This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module focuses on gender issues. The study of gender in anthropology developed in the 1970s, with the rise of the feminist movement in Europe and America. However, gender studies came to reflect a bias evident in most feminist discourses: an interest in gender was equated with an interest in women's issues, and the anthropological theories at this time replicated a bias similar to that of which male researchers had previously been accused. Not until recently has the study of gender come to incorporate an examination of the discourse of power, knowledge and social action generated through the interface between men and women in society. The module proposes to trace the developments of the theoretical debate in anthropology, while simultaneously providing ethnographic material illustrating the theoretical perspectives and the cross-cultural variations in the definition of gender identities. Concepts of sex and gender will be examined using anthropological material stemming from the study of religion, ritual and politics.
Total contact hours: 20
Private study hours: 130
Total study hours: 150
BSc Anthropology and associated programmes
BA Social Anthropology and associated programmes
Book Review (15%)
Essay (30%)
Seminar Participation (5%)
Examination, 2 hours (50%)
Reassessment method: Like for like
Moore, H.Feminism and Anthropology
di Leonardo M (ed).Gender at the Crossroads of Knowledge
Rosaldo M and Lamphere L (eds). Woman, Culture and Society
Ortner S and Whitehead H (eds). Sexual Meanings
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
8.1 demonstrate understanding of the development of the anthropology of gender and its relationship to other fields of socio-cultural anthropology (such as kinship, economic anthropology, historical anthropology);
8.2 demonstrate awareness of the wide range of cultural variation in cultural models and ideologies of gender as reported in ethnography;
8.3 demonstrate understanding of anthropological debates concerning gender inequality, the relationship between gender and the body, and the ways in which the concept of 'nature' is relevant to debates concerning gender.
University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that module information is accurate for the relevant academic session and to provide educational services as described. However, courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. Please read our full disclaimer.
