Eleanor Leacock
Encyclopedia
Eleanor "Happy" Leacock was a theorist of anthropology, focusing on the issue of gender during the feminist movement
.
Leacock was born in 1922 in New Jersey. Her mother Lily was a mathematician and her father was world-famous literary critic, philosopher, and writer Kenneth Burke
. Leacock did her undergraduate work at Barnard College
and Radcliffe College
and completed her graduate training at Columbia University
. She married film maker Richard Leacock
in 1941. They had four children. The marriage broke up in 1962. Her second husband (from 1966) was Civil Rights and Union activist James Haughton.
She is known for her ethnographic work in Labrador
with the Montagnais-Naskapi people, influenced by William Duncan Strong
. During this 1950 study, she found the Montagnais-Naskapi's life was changed due to the fur trade.
She was at Bank Street College of Education
as Senior Research Associate, 1958–1965, and at Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in the social sciences department, 1963–1972. She struggled to get a full time job. She taught as an adjunct for decades before taking a full time job as a professor of anthropology at City College
and Graduate Faculty of City University of New York
in 1972. Her appointment occurred after writing her celebrated introduction to Frederick Engels' The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State. She resuscitated Engels' theory that linked the domination of women to the rise of classes and the state in which he termed as "the historic defeat of the female sex."
One of Leacock's most fruitful contributions to the field of anthropology was her essay entitled, "Interpreting the Origins of Gender Inequality: Conceptual and Historical Problems" (1983). In this piece, she argues the importance of male and female relationships. Leacock also brings up the difference between sex (biological), and gender (culturally prescribed norms for sex). Leacock uses a Marxist approach to her ethnographies, arguing that capitalism is largely responsible for female subordination (McGee & Warms Anthropological Theory
4th ed. McGraw Hill: 2008).
Leacock died in 1987 in Hawai'i.
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
.
Leacock was born in 1922 in New Jersey. Her mother Lily was a mathematician and her father was world-famous literary critic, philosopher, and writer Kenneth Burke
Kenneth Burke
Kenneth Duva Burke was a major American literary theorist and philosopher. Burke's primary interests were in rhetoric and aesthetics.-Personal history:...
. Leacock did her undergraduate work at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
and Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
and completed her graduate training at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She married film maker Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema and Cinéma vérité.-Early life and career:...
in 1941. They had four children. The marriage broke up in 1962. Her second husband (from 1966) was Civil Rights and Union activist James Haughton.
She is known for her ethnographic work in Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
with the Montagnais-Naskapi people, influenced by William Duncan Strong
William Duncan Strong
William Duncan Strong was an American archaeologist and anthropologist noted for his application of the direct historical approach to the study of indigenous peoples of North and South America....
. During this 1950 study, she found the Montagnais-Naskapi's life was changed due to the fur trade.
She was at Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
as Senior Research Associate, 1958–1965, and at Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in the social sciences department, 1963–1972. She struggled to get a full time job. She taught as an adjunct for decades before taking a full time job as a professor of anthropology at City College
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
and Graduate Faculty of City University of New York
CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York brings together graduate education, advanced research, and public programming to midtown Manhattan hosting 4,600 students, 33 doctoral programs, 7 master's programs, and 30 research centers and institutes...
in 1972. Her appointment occurred after writing her celebrated introduction to Frederick Engels' The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State. She resuscitated Engels' theory that linked the domination of women to the rise of classes and the state in which he termed as "the historic defeat of the female sex."
One of Leacock's most fruitful contributions to the field of anthropology was her essay entitled, "Interpreting the Origins of Gender Inequality: Conceptual and Historical Problems" (1983). In this piece, she argues the importance of male and female relationships. Leacock also brings up the difference between sex (biological), and gender (culturally prescribed norms for sex). Leacock uses a Marxist approach to her ethnographies, arguing that capitalism is largely responsible for female subordination (McGee & Warms Anthropological Theory
Anthropological Theory
Anthropological Theory is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of Anthropology. The journal's editors are Jonathan Friedman , Bruce Kapferer and Joel Robbins...
4th ed. McGraw Hill: 2008).
Leacock died in 1987 in Hawai'i.