What is the underlying logic behind sherry ortners argument. Ortner although this argument can be shown to have considerable force, it seems to oversimplify the case. Ortner vividly captured those days when girls took home economics and boys took shop. In the period under discussion roughly from the mid1980s to the mid2010sneoliberalism as a new and more brutal form of capitalism was expanding rapidly over the globe.
The long way home article in university of chicago magazine, feb 1996. Postfeminism and other historical condundrums by sherry b. She is the author of numerous books including new jersey dreaming. The politics and erotics of culture is lodged within its title specifically, in the word making. Ortner much of the creativity of anthropology derives from the tension between the demands for explanation of human universals on the one hand and cultural particulars on the other. Notes for the gebusi, 4th edition emory university. Making gender is a fine example of the way anthropology helps us to think about ourselves. Ortner is distinguished professor of anthropology at ucla. Sherry ortner 1990ben macarthur fellows program tamogatasaban reszesult, es ugyanabban az evben megvaltoztatta a kutatasai temajat, az egyesult allamokra. Elso projektje az egyesult allamok osztalyanak jelentese es mukodese volt, sajat kozepiskolai osztalyat vette kutatasa etnikai targyanak. Making gender is rich in theoretical insights and ethnographic examples, offering a stimulating synthesis of the field by one of its founders and foremost theorists.
Ortner argues that these scholars omit crucial questions raised elsewhere, in the area of feminist theory questions. Felicia lee, new york times ortner is an entertaining writer with a strong personal voice. Ive been reading your recent article, too soon for postfeminism, in which you use some material from your work over the past few years on independent films and filmmakers. As you have mentioned, gender was not my original focus in terms of my early work, and actually when i was in graduate school feminist anthropology did not exist.
Sherry ortner is an anthropologist who specializes in social and cultural theory, feminist theory, and the cultural, political, and historical dimensions of ethnography. Sherri ortner, a feminist anthropologist expresses this problem on her essay is female to male as nature is to culture. Duke university press anthropology and social theory. What is the underlying logic behind sherry ortners.
Scholars such as pierre bourdieu, anthony giddens, and marshall sahlins have explored the dialectic between how we shape. Of all published articles, the following were the most read within the past 12 months. Third, there is sherry ortner herself, who has attempted to update her famous article in the first chapter of her book making gender in 1997 and it looks like her upcoming volume anthropology and social theory will do the same. While i will define the term more specifically later in the article, i need to say a few words about it here. The seven essays contained in the collection span twenty five years of scholarship by sherry ortner, a founder of feminist anthropology. Jul 18, 20 in conclusion, this paper clearly explores the underlying logic behind ortners arguments that women are closer to nature and men are closer to culture i. A feminist anthropologist whose work in this collection spans some twentyfive years, ortner explains that most social and cultural theories have pursued roughly one of two binary. Extensive case studies of gender relations are now available for all major world areas. Culture, power, and the acting subject, both published by duke university press. Sherry beth ortner born september 19, 1941 is an american cultural anthropologist and has been a distinguished professor of anthropology at ucla since 2004. Feminist writers are continued to study of cultures, symbols and sexual stereotypes to analyze female subordination. This 1996 collection of essays deals with the ways in which sex and gender. Making gender is both retrospective and forwardlooking, an anthology that functions as theoretical compendium, ethnographical exploration, and intellectual autobiography.
Sherry b ortner making gender both critiques and builds upon recent anthropological theory. Making gender is rich in theoretical insights and ethnographic examples, offering a stimulating synthesis of the field by one of. I was working on other kinds of things, my dissertation and my first book was with the sherpas and was about religion, and had nothing to do with gender at all. Capital, culture, and the class of 58 and anthropology and social theory. With a humane, ironic, steady, and compassionate gaze, ortner looks at lives. Theory in anthropology since theory in anthropology since. The inciting debate behind sherry ortner s making gender. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading making gender. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Making gender both critiques and builds upon recent anthropological theory. An early formulator of the notion of the cultural construction of gender, she pioneered an investigation of this process in a comparative perspective. For over hundred years mount everest has been attracting climbers from all over the world to test their courage on everests tricky slopes, enlisting the help of sherpas and sahibs living in that area. Lamphere 1974, toward an anthropology of women reiter 1975, sexual meanings ortner and whitehead 1981, gender at the crossroads of knowledge di leonardo 1991, and making gender ortner 1996. The politics and erotics of culture kindle edition by ortner, sherry b.
Core seminar in social and cultural anthropology winter 2012. Louise lamphere, we rely on a recent formulation by sherry ortner 1996. An early formulator of the notion of the cultural construction of gender, she pioneered an investigation of. In new jersey dreaming, ortner returns to her newark roots to present an indepth look at weequahic high schools class of 1958, of which she was a member. Making gender is rich in theoretical insights and ethnographic examples, offering a stimulating synthesis of the field by one of its founders and. She explores her classmates recollected experiences of the neighborhood and the high school, also written about in the novels of philip roth, weequahic high schools most famous alum. By this canon, woman provides us with one of the more challenging problems to be dealt with. She tries to describe the underlying logic behind it is that womens subordination is universal as, this condition not. In this book, ortner draws on her more than two decades of work in feminist anthropology to offer a major reconsideration of culture and gender.
Woman, culture, and society, first published in 1974 stanford university press, is a book consisting of 16 papers contributed by female authors and an introduction by the editors michelle zimbalist rosaldo and louise lamphere. Women and the remaking of islamic tradition in a sudanese village volume 36 issue 1 victoria bernal skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. As you have mentioned, gender was not my original focus in terms of my early work, and actually when i was in graduate school femi nist anthropology did not exist. The politics and erotics of culture inter view with sherry ortner in aibr journal. Ortner a collection of essays about womens roles and gender by a macarthur awardwinning feminist scholar features the influential essay, is female to male as nature is to culture.
Ortner making gender the politics and erotics of culture 1996 free ebook download as pdf file. The inciting debate behind sherry ortners making gender. The seven essays contained in the collection span twenty. Practice theory and jstor genealogies of practice theory in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology. Praise for thirty years ortner has studied gender and social and cultural theory, helping invent the field of feminist anthropology. Ortner much of the creativity of anthropology derives from the tension between two sets of demands. Toward a feminist, minority, postcolonial, subaltern. Ortner is well known among anthropologists for having her finger on the pulse of the discipline. Capital, culture, and the class of 58, also published by duke university press.
Ortner grew up in a jewish family in newark, new jersey, and attended weequahic high school, as did philip roth and richie roberts. In this collection of new and previously published essays, sherry ortner draws on her more than two decades of work in feminist anthropology to offer a major reconsideration of culture and gender. Scholars such as pierre bourdieu, anthony giddens, and marshall sahlins have explored the dialectic between how we shape culture and how culture shapes us in a framework known as practice theory. Structure in the early history of the sandwich islands kingdom. Ortner abstract in this article i consider several emergent trends in anthropology since the 1980s against a backdrop of the rise of neoliberalism as both an economic and a. Ortner, a feminist anthropologist and winner of a macarthur foundation genius award. Rayna rapp, editor of toward an anthropology of women an engaging book.