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Gender Roles in Lakota Woman


            
             Lakota Woman with regards to male and female relationships has two clearly distinctive parts. These two different parts are seemingly divided by age and maturity, as with mainstream American values, but if one looks a little closer this change of beliefs and values is in direct correlation with the knowledge of traditional Lakota ways. This change is only able to come about if the Lakota person is willing to break free from the American culture that was forced down upon them as children.
             It is clear that in both whitinized Lakota culture as with American culture gender roles are more similar and change along the same line as one matures when compared to traditional Lakota culture. Though at the time when this book took place the Women's Liberation movement was in full swing though this movement did not have an important effect on Lakota culture because it just did not apply as Mary Crow Dog explained, "women's lib was mainly a white, upper middle-class affair of little use to a reservation woman." With this said traditional American gender roles were forced down upon whitinized Lakota people so the some values coincided between both cultures. The idea of the macho male figure was clearly evident within both cultures. This idea of the man being all macho and in control of the relationship is clear in the traditional American gender role and is also clear in whitinized Lakota culture. This before mentioned social norm was something that was not as influential in traditional Lakota culture. "Once it had been the traditional role of an Indian man to take care and protect his family as well as old widows and young orphans. Now they say to our women; Lets you and me make a little warrior, after which they got lost making little warriors some where else." It was also not uncommon for Sioux men to habitually beat their wives and it was also not uncommon for the wives not to leave their wife-beating husbands.


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