The Relationship between Modes of Production and Gender - Essay Example

College: There is a close connection between gender and mode of production in various societies. The mode of production across societies has implication in the context of gender because gender has an important role to play in the running of that mode of production. Some modes of production, however, are hostile to women and in some societies women play their role within the framework of that mode; however difficult it may look like in some societies, the role of men is very disheartening. If the culture defines the role of gender in a society, it will be difficult to stop that due to superiority of culture (Brettell and Sargent 120). Some women, therefore, have endured a lot of difficulties and have performed different duties that include fetching water in rivers and dams that are far from their homes. Some take the sole responsibilities to feed the families despite having husbands. Some societies overburden certain gender, for example, with the pastoralists; the young men travel very far to graze the livestock’s while their fathers just stay behind to just rest and sleep at home. O’Hara (278) puts across that women seem to be at bar with men when they share duties with them. In most societies, men’s and women’s duties and responsibilities are strictly defined and one gender can’t undertake the task assigned to the other gender. Women duties are strictly women duties and the same is fair about men’s role. It used to be seen in both America and Europe that it is natural for women to be taking care of homes and caring for the children while men are the breadwinners of the family, that is how their cultures define gender roles (Brettell and Sargent 120). With the background of United States and Europe being industrial nations, men perform the difficult task of running the industries. Men are involved in manual activities that include running of the industries (Brettell and Sargent 121). They construct roads and bridges, which strains their energy. They will go home very tired and exhausted in the evening to meet their wives that have been sitting at home the whole day. This culture in US and Europe perpetrate gender inequality. It relegates women to the position of dependency. Women depended on men in totality because they didn’t have the source of livelihood. Therefore, women were subordinate to women. With such situation, women suffer a lot because, even if their husbands abuse them, they have little options due to their dependency (Brettell and Sargent 120). In these societies of Europe and America that are predominantly agriculturally industrial, there was certain gender inequality; men were paid more for the same job which the woman did. Women also hold positions that are low with men taking the positions of managers and directors within industries. With men dominating having the decision making vote in these industries, they did little to fight for the rights of women. According to Brettell and Sargent (119) in their book titled “Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective”, in spite of gender inequality such industrial countries have been labeled as the most egalitarian of human societies. Brettell and Sargent (120) break down four reasons for this division of labor: the variability in the supply of game, different skills required for hunting and gathering, incompatibility between carrying burdens and hunting, and small size of semi-nomadic foraging populations. According to O’Hara (278), both men and women in foraging societies enjoy equal status because women gathering contribute huge portion of family diet while hunting is sometimes not reliable. The gathering role taken by women helped elevate the status of the women in these societies. But according to Brettell and Sargent (120), in the societies that hunt and fish, the status of women is low. In fact among these societies, the role is not clearly defined according to O’Hara book. There are therefore several instances where women and men hunt and gather together taking the society to a notch higher in terms of equality among genders. Horticulture communities also have division of labor. This is a kind of farming where simple hand tools are used to cultivate. Maria Lepowsky in the book “Gender in Cross Cultural Perspective” points to gender egalitarianism among the horticultural and matrilineal people of the Pacific island of Vanatinai. In these horticulture societies, there is no men superiority of any dimension and character. In terms of ideology and what they do on day to day basis, there are no elements of any dominance by men. Among the horticultural and matrilineal people of the pacific island, women can rise in prestige and power within these societies through getting involved in exchange activities. These women also get involved in the sponsor-ship of feasts where valuable goods are distributed. These activities they engage themselves in have helped elevate their positions to status similar to that of men. In these societies therefore, there is little inequality between men and women because women participate in other activities rather than being confined within the household. Women have more power controlling the capital land and being the suppliers of yams. However, the only thing that keeps men elevated in the context of their social status is their role during war time given the fact that women can not participate in wars. According to Brettell and Sargent (121), the Agta women and men participate both in hunting and gathering and in this society, there is division of labor and statuses were at bar. In the pastoral communities, women are oppressed; they are less equal to men. Men stay at home as women go about searching for water and food. This men meet at some points to gossip and play their favorite games when they are fed up they come to sleep at home. Among the Maasai pastoral communities in Kenya it is women who build the houses referred to as “Manyattas” and they often during rainy seasons have to endure rainfall to fix the leaking “Manyatta” roof. When men come back home, they demand food from the same women who did every other role. This inequality is so high and women are treated as less human and if they can find food for their husbands they are beaten thoroughly. According to Rasmussen, Tuaregs women enjoy high statuses and ownership of cattle and are able to put up tents that are equally good as those of men. These trends of inequality have decreased over years. Activists have been fighting against the inequality perpetrated within societies and they have used all possible means, both legal and illegal, to stop it. These inequalities are, however, ingrained within cultures and it is never an easy ride to challenge a culture. Works Cited Brettell, B. and F., Sargent. Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Washington: Pearson, 2009. Print. Lepowsky Maria. Gender, Horticulture, and the Division of Labor on Vanatinai in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. O’Hara Patricia. Divisions of Labor on Irish Family Farms, in Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print. Rasmussen Susan. Do Tents and Herds Still Matter: Pastoral Nomadism and Gender among the Tuareg in Niger and Mali. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Read More