I have wondered why, if agriculture was so hard compared with hunting and gathering, so many people made the transition.
Turns out it only works that way if you ignore the kind of work that, in industrial societies like those of the (male) theorists who proposed this, is done by unpaid women. (It was generally done by women in the hunter-gatherer societies, too, I suspect.)
The article mentions the “Man the Hunter” conference. I recently listened to an episode of the excellent food podcast Gastropod in which several female anthropologists pointed out that women also hunted in a number of societies, and that in general the conference ignored or diminished the role of women in making both hunter-gathering and agriculture work.
Originally shared by Winchell Chung
TL;DR: It was not a mistake if you take the amount of food preparation work in to account.
Thanks for sharing this, I found it really interesting. I also listened to that same episode of Gastropod!
Thanks for sharing this, I found it really interesting. I also listened to that same episode of Gastropod!
That’s such an interesting show.
That’s such an interesting show.
in general the conference ignored or diminished the role of women in making both hunter-gathering and agriculture work Why am I not surprised.
in general the conference ignored or diminished the role of women in making both hunter-gathering and agriculture work Why am I not surprised.