Strength theory

Strength theory, the strength hypothesis or strength differences is an idea in anthropology and gender studies. Scholars use it to explain why some cultures assign some forms of work to women and other forms of work to men. In a strength theory model, cultures give certain tasks to men because men are stronger.[1][2][3]

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This article is about the idea in anthropology. For the concept in human cognition, see Recognition memory.

Ember et al. give the examples of mining and hunting large animals, which are heavily male-dominated in many cultures. They note, however, that this does not explain why men would be assigned other tasks that do not require significant strength, such as trapping smaller animals. They and other scholars also note that there are cultures in which women do hunt large animals.[1][4]

History

George P. Murdock was one of the first scholars to describe this theory formally and with evidence. He did so in Social Forces in 1937.[5][2]

Criticism

Strength theory does not explain why societies do assign some very heavy work to women and not to men.[2]

Anthropologist Ernestine Friedl, writing in 1975, noted that while the great majority of hunters in hunter-gathering societies are men, with no such society preferring female hunters, the overlap between the women ranking highest in "size, running ability, muscular strength, lung capacity, and hormone-based aggressiveness" and the weakest or average male hunters was too great for these traits alone to account for it.[6]

See also

References
  1. Carol R. Ember; Milagro Escobar; Noah Rossen; Abbe McCarter (November 19, 2019). "Gender - Human Relations Area File". Yale University. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  2. "Notes" (PDF). Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  3. Michael L. Burton; Lilyan A. Brudner; Douglas R. White (1977). "A model of the sexual division of labor". American Ethnologist (Full text). 4 (2): 227–252. doi:10.1525/ae.1977.4.2.02a00020. S2CID 153578777. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  4. Vivek Venkataraman (March 11, 2021). "Prehistoric women were successful big-game hunters, challenging beliefs about ancient gender roles". The Conversation. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  5. George P. Murdock (May 1, 1937). "Comparative Data on the Division of Labor by Sex". Social Forces. 15 (4): 551–553. doi:10.2307/2571428. JSTOR 2571428. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  6. Ernestine Friedl (1975). Women and Men: an anthropologist's view. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 18. ISBN 0-03-091529-5.
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