essay
Gender hierarchy in Burma: cultural, social, and psychological dimensions
Sex and gender hierarchies • Cambridge, [england] • Published In 1993 • Pages: 316-333
By: Spiro, Melford E..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a discussion of how gender inequality is constructed in Burmese culture. According to the author, there are two principle ideologies at work. One is the the Ideology of the Superior Male and the other is the Ideology of the Dangerous Female. Male superiority is based on such ideas as the penis is nobler than the 'ignoble' vagina; only males have a spiritual essence called Hpoun, or glory; and men have a longer intestinal track, which Burmese ethnopsychology equates with greater intelligence. The 'dangerous female' ideology rests largely on men's fear of female sexuality and desire. Regardless of this hierarchy, the author shows how women maintain a controlling influence over men in the household.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Drives and emotions
- Gender status
- Household
- Family relationships
- Ethnopsychology
- Sexuality
- Sexual stimulation
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Burmans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard;2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1961-1962, 1972-1975
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1961-1975
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mandalay District, Burma
- NotesAdditional notes
- Melford E. Spiro
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 332-333)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 91044144
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Burma--Social life and customs