Our view of sexuality and personhood has been influenced by a variety of viewpoints. However, the anthropological view seems to have dominated our perception of sexuality and personhood. This is due to the fact that anthropology allows one to track the origin and progression of sexuality as well as personhood. Ethnography makes this possible. A closer look at the topics mentioned above is essential for a deeper understanding of sex and personhood. To begin, anthropology is a scientific field of research that focuses on the human race, specifically its birth, distribution, and evolution. It’s a study of how humans organize and adapt to the environment with time.
Anthropology can be traced back to late18th century and early 19th century when a social science movement came up with the idea of using science to study mankind. This idea was developed in the Western society with the aim of making social philosophy more objective than subjective focus on mankind. To achieve this, anthropologists had to approach the idea of ethnography which is a method of study and data collection whereby data is analyzed, organized and described upon collection. The method involves a trained personnel who analyzes the life of a person or a group of people in order to examine the evolution of sexuality and personhood. The two concepts, ethnography and anthropology are often confused since anthropology depends on ethnography in order to effectively analyze data related to social science which is part of the study to clearly understand sexuality and personhood in humans.
As a method adopted and used by anthropologists, ethnography was used to collect and analyze information and use the same information on a person or group of people to document the culture, the lives and societies of the people studied. The study of language makes this possible as humans often use language to express themselves. This therefore demands of researchers and the personnel assigned to study language of their subjects, by so doing they researchers would be able to study the people’s way of life as well as their culture and behavior. Language also allows the field biologists to be able to interact well with their subjects and get positive feedback from the subjects as having knowledge of the subjects’ language enables them to understand their subjects better as they can be able engage in interviews and conversations with the subjects and therefore able to access data easily from them and enable the study of culture and the lives of their subjects.
Understanding the concepts of personhood and sexuality is the key objective of anthropologists. As discussed earlier in the paper the study anthropology started with the western culture which has evolved and thus the definition of sexuality and personhood has to be based entirely on the western culture. Both the concepts of personhood and sex are controversial and require broad and bold interpretations. Many people hold on too many ideas regarding how the two concepts should be defined. Most of the definitions though are borrowed from biologists and anthropologists associated with the western culture who defined these concepts based on observations they made on their subjects.
Sex from an anthropological perspective are observable physical characteristics that distinguish human beings from the other. The distinction comes in form of males and females and sex is needed for humans to reproduce. From an anthropological perspective there is no way of defining sex without considering gender since the two terms are dependent on the other in obtaining its definition. This field of study considers human sexuality from a four-field perspective ranging from cultural, linguistic, biological and archeological perspectives. Its main focus though is on psychosocial evolution and sexual pluralism which forms the basis of sexuality.
Anthropologists trace the evolution of various aspects of human sociosexual behavior such as sexual and social emotions in humans, reproductive and marital patterns, courtship in contemporary times as well as the gender differences between the genders. Others issues of concern that were considered by anthropologists were human sexual physiology as well as mating in human reproduction. To understand further the issue of sexuality, anthropologist had to study human sexuality in relation and comparison to other living things such as the primates who share some similar sexual characteristics with man. Sexuality cannot be studied and interpreted alone without consideration of not only gender but in considerations and reference to ethnography which provides the data that is needed to provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the concept of sexuality.
Emily martin’s ‘The egg and The Sperm’ analyzes the aspect of sexuality from a rather reproductive perspective of the anthropological point of view. The source analyses how the male and female reproductive cells are responsible for the stereotyping and definition of male-female roles. The piece of arty also analyzes how reproductive biology and sex relies on cultural definitions of male and female. Thus we cannot therefore ignore entirely the fact that culture and the society do determine sexuality. The definition of gender and sexuality according to this source is well in cooperated in in the scientific language of biology. Emily presents an analysis and a distinction of both the physiology in male and female. This presented and analyzed and interpreted from the reproductive systems of both gender.
The source identifies the stereotype that female biological processes are considered less worthy in the society as compared to the male biological processes which highlights the kind of stereotypes culture holds which shapes the perception on sexuality. The depiction that the sperm is stronger than the egg with the sperm considered a warrior and the egg considered weaker explains the stereotypes of gender inequality because men view themselves as stronger than women. The fact that the sperm is the one responsible for fertilizing the egg makes it superior and depicts the dominance of the male gender in the society. This reflects also the role that biology plays on determining sexuality and personhood with these concepts being dictated by the biological processes in both the male and the females.
The case study also presents a case study where stereotypic representations in terms of gender and sexuality are shaped by culture. The imagery presented in the fertilization of the egg and the reproduction that comes after that assigns the egg a more active role which in turn explains why the female gender is the active as compared to the male gender. This also explains the distinction of gender roles between males and females which is associated with the biological processes. This therefore means that the biological perspective of anthropology is also crucial in determining sex and personhood.
Suzanne J, Kessler in her book ‘The medical construction of Gender’ analyzes how to explain intersexed infants’ sexuality because such infants are neither male or female simply because no gender has been assigned to them the author that identifying and describing gender it’s not advisable to not only to consider the biological factors . Such cases of intersex in babies makes it even much more difficult for define the gender or personhood. Initially it was difficult to do determine the gender of an intersexed baby but recent research indicates the evolution of medical technology. Attitudes therefore with regards to intersex in the society is influenced by some factors. The introduction of technology over the years has seen a change in the way intersex related cases are handled as technology has provided operational ease as it makes the operations easier and more accurate.
According to the source, initially intesexed infants were confirmed natural and nothing could be done but with evolution and the invention of technology, it was made possible to solve cases of intersexed genitals. This shows how culture and the society played a role in encouraging sexual deformations which would then make it difficult sexuality to be defined on a person with deformity of intersexed genitals. The assumptions that such deformities were natural made them not to do a thing to reverse the trend though on a positive not through evolution and technology the deformities as a result of intersexed genitals can be reversed through operational means. The anthropological reasoning presented under this source is that gender is given and that it is natural thus sexuality and personhood are things that are beyond human control. The author also seemingly blames the western society’s failure of accountability and for the emergence of a culturally transformed gender.
Abigail Adams on the other hand lights the aspect of reproductive processes shaping the anthropological perspectives of sex a personhood. This is seen in its depiction of a ritual reproduction which also reflects on the role of culture in shaping sexuality and personhood. According to the author, reproductive processes do have a profound effect on the personhood and sexuality. This source therefore like the other two sources already discussed above acknowledge the fact that reproductive processes do determine the personhood and gender of a particular person. Thus there is need for anthropologists and biologist to examine reproductive processes well so as to ensure the desired personhood and sexuality is realized.
Zelizer’s ‘The sacralization of child life’ highlights how each society determines what an infant/baby will be recognized and depicted in the society. The author analyses the social processes that a child undergoes in order to be a social being. The source also stipulates how sociality is considered an intergral part of personhood. It reflects on the relationship between personhood concepts, social processes and sexuality. However, unlike the rest of the sources that admitted that anthropology and the western culture are responsible for the evolution of sex and personhood, this source highlights the fact that the western society concepts are peculiar and recommended for a cross-cultural personhood not relying o the western culture for a definition of personhood and sexuality. The author does not seem to agree with the notion that the western society shape our understanding of sexuality and personhood. The source also highlights how abuses related to gender shape a person’s personhood. The author also seems to acknowledge that the concept of personhood and sexuality are popular with non-western, self-identity and other aspects of personhood are located in one’s body.
Personhood is a term that has attracted diverse and various interpretations. In most cases it is often hard to interpret and come to a consensus on who is considered to be a person, what being a person entails, or how this differs from having selfhood, or being an individual. In a bid to come up with an agreed upon common definition and interpretation, scholars have tried to define personhood from an anthropological perspective. This has led them to discern that personhood in cooperates both legal and moral repercussions, including rights as well as responsibilities. One of the definitions that gave rise to a lot of controversy on the definition of personhood include the notion that personhood is the state social being. Therefore, to develop a comprehensive definition of the term, there was need to consult anthropologist interpretations. Both the sources discussed in this paper seem to agree with this notion thus rubber stamping the idea that the interpretation of both personhood and sex ought to be done from an anthropological perspective.
Anthropologists have made considerable contributions to the understandings of personhood this is made possible by through their approach to cross-cultural ethnographies revealing that the definition of personhood cannot be based entirely on one field of interpretations as the interpretation of personhood varies from domain to domain, time to time and from place to place. Thus there is need to approach various fields such as psychology, philosophy and medicine. The definition has also to take into consideration the sociocultural perspective meaning that there often the need consider culture in developing our understanding of not only personhood but also sex. There is need for us to consider also the fact that the interpretations of personhood changes over time thus there is need to approach its definitional rather from an anthropological approach which all the sources discussed above seem to agree and consent to. Understanding human sex difference would be entirely incomplete without considering gender which is Regarded by biologists and scientists as the cultural construction of beliefs and behaviors considered appropriate for each sex. The term social gender was introduced by scientists as a way of talking about all those expectations and beliefs we associate with people with certain physical characteristics. And we could do a tour through history and different cultures to find out how very different those expectations and beliefs can be, which is why we say they are “socially constructed.” The sources analyzed above do not assume the biological aspect that define sex and personhood either.
Conclusion
Given the existing biological sex variation as well as gender role variation, defining sexual identity and personhood has become more elusive. This situation is worsened by the western culture’s influence on how sexuality and personhood which has imposed the idea of having the thought of heterosexuality as both normal practice and a form of identity. It is evident therefore that the western culture has in a big way influenced our perception of sexuality and personhood since it is considered in is on the western culture that anthropology was developed which has then evolved and developed through ethnography which is a key item in the analysis of sex and personhood.
Bibliography
Adams, Abigail E. 2002. “Dyke to Dyke: Ritual Reproduction at a U.S. Men’s Military College”. The Best of Anthropology Today.. 5-42.
Kessler, Suzanne J. “The Medical Construction of Gender: Case Management of Intersexed Infants.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 16, no. 1 (1990), 3-26. doi:10.1086/494643.
Martin, Emily. “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 16, no. 3 (1991), 485-501. doi:10.1086/494680.
Zelizer, Viviana A. Rotman. Pricing the Priceless Child: The Changing Social Value of Children. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994.
