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  • Title: The cultural conception and structural perpetuation of female subordination: an examination of gender relations among the populations of the Chalt-Chaprote community in the Nager Valley of Northern Pakistan.
    Author: Mumtaz S, Fatima A.
    Journal: Pak Dev Rev; 1992; 31(4 Pt 2):621-32. PubMed ID: 12286747.
    Abstract:
    Women's role and status in Pakistan is discussed with reference to fieldwork conducted in the Chalt-Chaprote community in the Nagar Valley in 1989-90. Attention was directed to how women are placed in subordinate positions within socioeconomic activities, and the effect of changing economic conditions on their role and status. Women's social position of authority, decision making, or leadership is subordinate to men's at the household, the village, or community level. Even though women belong to women's organizations, men still keep accounts and maintain contact with men of the "outside world." Unchaperoned mobility and access to formal education are restricted for women. Women and girls are active in production in the fields and pastures, and their role exceeds that of males in intensity and length of work. Several tables indicate the involvement in a variety of production tasks. Production work takes about 8.05 hours/day throughout the year; this equals 2378.8 hours every year compared with men's 2047.27 hours. Household work is in addition to production work. Girls contribute to the household at the age of 8-9 years in child care, and at the age of 13-14 years in cooking cleaning, and washing. Women comprise 49.3% of the population, but are not entitled to claim property if there are brothers or the family is very poor. Birth ceremonies are different for girls, and only boys are welcomed at birth. Eating patterns also reflect the subordinate status of women. Women eat after men and eat the leftovers. In a food crisis situation, it is women who are expected to limit their consumption. Maternal mortality is high due to malnutrition and lack of prompt access to medical care. Women have very little leisure time and almost no recreational activity, in contrast to men. Women do not practice sports or dance as men are allowed to do. This community was incorporated into the Federally Administered Areas in 1972, and piped water was introduced. This reduced the time and labor in fetching water, but did not change women's status. Wheat threshers were introduced, which reduced men's and women's labor; maize is still threshed manually by women only. Weeding sprays are available, but women's labor is cheaper. New products have expanded women's work, and access to labor-saving inputs is still restricted. Recommendations, for instance, are to increase education and training, health care, and women's networks.
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