On women and other fictions: counter positions on anthropology and feminism

Authors

  • Fabiana Maizza Universidade de São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8034.2017v19n1p103

Abstract

The article aims to make a reflection about anthropology and feminism taking one as a standpoint to think about the other. Throughout the article I try to have a critical approach to the concept of ‘body’ and to the ‘sex/gender’ division, found on the feminist studies as well as on the anthropological approach. In a first moment, as in an essay, I intend to discuss some of the analytical categories used in anthropology through questions brought up by the feminist movements; then, I revert positions and focus on ethnographic descriptions of Melanesia, Egypt and Amazonia, and on the problems they might bring to the feminist debate - as they question concepts such as ‘body’, ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. At one hand, the article aims to defend feminism as a critical standpoint in the ethnographic writing; at the other, it wants to think about the challenges to Western formulations brought by other points of view, coming from the ethnographic research itself. 

Author Biography

Fabiana Maizza, Universidade de São Paulo

Pós-doutoranda Fapesp em Antropologia Social na Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Possui doutorado em Antropologia Social pela Universidade de São Paulo, mestrado, ou Diplôme d'études approfondies (DEA), em antropologia pela Universidade Paris X/Nanterre e mestrado, ou Maîtrise, em antropologia pela Universidade Paris V/René Descartes. Realizou pesquisa sobre o parentesco jarawara a partir das relações entre humanos e plantas cultivadas. Atualmente faz pós-doutorado na Universidade de São Paulo sobre a festa de saída das meninas jarawara em reclusão, o mariná, e seus efeitos na composição de uma agência feminina "levável" (towakama), "carregável" (weyena). É pesquisadora associada ao Centro de Estudos Ameríndios da Universidade de São Paulo (CEstA) e à Société des Américanistes (Musée du quai Branly), Paris.

Published

2017-12-19

How to Cite

MAIZZA, Fabiana. On women and other fictions: counter positions on anthropology and feminism. Ilha Revista de Antropologia, Florianópolis, v. 19, n. 1, p. 103–135, 2017. DOI: 10.5007/2175-8034.2017v19n1p103. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/ilha/article/view/2175-8034.2017v19n1p103. Acesso em: 30 dec. 2025.

Issue

Section

Articles