Final answer:
Feminist anthropologist Sherry Ortner identified the roots of female subordination in the societal distinction between nature and culture, aligning femininity with nature and masculinity with culture, contributing to gender inequality. Modern feminist anthropology uses an intersectional approach to understand how various social identities affect oppression and privilege, focusing on systemic structures like the public-versus-private sphere.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sherry Ortner, a prominent feminist anthropologist, posited that the roots of female subordination are found in the universal distinction societies make between nature and culture. This distinction often aligns femininity with nature, which is seen as something to be dominated or controlled, and masculinity with culture, representing reason and dominance. Anthropologists like Ortner challenge this binary and seek to understand the various social structures contributing to gender inequality, including the division of labor, social norms, and systemic oppression.
Modern feminist anthropology has evolved to adopt an intersectional approach, recognizing that gender cannot be examined in isolation from other identity factors such as race, class, and sexuality. This perspective allows for a deeper understanding of how multifaceted social identities affect an individual's social position and experiences of oppression or privilege.
In her analysis, Ortner and other feminist anthropologists uncover how societal organization, particularly the public-versus-private sphere dichotomy, contributes to gendered roles and the subordination of women. By examining these social structures and their historical context, they aim to challenge and inform the change of these deeply ingrained inequalities that persist in many cultures around the world.