Re: Cultures Where Male Reigns

an466713@anon.penet.fi
Tue, 13 Aug 1996 10:31:28 UTC

>an466713@anon.penet.fi wrote:
>
>>In which culture(s) does is the male sex most highly valued?
>
>>How is this reflected in the roles each gender assumes, the economics
>>of gender relationships and courtship behaviors?
>
>>Thanks for your information
>>A curious bystander

Robert Snower replies:

>>From: rs222@worldnet.att.net (Robert Snower)
>>Newsgroups: sci.anthropology
>>Subject: Re: Cultures Where Male Reigns
>>Date: Sun Aug 11 19:09:06 1996
>
>Robert Snower wrote:
>
>
>
>India:
>
>The following quote is from the Wall Street Journal.
>
>But here in rural India, where about 70% of India's 920 million people
>still live, people remain, by and large, what their ancestors were -
>and that usually means fixed in illiteracy and poverty.
>
>The lowliest of the low . . . are the bhangis . . . . Ghettoized in
>slum colonies, India's 700,000 scavengers, earning pennies a day, move
>the flow of human waste for a country in which 650 million people
>still lack access to basic sanitation. As with most Indian work, the
>dirtiest jobs are done by women and young girls, who still clean pit
>toilets by hand and carry the refuse in buckets on their heads.
>
>"You never get used to it," young Nisha says.
>
>Best wishes. R. Snower rs222@worldnet.att.net

A more scholarly reply would have been appreciated. I doubt the
Wall St. Jrnl. is an authority on cultural anthropology.

Perhaps some more knowledgable readers would contribute?

In answer to this rather 'off-the-point' reply, one might offer
the argument advanced by some scholars of muslim and hindu societies,
which is that women are often happier in them than in Western cultures.
Snower's remarks are more indicative of class difference than gender
difference.

--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--***ATTENTION***
Your e-mail reply to this message WILL be *automatically* ANONYMIZED.
Please, report inappropriate use to abuse@anon.penet.fi
For information (incl. non-anon reply) write to help@anon.penet.fi
If you have any problems, address them to admin@anon.penet.fi