ABSTRACT
The main aim of this paper is to analyse various aspects of body painting display in two aboriginal societies of Tierra del Fuego, the Selk’nam and the Yámana, to show how such display contributed to the construction of gender in these societies (Figure 17.1). The importance, relevance, and potential richness of the archaeology and anthropology of gender have been clearly demonstrated through the increasing development of gender studies in these fields (eg, Conkey and Spector 1984; Conkey and Gero 1991; Claassen 1992; Moore 1995; Meskell 2000; Sørensen 2000). Likewise, the crucial significance of addressing gender when studying body painting display has been shown (explicitly or implicitly) by various case studies of the uses of body ornaments in general and body painting in particular (eg, Strathern and Strathern 1971; Faris 1972; 1988; Ebin 1979; Turner 1980; Kaeppler 1988; Vogel 1988; Drewal 1988). These analyses have demonstrated, for example, how body painting was used to create a visual distinction and association between the male-productive and female-reproductive bodies of the Nuba (Sudan) and to signal the individual’s association with the patri-clan, while the matri-clan has no visual symbols to identify it (Faris 1988). Therefore, such kinds of study shed light on the interplay between the use of body painting and the social construction of gender, emphasising the active role played by this specific material culture product in the process of gender construction.
