Gender stereotype debunked: 79 per cent of women are hunters in foraging societies, new data shows
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A new study reveals that 79 per cent of women in foraging societies around the world are hunting for animals, which opposes the common belief that men exclusively hunt while women gather.
New data reveals that the gender roles often associated with hunting and gathering practices may be inaccurate.
These findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, reveal that 79 per cent of women in foraging societies around the world are hunters, defying the common perception that men exclusively hunt for animals while women gather plants for food.
“Evidence from around the world shows that women participate in subsistence hunting in the majority of cultures,” write the study authors.
In order to find out if the commonly-believed gender roles hold up, the team of researchers from Seattle Pacific University looked at data from the past century from 63 foraging societies around the world, such as in North and South America, Africa, Australia, Asia and Oceania.
The data they examined for the study consisted of reports on what, when, and how hunting occurred in each cultural group.
Based on the available information, it was evident that women played a significant role in hunting —79 per cent of women —regardless of if they were mothers or not.
The researchers also looked at whether the women were hunting intentionally or opportunistically, finding that 70 per cent of the hunting was found to be intentional, and that they targeted games of varying sizes, but mostly went after larger game.
