How Does Cultural Context Shape Gender Identities?

Struck by seemingly distinct cultural differences in gendered expressions, students in a cross-listed course in anthropology and psychology (ANT/PSY 210-Sex and Culture) took an ethnographic approach to observe gender in workplaces, houses of worship, in nail salons, and on the streets. The videos each produced explore a joint question about how cultural backgrounds foster patterns of behaviors, standards for appearances, and divisions of labor, in the case of people from the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S., geographic areas loosely conceived. Students’ videos outline details about their field sites, tell the stories shared by their study participants, and offer glimpses into the richness of urban life—in one case in particular, also to its connection to suburban living. Together, these clips form an attempt to provide a visual exploration into how gender operates in everyday ways to shape everyone’s experiences of place and self.