Importance Of Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology is one of several branches of anthropology, the comparative study of human societies and cultures. The science of cultural anthropology deals specifically with the origin and development of human behavior. Much like most sciences, cultural anthropology has developed and changed since its beginnings in the 1800s. Sciences dealing with culture and behavior have changed especially, as scholars and researchers in the field have adapted to better research and understand other cultures, as well as move away from outdated and/or narrow views. Researchers have adapted by use of new methods, like ethnography, and been influenced by factors such as intersectionality and feminism.

In the beginning, many early

When working within a culture, the anthropologist must first consider the historical background and cultural complexities that shape the approach to these topics. While anthropologists could simply look first at gender, it loses much of its context without an idea of the power relations at play with it. Gender is all about power relations, such as who, in the culture or society, has it and who does not, and how it affects the influence of those with power. Having power is not always a bad thing, nor does it always lead to oppression, but imbalance of power can often lead to negative consequences such as oppression or discrimination. The same principles apply when considering sexuality, especially when considering what attributes and qualities are acceptable for gender and how that effects their relations. In some cultures, particularly Western/American cultures, cannot conceptualize labels for a concept that appears similar to one in their one society, but contains a very different context in its home context. This is just part of the many-faceted roles gender and sexuality have to play on cultural

As feminism has changed in the Western sphere, women have become driven to be creators of the ethnography (literature, rather than the method of generating it) that pertains to them. Many woman authors and scholars rose in response to the prior, predominantly male work in cultural anthropology. Feminism has also influenced the intersectionality of cultural anthropology, as feminism has expended from just Western, white, straight feminist types that had dominated in the past. Anthropological works, already focused on power relations and other such complexities in cultures, have also undergone significant effort to examine power relations even within categories, and to avoid generalization and homogenization of