According to Spradley and McCurdy in “Law and Order,” toward the end of her stay in
Ralu”a, anthropologist Laura Nader “made the balance,” by
a. convincing the priest that she was not a protestant.
b. working as a mayoral in the court.
c. donating a barrel of mescal at a fiesta.
d. giving gifts to the presidente and other town officials.
Negotiating Work and Family in America DIANNA SHANDY AND KARINE MOE
Summary In this article, Dianna Shandy and Karine Moe explore the complexities of
the latest research on how generations of women have handled the challenges of
negotiating work and family in America. By combining labor statistics, interviews with
more than 100 women, focus groups, and surveys of nearly 1000 college graduates, the
authors explore the advances of women in the workforce, their experiences juggling
families and careers outside of the home, and the subsequent choices new generations
of women are making in this area.
Anthropologists used to view the gender relationship between men and women as one
of inherent male domination. Ernestine Friedl, however, argued that control of publicly
distributed resources was key to women’s power. Among the Hadza of Tanzania for
example, men and women gather food equally, and subsequently relate to one another
with relative gender equality. In contrast, when men supply virtually all of the food,
such as among the Inuit of the Arctic, there is significant gender inequality.
Similar cultural ranking exists in the United States. In the United States one’s
occupation determines relative rank. Today, women hold positions previously reserved
for men onlypositions that include leadership, management, and business ownership.
Women make up half of the workforce on all U.S. payrolls, and own one third of the
businesses in the United States. Additionally, women now account for more than 50
percent of all college students and are the majority of those enrolled in graduate or
professional schools. Women have made great strides toward gender equality in the
workplace over the last few decades, but many are still opting out when they have
children.
Many gender-related factors both push women out of the workforce and pull them
toward family and home, such as a woman’s “second shift” or experiencing a “glass
ceiling” (the proverbial barrier preventing advancement to a higher position). Unlike
other industrialized nations, women in the United States of at least three generations
have experienced and continue to experience significant structural barriers to flexible
and affordable childcare.
Given the low cultural ranking given of the occupation of “full-time motherhood,”
women often struggle to maintain a sense of gender equality, prestige, and power while
at home. Some do so by forming strong social groups. Still others describe themselves
as career women taking time off to stay home with kids.
According to Shandy and Moe in “Negotiating Work and Family in America,” women
make up one third of all workers on U.S. payrolls.
According to Alverson in “Advice for Developers,” Tswana see greeting others as
a. a waste of time.
b. a way to be polite.
c. a strategy to avoid work.
d. an essential act and time to exchange news.
According to Dubisch in “Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage,” Run for the Wall
participants stopped at
a. Angel Fire, New Mexico.
b. Denver, Colorado.
c. the Apache reservation in Arizona.
d. Window Rock, Wyoming.