Is nature a synonym for natural resources (in social anthropology) Essay

Is temperament a synonym for natural resources (in social anthropology) - Essay ExampleIt is under Cultural anthropology that the issue of dualism falls. Dualism is the postulation that devil opposing ideas mutually exist in nature. It epitomises the dichotomy of issues that characterise any analysis of culture. As stated, this dichotomy usually pits two issues that are diametrically opposed to each other. Such issues include reason versus heat energy masculine versus feminine and good versus evil (Layton, 1998, 11). This paper endeavours to delve into the issue of Cultural Anthropology with specific advert to the notion of dualism. It analyzes the divide between the natural and cultural as a dualist issue deeply root in the western thoughts on anthropology in society. Dualism in religion is also analyzed in supplement to the universal feature of strained relations between males and females in society. The Natural and Cultural in Anthropology In anthropological impairment, na ture denotes materially occurring and existing phenomena that shape the environment in which man lives. Such physical things in many a(prenominal) cases predate man and are used by him to shape his existence (Rosaldo, 1993, 150). However, nature is also viewed as the state in which man is born or created. The nature of man is thence that which constitutes man in his entirety including behaviour and beliefs (Bridgeman, 1983, 11). On of the long enduring anthropological controversies involve the type of the male versus that of the female in human society. This is one of the human universals since females are discriminated against in all human societies (Ortner, 1974, 67). In most analyses, women are seen as closer to nature while males are seen in terms of culture. There are a number of reasons for this universal divide. Chief of these is the fact that females are regarded in terms of their role of child bearing and the bulk of the work of rearing (Ortner, 1974, 68). As a result of this intuition women are seen as being there mainly to map this biological role regarded in many parts of the world as inferior to that of males. The perception of females as inferior beings are further perpetuated in three main ways. These are cultural, symbolic and social-structural devaluation (Ortner, 1974, 69). Cultural devaluation is achieved in the form of equating natural biological processes that only females go through much(prenominal) as menstruation, pregnancy, child birth and lactation with nature. The woman is because seen as closer to nature simply because she undergoes these processes. The bond between woman and child is therefore seen as natural since in the early stages of life, the baby depends so much on the mother for its survival (Ortner, 1974, 74). This results in the degrading of the womans role into that of a domestic servant and home keeper who has to chip closer to the offspring while the man roams about. This liberal roaming of the man enables him to formulate the rules of culture which at quantify involve the prescription of dos and dont s for the women. For instance in several(prenominal) cultures women have to undergo exclusion after menstruation before they can be allowed back to play their normal social roles in the society. One example of such a culture is that of the Crow clan in Montana (Ortner, 1974, 70). Among them, females played a fairly predominant role in social activities such as the Sun Dance, but their role automatically