Wearing Culture: Dress and Regalia in Early Mesoamerica and Central America

7. Unsexed Images, Gender-Neutral Costume, and Gender-Ambiguous Costume in Formative Period Gulf Coast Cultures

207 DOI: 10.5876_9781607322825.c007 7 Unsexed Images, GenderNeutral Costume, and Gender-Ambiguous Costume in Formative Period Gulf Coast Cultures Billie J. A. Follensbee inTroduCTion Over the past fifteen years, a good deal of my research has focused on isolating sexed, gendered, and age-related physical characteristics, clothing, and accoutrements in Formative period (1500 BCE– 250 CE) Gulf Coast imagery and material culture (Follensbee 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010; Follensbee and Arnold 2001).1 The results of this research have been used to assess, and to reassess, conclusions about sex, gender, and age distinctions in Olmec art and archaeology, as well as to explore the possibly gendered and age-related roles that may be illustrated in Olmec and Olmec-related sculpture. One of the more interesting aspects of Olmec imagery that has been revealed as a result of this research, however, is the substantial presence of what appear to be intentionally sexually ambiguous, gender-ambiguous, and gender-neutral figures. This research on sex and gender strongly supports the conclusion that, despite initial appearances, some Olmec images are overtly sexed and that some costume elements are strongly gendered, associated exclusively with male or with female depictions. Other bodily features portrayed in Olmec imagery,meanwhile,are sexually ambiguous, and a number of costume elements are gender-neutral,worn both by men and by women.Still other attire may be more strongly associated with one biological sex, but in certain, specific situations may appear on members of the opposite sex.2 Preliminary to establishing a full understanding of these distinctions in Olmec imagery is clarifying what constitutes clearly sexed and gendered Olmec imagery.3 BILLIE J. A. FOLLENSBEE 208 Previous to my dissertation research (Follensbee 2000b), no systematic study of sexed or gendered characteristics in Gulf Coast Olmec imagery had been undertaken, and gender representation was poorly understood in Olmec imagery. In most past analyses, gender determinations were made by summary assertion, generally assigned in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner. For example, small jade figurines that have fleshy, rounded chests and wear short skirts (Figure 7.1) were virtually always designated as female (see, e.g., Drucker 1952:154–55; Drucker et al. 1959:25–26); however, large stone sculptures with fleshy, rounded chests and short skirts (Figure 7.2) were summarily asserted to be male. Figure 7.1. La Venta Figure 1, jade figurine of a woman (drawing by the author after author’s photographs and Benson and de la Fuente 1996:16). Figure 7.2. Cruz del Milagro Monument 1 (drawing by the author after author’s photographs and Benson and de la Fuente 1996:167). UNSEXED IMAGES, GENDER-NEU TRAL COSTUME 209 Such arbitrary assertions of sex or gender in Olmec imagery have often been based in argumentum ad ignorantiam—asserting a conclusion based on the absence of features rather than on the presence of features, which is a recognized logical fallacy (see Follensbee 2000b:9–18). However, even this method was applied in a one-sided manner: the absence of large, rounded female breasts and of overt female genitalia was assumed to indicate male sex, but the absence of facial hair and of any indication of male genitalia was not assumed to imply female sex. Fully ambiguous Olmec images that exhibit no clearly sexed or gendered characteristics, especially those that express power and leadership,were asserted a priori to be male.The huge,formidable colossal heads (Figure 7.3), for example, have been designated by many as exclusively male, although no physical characteristics such as facial hair are present to conclusively identify them as such (see, e.g., Coe 1972:5; de la Fuente 1992). Figure 7.3. La Venta Monument 1 (drawing by the author after author’s photographs and Vela 1996:n.p.). BILLIE J. A. FOLLENSBEE 210 The pervasive confusion about sex and gender in Gulf Coast Olmec imagery is understandable,however,as large Olmec stone sculpture is notorious for its ambiguity of form. Most anthropomorphic figures are quite androgynous, with thick, blocky, stylized features; even figures with naturalistic faces often have what appear to be physically ambiguous bodies. And, while clothing tends to be scanty in large Olmec stone sculpture, full nudity is uncommon, and any indication of genitalia is extremely rare. The CeramiC figurineS Progress in solving this enigma has been possible through the study of the small, solid, handmade ceramic figurines, which are generally...