- Meat from large game animals is almost always more valued
than other foods. Hunting large game is almost always an
entirely male activity. - Men do not participate in the care and raising of infants. They
may care for children but not for babies, - There is limited female representation in the culture's sacred
symbols, especially in its creation myths.
Sanday found that the cultures in which these factors were the
most extreme were also the most male dominant. And when these
factors moved in the opposite direction, the culture also shifted to an
egalitarian mode where men and women shared power. I believe you
can see such a change happening in our culture today.
Consider:
- Food is plentiful, and environmental conditions are not very
harsh. Enforced laws keep the bulk of people feeling relatively
safe. - Men are no longer the sole breadwinners or "hunters" for food.
- Many men now want to participate in the care and raising of
infants.
There has been an explosion in the number of men who attend
childbirth classes with their wives, are present at the birth of
their children, and share in the diapering, feeding, and bathing
of their babies. Go to the park on Sunday, and you're likely to see
young fathers carrying Snuglis and pushing strollers. Many
women feel that men still don't do enough ca retaking of the
very young, but it's clear there's been a shift in attitude. - There is an increasingly strong female representation in our
culture's sacred symbols. Catholicism has seen an important
growth in worship involving Mary, the mother of Christ. Not
only has worship increasingly involved Mary, but her role has
shifted dramatically from being the passive recipient of the Holy
Spirit to being a woman who bravely and actively chooses to
accept the role of mother in her encounter with the angel Gabriel