The concept of gender is as old as humans. George Orwell once stated “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (Eriksen, 2015). The act of gendering is exertion of power, instilling your dominance or submission onto another. Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, while the study of gender examines the social and cultural norms about human sexuality and the impact to society. Both have a key overlapping fact and that is that each is studying the concept of power, which is critical because key debates occurring in the field of gender anthropology is are focused on the relation of gender to colonialism, and the role of gender during times of war and peace. Through the analysis of various academic sources it will prove that gender relation to colonialism and gender roles during war and peace are key in understanding the power mentality of societies today.

The anthropology of gender could be considered the new kid on the block when considering the other focuses of anthropology, although the science of anthropology is a relatively new science as a whole. On the other end of the spectrum is the concept of gender, which has evolving right alongside society. Gender is a cultural construct that can change and evolve from era to era and from one culture to another. It is socially assigned roles that everyone performs based on their perceived sexual identity. An important clarification is the difference between sex and gender; sex refers to biological characteristics a fetus is born with, while once again gender is created by society. However gender can refer to the biological sex at times, but it will not always match up. The understanding of gender and how cultures utilize it, is the basis to understanding the evolution of the modern hierarchy and the location of the concentration of power. It was not till the 1970s that women began to blatantly question the masculinist orthodoxies in anthropology, criticizing traditions in both literature and in the field(Okely, 2019). During this time the difference between sex being biological and gender being a social construct first appear started to appear in the literature. In spite of the fact that the study of gender in anthropology was still uncharted waters women anthropologist have made impressive progres