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  3. Cross-cultural comparisons: gender roles - one interesting phenomenon among societies
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CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS: GENDER ROLES - ONE INTERESTING PHENOMENON AMONG SOCIETIES

One interesting phenomenon among societies that hold to such rigidly defined gender roles is that they generally also have some type of specific, alternative roles for those males who do not or cannot fit into the expected role. For the Plains Indians of North America, this third gender role was that of berdache, or "not-man" (LaBarre, 1971). The berdache did not follow the traditionally held warrior role but instead dressed in women's clothes and performed traditional feminine tasks. The berdache was accepted by members of both sexes. As LaBarre has pointed out, the berdache was not necessarily sexually perverse but may be best described as a "social transvestite." Apparently the berdache was a relatively common phenomenon and was described by many early explorers of the American West. Recently the role of the berdache was very realistically portrayed in the motion picture Little Big Man.

There has been some speculation as to the determinants of gender roles, that is, whether these roles are biologically inherent or are for the most part culturally determined. The work of Barry, Bacon, and Child (1957) has been interpreted by some as supporting a biological basis for gender roles. These investigators found certain consistencies among roles in many cultures. Females were found to be generally obedient, responsible, and nurturing, while males were more self-reliant, achievement-oriented, and assertive. Today, however, most investigators emphasize that gender roles are mostly a product of social conditioning. For example, Whiting and Edwards (1973) have suggested that the typical division of functions between the sexes has led to different socialization processes for males and females. Women usually have major responsibility for raising children and are thus more likely to stay closer to home; males have more varied interactions with a greater number of different people and in more settings. These investigators have concluded that, while there may be some biological basis for these general task assignments (like child raising), the specific resulting behaviors are culturally determined.

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Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction