor.
20 Carla Freeman, ‘‘Femininity and Flexible Labor: Fashioning Class through
GenderontheGlobalAssemblyLine,’’pp.245–62fromCritiqueofAnthropology,
18/3(1998).(cid:1)1998bySagePublications.Reproducedwiththekindpermissionof
the author and Sage PublicationsLtd, UK.
21 EvelynBlackwood,‘‘TomboisinWestSumatra:ConstructingMasculinityand
Erotic Desire,’’ pp. 491–521 from Cultural Anthropology, 13/4 (1998). (cid:1) 1998 by