Martians and Venutians

Although in most cultures the male is considered more aggressive than the female, behavioral differences between the sexes in some cultures are not what we might expect. Margaret Mead, the world renowned anthropologist, conducted an ethnographic study of variations in gender roles. The study was based on field work in three different societies in Papua, New Guinea: the Arapesh !.
             society, the Mundugumor society and Tchambuli society. All are located on the same island. She found that Arapesh men and women both acted in a mild, gentle and responsive fashion, not unlike the western notion of femininty. Mundugumor men and women were both inclined to aggression, conducting warfare in a competitive manner. The Tchambuli men were gentle, peaceful beings who stayed home, gossiping, while the women - heads shaved - were the dominant and extremely aggerssive tribe leaders. "We can see that the gender roles vary with environment, economy, adaptive strategy and types of political system" (Kottak, 421).
             If we consider gender to be a cultural definition of the differences between men and women, it follows that as our culture changes, so do these definitions. In our western culture we see a turning point during the 2nd world war, when women were called to leave the traditional role of housewife and assist the war effort by taking up jobs in different factories. Today we find men who choose to play the role of "housewife". We also see more and more female heroines appearing on television and the silver screen. One of these is Zina, a 6 foot tall amazon, who battles evil - usually in the form of men. "Many feminists have been dreaming of mass culture moments like this since feminism came into being" (Donna Minkowitz, p. 300).
             Sexual orientation or preferance has been seen as biologically based by most professionals, but here too, culture plays a major role. Our education and upbringing lead us to the collective norm.