acorns

This week in anthropology we discussed gender roles and how culture shapes our ideas of “man” and “woman.” Lassiter argues that it is fundamentally human to be a member of certain groups and to act in certain ways. He says that culture takes the idea of human sexuality and builds upon it assigning different behaviors, roles and meanings to male and female. Therefore culture, not biology, creates the learned differences between genders and, in turn, the values that people place on their roles.

This concept pretty much blew my mind. The only reason that we lived in a patriarchal society is because our culture defines men as the “authority.” And the only reason that women wear earrings, perfume, and make-up is because our culture says that’s what women should do.

This class continually blows my mind.

A common thread that I have found throughout this class is that I am, because of my experiences. And that makes me wonder, if I would have grown up in a different state, or been raised by a single parent, or had lived in the same house my entire life would I be a completely different person?

In class someone compared the development of our personal identity to an acorn. In case you are unaware of what the analogy is I will give you my rendition:

All acorns are somewhat similar

And when they fall from trees, they fall into different places

Depending upon where they fall,

They can grow into big acorn trees,

Small acorn trees,

Or they can not grow at all.

The acorns growth depends on the environment in which it falls into.

This analogy made me think about my own life and my own experiences. I was raised in a family of performers, and now am a performer myself. I wonder how much of this actually has to do with genetics and how much of it has to do with the fact that I was raised in a performing environment. After taking this class I feel like a lot of the reason I am a performer is because my parents valued music and encouraged me to partake. I know that I may have been pre-disposed to be a musician but if my parents hadn’t been musicians perhaps that pre-disposition wouldn’t have developed?

Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I would be had this acorn dropped somewhere else other than in Claflin family, or Edina, Minnesota or Luther College.