In a groundbreaking study that reveals the nuanced roles of gender in traditional craft production, researcher R.B. Jolie explores the intricate gender dynamics involved in cordage-making across diverse cultural landscapes. Published in the International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, this 2025 article offers a comprehensive cross-cultural examination of how gender roles influence the production of cordage, an ancient and widespread craft foundational to human technological development. The study delves deep into ethnographic case studies, unraveling the social, economic, and symbolic layers embedded in this craft practice.
Cordage production—essentially the art of making rope, twine, or string by twisting and braiding plant fibers or animal materials—stands as one of humanity’s earliest innovations, critical for everything from hunting and fishing to shelter building and clothing production. Despite its fundamental nature, cordage-making remains an understudied craft in terms of gendered labor specialization. Jolie’s work fills this gap by meticulously compiling a vast array of cross-cultural data to highlight both commonalities and divergences in how societies assign cordage work along gender lines.
The study challenges simplistic binaries that typically characterize gender roles in craft production. Instead, Jolie demonstrates that the division of labor around cordage is neither universally male nor female but is highly contingent on ecological, economic, and cultural parameters. For instance, in some indigenous Amazonian communities, women are predominantly responsible for harvesting and processing fibers, whereas men may take over the final twisting phase, which requires particular physical skills or social roles. Contrasting this, certain Pacific islander cultures designate rope-making entirely as a women’s task, intimately linked to rituals and lineage perpetuation.
By approaching cordage not merely as a utilitarian product but as a site of sociocultural expression, the research unveils how identities and power dynamics are inscribed into the very materiality of these handmade strands. For example, in some African pastoralist societies, the control over cordage production correlates with access to economic resources and therefore social status, with gendered ownership rights varying significantly. Jolie’s cross-cultural perspective highlights that understanding cordage through the lens of gender illuminates broader themes around labor, craft knowledge transmission, and social organization.
A critical methodological strength of this study is its reliance on both qualitative ethnographic sources and quantitative data aggregated from global anthropological records. This allows the study to avoid overgeneralizations and instead produce a nuanced matrix of gender roles shaped by historical inheritance, ecological exigencies, and ritualistic functions. Furthermore, the integration of feminist theory and material culture studies provides a refreshing interdisciplinary approach that underscores how cordage production serves as a microcosm for the intersectionality of gender, labor, and cultural identity.
One of the technical insights offered relates to the specific techniques of cordage-making as gendered knowledge. The study describes processes such as fiber selection, retting, combing, spinning, and twisting in intricate detail, noting how each step may be gendered differently. For example, the physicality involved in twisting thick ropes may lead to male or elder involvement in certain contexts, whereas delicate weaving and fiber preparation may fall to women, revealing subtle divisions of skill and labor. These distinctions also reflect how societies value particular manual skills and the social transmission pathways for such knowledge.
Moreover, Jolie discusses the symbolic importance of cordage in ritual and social life, noting that in some cultures the making and giving of cordage is a gendered ceremonial act. Cordage can symbolize connections within kinship networks and even spiritual ties, with gender roles in its production reinforcing or challenging social hierarchies. This phenomenon demonstrates how craft production is never neutral but deeply embedded in systems of meaning that reproduce cultural values and gender constructs.
The implications of this research extend beyond anthropology into perspectives on contemporary craft revival movements and gender empowerment programs. Understanding traditional gendered divisions in cordage production can inform how such practices might be preserved, adapted, or challenged in modern contexts to either honor cultural heritage or promote greater gender inclusion. Jolie argues that acknowledging these historical intricacies facilitates culturally sensitive approaches in both academic and activist domains.
The article also touches upon how globalization and economic change impact gender roles in cordage production, with shifts in labor divisions emerging as communities interface with market economies or tourism industries. This dynamic offers a lens through which the resilience or transformation of gendered craft knowledges can be observed, questioning whether traditional roles rigidly persist or adapt fluidly to new socioeconomic realities.
In conclusion, R.B. Jolie’s research offers a compelling, richly detailed perspective on the gendered dimensions of cordage production that moves beyond simplistic binaries. By situating craft within its cultural, social, and material contexts, the study advances anthropological understanding of how gender and technology intersect in everyday material practices. This work not only enriches academic discourse but also resonates with broader societal interests in craft, tradition, and gender equity.
As our understanding of global craft traditions deepens, studies like this remind us of the complexity and diversity inherent in human cultural expressions. Cordage, a small yet profound technological thread in the human story, anchors debates about gender, labor, and identity, bridging past and present in ways that are both tangible and symbolically potent. Jolie’s cross-cultural lens invites continued exploration of such intersections, underscoring the vital role of ethnographic and material studies in comprehending the human condition.
This transformative investigation into gendered cordage production ultimately challenges researchers and the interested public alike to reconsider inherited assumptions about who makes what in traditional societies. It calls for a renewed appreciation of craft as a domain of gendered knowledge bound up with economic, social, and symbolic life, making it a vital object of study for future anthropological and ethnological scholarship.
Subject of Research: Gender roles in traditional cordage production across cultures
Article Title: Gendered cordage production in cross-cultural perspective
Article References:
Jolie, R.B. Gendered cordage production in cross-cultural perspective. Int. j. anthropol. ethnol. 9, 15 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-025-00139-5
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 25 September 2025
