Fry, Douglas P. 1992b. “Female Aggression among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico.” In Of Mice and Women: Aspects of Female Aggression, edited by Kaj Björkqvist and Pirkko Niemelä p.187-199. San Diego: Academic Press, 1992.
Fry compares female with male aggression in Zapotec culture and shows that females rely less than males do on direct, physical aggression and more on indirect aggression. Women’s acts of aggression are less frequent and less intense than men’s. While the author studied a relatively peaceful community, La Paz, it was in the relatively more violent one, San Andrés, that he witnessed physical fights among men on a number of occasions. However, he only saw two physical exchanges among women in that community, which he describes. He concludes that Zapotec women, particularly in San Andrés, can be aggressive, though their approaches and tactics are different from men’s.
We appreciate the permission to copy this article for the Peaceful Societies Website granted by both Prof. Fry. and by Elsevier. The article, in PDF format, is 48.6 KB in size.
