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Book Cover
E-book
Author Spiro, Melford E

Title Gender ideology and psychological reality : an essay on cultural reproduction / Melford E. Spiro
Published New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, [1997]
©1997

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Description 1 online resource (xx, 220 pages) : illustrations
Contents 1. Introduction -- 2. Males and Females in Village Burma -- 3. Cultural Internalization: Conscious Desires and Beliefs -- 4. The Concept of Desire -- 5. Cultural Internalization: Unconscious Desires and Beliefs -- 6. Culturally Constituted Defenses and Psychopathology -- 7. Internalization of Sex and Gender Ideologies -- 8. Conclusions and Implications
Summary "Why do members of a society espouse culturally constituted beliefs that are at odds with their personal interests and experiences? In this book Melford Spiro, a psychological anthropologist, answers this question by investigating ideologies of gender and sex relations in Burma, according to which men are superior and women are morally and sexually dangerous - despite the reality that women enjoy high economic, legal, and social status. Spiro argues that these sexist ideologies - prevalent in most of the human world - are an expression of male anxieties and insecurities." "Spiro propose a theory of cultural reproduction that is an alternative to the enculturation model of radical cultural determinism. He postulates that cultural systems are reproduced only insofar as they are internalized by members of society and that this occurs if these systems resonate with members' conscious and unconscious beliefs and desires or are employed by them as a resource for the construction of defense mechanisms. He compares his firsthand observations of a Burmese village to extensive data from a wide array of other societies (including our own) and argues that this explanation applies to all societies."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-209) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Sex role -- Burma
Gender identity -- Burma
Ethnopsychology -- Burma
Interpersonal relations -- Burma
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
Ethnopsychology
Gender identity
Interpersonal relations
Manners and customs
Sex role
Ethnosoziologie
Geschlechterrolle
Kultur
Ethnopsychologie
Volkenpsychologie.
Sekseverschillen.
Rôle selon le sexe -- Birmanie.
Ethnopsychologie -- Birmanie.
SUBJECT Burma -- Social life and customs
Subject Burma
Birma
Birmanie -- Moeurs et coutumes.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780300146554
0300146558