This study tests a set of hypotheses regarding the relationship of varia
tions in the division of labor by sex and the patterning of other gender-
based phenomena across cultures. The sexual division of labor is found to
be significantly associated with attitudes towards sex, customs for arrang
ing marriages, male sex-typed behavior, and aggression training for boys.
The division of labor is not related to the relative status of men and wom
en or to the actual incidence of sexual behavior. The study also comments
on the alternative ways in which cause-effect relationships among these
variables can be conceptualized.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bacdayan, Albert S.1977Mechanistic Cooperation and Sexual Equality among the Western Bontoc. In Sexual Stratification: A Cross-Cultural View. Alice Schlegel, ed. pp. 270-291. New York: Columbia University Press.
2.
Barry, Herbert III, Margaret K. Bacon, and Irvin L. Child1957A Cross-Cultural Survey of Some Sex Differences in Socialization . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology55: 327-332.
3.
Barry, Herbert III, Irvin L. Child, and Margaret K. Bacon1967Relation of Child Training to Subsistence Economy. In Cross-Cultural Approaches. Clellan S. Ford, ed. pp. 146-158. New Haven: HRAF Press.
4.
Barry, Herbert III, Lili Josephson, Edith Lauer, and Catherine Marshall1976Traits Inculcated in Childhood: Cross-Cultural Codes 5. Ethnology15: 83-114.
5.
Broude, Gwen J.1976Cross-Cultural Patterning of Some Sexual Attitudes and Practices. Behavior Science Research11: 227-262.
6.
Male-Female Relationships in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Study of Sex and intimacy. Behavior Science Research18: 154-181.
7.
The Relationship between Male-Female Roles and Marital Intimacy: A Holocultural Study. Paper Presented at the 15th Annual Meetings of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, San Diego.
8.
The Relationship of Marital Intimacy and Aloofness to Social Environment : A Hologeistic Study. Behavior Science Research21: 50-69.
9.
1990Protest Masculinity: A Further Look at the Causes and the Concept. Ethos18: 103-122.
10.
Broude, Gwen J., and Sarah J. Greene1976Cross-Cultural Codes on Twenty Sexual Attitudes and Practices. Ethnology15: 409-429.
11.
Broude, Gwen J.1989Revisiting Status-Envy: Does the Theory Hold Up. Behavior Science Research23: 146-181.
12.
Brown, Judith K.1970A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex. American Anthropologist72: 1073-1078.
13.
D'Andrade, Roy G.1966Sex Differences and Cultural Institutions. In The Development of Sex Differences. Eleanor Maccoby, ed. pp. 174-204. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
14.
Holter, Harriet1973Sex Roles and Social Structure. Oslo : Universitetsforlaget.
Maccoby, Eleanor, and C. Jacklin1974The Psychology of Sex Differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
17.
Mukhopadhyay, Carol, and Patricia Higgins1988Anthropological Studies of Women's Status Revisited: 1977-1987. Annual Review of Anthropology17: 461-495.
18.
Munroe, Robert L., Ruth H. Munroe, and John W. M. Whiting1973The Couvade: A Psychological Analysis. Ethos1: 30-74.
19.
Male Sex-Role Resolutions. In Handbook of Cross-Cultural Human Development. R. L. Munroe, R. H. Munroe, and B. B. Whiting , eds. pp. 611-632. New York: Garland Press.
20.
Murdock, George P.1949Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
21.
Murdock, George P., and Catarina Provost1973a Factors in the Division of Labor by Sex: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. Ethnology12: 203-225.
22.
1973b Measurement of Cultural Complexity. Ethnology12: 379-392.
23.
Murdock, George P. and Douglas R. White1969Standard Cross-Cultural Sample . Ethnology13: 329-369.
24.
Parker, Seymour, and Hilda Parker1979The Myth of Male Superiority. American Anthropologist81: 289-309.
25.
Parsons, Talcott1942Age and Sex in the Social Structure of the United States . American Sociological Review7: 605.
26.
Parsons, Talcott, and Robert F. Bales1955Working Papers in the Theory of Action. Glencoe: Free Press.
27.
Quinn, Naomi1977Anthropological Studies on Women's Status. Annual Review of Anthropology6: 181-225.
28.
Raphael, D., and F. Davis1985Only Mothers Know: Patterns of Infant Feeding in Traditional Cultures. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood.
29.
Rubin, Gayle1975The Traffic in Women: Notes on the "Political Economy" of Sex. In Toward an Anthropology of Women. R. R. Reiter , ed. pp. 157-210. New York: Monthly Review Press.
30.
Schlegel, Alice1977Toward a Theory of Sexual Stratification. In Sexual Stratification: A Cross-Cultural View. Alice Schlegel, ed. pp. 1-40. New York: Columbia University Press.
31.
Schlegel, Alice, and Herbert Barry III1986The Cultural Consequences of Female Contribution to Subsistence. American Anthropologist88: 142-150.
32.
Slater, Philip, and Dori A. Slater1965Maternal Ambivalence and Narcissism: A Cross-Cultural Study . Merrill-Palmer Quarterly of Behavior and Development 11: 241-260.
33.
Sutton, Constance, and Susan Makiesky-Barrow1977Social Inequality and Sexual Status in Barbados. In Sexual Stratification: A Cross-Cultural View. Alice Schlegel, ed. pp. 292-325. New York: Columbia University Press.
34.
Weisner, Thomas, and Ronald Gallimore1977My Brother's Keeper: Child and Sibling Caretaking. Current Anthropology18: 169-180.
35.
White, Douglas R., Michael L. Burton, and Lilyan A. Brudner1977Entailment Theory and Method: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Sexual Division of Labor. Behavior Science Research12: 1-24.
36.
Whiting, Beatrice B.1965Sex Identity Conflict and Physical Violence: A Comparative Study. American Anthropologist67: 123-140.
37.
Whiting, John W. M.1969The Place of Aggression in Social Interaction. In Collective Violence. J. F. Short andM. E. Wolfgang, eds. pp. New York: Aldine-Atherton.
38.
Whiting, John W. M., and Beatrice B. Whiting1975Aloofness and Intimacy of Husbands and Wives: A Cross-Cultural Study. Ethos.3: 183-207.
39.
Whyte, Martin K.1978Cross-Cultural Codes Dealing with the Relative Status of Women. Ethnology17: 211-237.
