Gender in Inuit Society

Key themes/Ideas
• Accounts of Inuit/Eskimo women by non-specialists usually result in Inuit women being portrayed as having low status and prestige relative to men.
• Neither sex lacks the ability to perform the other’s work and both sexes have an extensive knowledge of the other’s work. Consequently, one sex is able to perform the other’s work if need be.
• Everywhere in the arctic “the relations between men and women are amicable-even decorous” (Guemple, 1995, p. 22).
• Women and men discuss public issues openly within their own homes however, women are not suppose to talk about these issues in public.


Important Quotes
• “Both within and without the house she behaves as the equal of the men” (Guemple, 1995, p. 19).
• “Neither is the work of one more estimable than that of the other” (Guemple, 1995, p. 20).
• “Arctic divorce may be a better measure of equality than marriage” (Guemple, 1995, p. 24).
• “Women and her children retain a “claim” on her ex-husband and on his close relatives for life” (Guemple, 1995, p. 24).
• “…maleness and femaleness are only transitory states of being… Gender is not an essential attribute” (Guemple, 1995, p. 27).

Thoughts/Reflections/Reactions
My thoughts on this reading are mixed. I like the idea of dispelling stereotypes and assumptions about Gender in Inuit Society however, I felt that this reading actually reinforced some negative beliefs. I was especially struck by how he organized his argument because within each sub-subject he seemed to have an argument that contradicted his thesis. For instance, in the beginning he stated that “the early literature is sprinkled with accounts (some based on myth and folklore) of the beating, mutilation, and sexual coercion, abduction, and murder of women…” and then proceeded to write an article dispelling this belief (Guemple, 1995, p. 17). However, he then said that when women would voice their concern about the “stupidity of policy decisions” the remarks “would merit retaliation—even physical assault” (Guemple, 1995, p. 25). Contradictory arguments like this were evident throughout the article so I had a hard time with this article. I feel that he looked at Inuit life through very egocentric eyes and I believe that comparisons between cultures cannot always be made and in this instance I feel that his arguments failed. In fact, I think that they reiterated popular belief and that the way he structured his argument will cause others to look at Inuit life in an egocentric way.

Reference
Guemple, L. (1995). Gender in Inuit society (p. 17-27). Women and power in native North America. University of Oklahoma Press.