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book: Erect Men/Undulating Women
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Erect Men/Undulating Women

The Visual Imagery of Gender, “Race” and Progress in Reconstructive Illustrations of Human Evolution
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2006

About this book

Based on intensive study of human origin illustrations, responses from students and colleagues and research into reconstructive illustration and feminist criticism of Western art, this ground-breaking book traces the subtle ways in which paleoanthropological conventions have influenced and have shifted in the creation of these illustrations. Wiber reveals that embedded meanings in these illustrations go beyond gender to include two other ubiquitous themes—racial superiority and upward cultural progress. Underlying all these themes, she found a basic conservatism in the paleoanthropological approach to evolutionary theory.

Erect Men/Undulating Women provides a deeper understanding of popularized illustrations of human origins, but, more importantly, it encourages readers to gain a sensitivity to the ways in which Western culture constructs “scientific” findings that are compatible with its deeply held beliefs and values.

Author / Editor information

Contributor: Melanie G. Wiber

Melanie G. Wiber received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include development studies, legal anthropology and gender studies. She is the author of Politics, Property and Law in the Philippine Uplands (WLU Press) and co–editor with Joep Spiertz of The Role of Law in Natural Resources Management, which is available in North America from WLU Press.

Reviews

``In critiquing the whole framework in which palaeoanthropologists and scientific illustrators operate, Wiber gives us much to think about.'' --- ``Wiber has produced an interesting account of how visual imagery in reconstructive illustrations of human evolution has itself evolved over the years.... Her distinction between the naked form and the nude form—the latter meant to affect the viewer through eroticism—is an excellent one.... Wiber's book is well written and includes 16 illustrations and a more than adequte index.'' --- ``Provides a valuable update concerning schools of thought on evolutionary theory and the effects of these theories on society's comprehension of how humans came to be.... Erect Men/Undulating Women is an engaging pice of valuable and transferrable research for the professional in the sociological/anthropological field and for anyone interested in the influence of illustrative media on our perception and acceptance of large scope ideas, concepts, and themes.''

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Front Matter

    iii
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  • Publicly Available

    Table of Contents

    v
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    List of Figures

    vii
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  • Publicly Available

    Acknowledgments

    ix
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    Of Gender, "Race" Progress and Evolution: Human Evolution Reconstructive Illustration

    1
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    Contested Knowledge in the Human Evolution Story Field: Man the Hunter versus Woman the Gatherer

    17
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    Reconstructive Human Evolution Illustrations: Utilizing Western Art Conventions in a Contested Story Field

    47
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    Gender: The Ubiquitous Story Operator

    75
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    Conflation and the Significant Other: Racism and Codes of the Primitive

    105
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    Window or Mirror? Primates and Foragers: Analogies of the Pre- Cultural Life

    121
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    Progress: Inevitable as Moral Rewards-The Ultimate Story Operator

    153
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    Lucy as Barbie Doll: Eroticism in the Human Evolution Meta-Narrative

    189
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    The Commodification of Human Evolution: Selling a Story Field through Illustrations

    203
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    Conclusions and Future Directions for Research

    227
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    Figures

    241
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    References Cited

    257
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    Index

    279
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 21, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9780889205574
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
300
View content
https://doi.org/10.51644/9780889205574
eBook ISBN: 9780889205574
Keywords for this book
Social Science: Anthropology; Social Science: Gender Studies; Social Science: Women’s Studies
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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