Key Terms
Anthropology
The holistic study of humans — past and present, biological and cultural, linguistic and social.
Applied anthropology
Uses methods from all four subfields to solve real-world problems.
Culture
A set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared; forms an all-encompassing, integrated whole that s
Six properties of culture
1. Humans are born with capacity to learn any culture; learning is direct and indirect.
Ethnography
(1) the research process of long-term fieldwork; (2) the written product of that research. Field notes: recorded observa
Cultural relativism
The position that values and standards differ across cultures and deserve respect; understanding practices from the insi
Ethnocentrism
The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards of one's own and to view one's own culture as superior. All cultur
Sex
Refers to biological variation among bodies based on chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, and genitals. Bodies may fit typ
Intersex
Umbrella term for people with one or more variations in sex characteristics or chromosomal patterns that do not fit typi
Estimated prevalence
Approximately 1.7% of the world population (Fausto-Sterling 2000). Applied: in a city of 300,000 people, more than 5,000
Behrens (medical ethicist)
Surgical intervention is only appropriate when it serves the child's best medical interests; in most cases, intervention
Guevedoce (Dominican Republic)
Approximately 1% of the population appears female at birth with no visible testes; socialized as girls. At puberty, when
Sexuality
"what we find erotic and how we take pleasure in our bodies" (Stryker 2008, 33). Sexual orientation: the direction in wh
Gender
The ideas and expectations attached to biological sex; includes internal identity, public expression, and culturally acc
Gender ideology
A coordinated set of ideas about gender categories, relations, behaviors, norms, and ideals; embedded in institutions (f