> I'm seeking papers for a session I'm organizing for SHA 2002 in Mobile on
> women who have taken over traditionally male roles. Any time period or
> geographical focus is welcome. The session abstract is below.
>
> Please contact me (off list) at:
>
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> snail mail: Carol Nickolai
>           325 University Museum
>           Department of Anthropology
>           33rd and Spruce Streets
>           Philadelphia, PA,  19104  USA
>
> Thanks!
> Carol Nickolai
>
>
> Session Title:
> When Women Take Charge: Archaeology of Women in Central Roles
>
> Session Abstract:
>       Although past gender roles often appear fixed, women in all
> settings have sometimes transgressed these roles to take on the labor, and
> the role, of men. In both private and public institutions this has
> frequently taken the form of a woman becoming head of a household or farm,
> proprietor of some business, or in some other way taking charge of
> herself and her material culture. Those women who did take on these new
> positions faced complex sets of problems from such role
> substitutions. This session will attempt to address some cases where women
> have transgressed traditional gender roles to take charge, how both the
> women and their community negotiated and understood this behavior,
> how they reconciled the two conflicting sets of expectations, and how
> such events are minifested in material culture and the archaeological record.
>