92 



LABOR 



again they work less long and less hard. An old 

 woman no longer has childi'cn to care for. Iler 

 eyes are frequently too bad to permit much weav- 

 ing. There is no large family to cook for. Like 

 men, old women tend to be ill more frequently and 

 for longer periods, and they, too, sometimes lose 

 time in prolonged drinking, to which their public 

 life has habituated them. 



SEX DIFFERENCES 



Most of the ordinarj' work of the community is 

 done, therefore, by men and women between the 

 ages of about 18 and, say, 50. Older, the quantity 

 of work diminishes, the kinds and the sex distinc- 

 tion remain the same; younger, the kinds of work 

 also change and the distuictions between the sexes 

 diminish and (with young children) disappear. 

 Since agricultural work of both women and chil- 

 dren tends to be "light," children's work resembles 

 rather women's work than men's. Thus women 

 rather than men transplant onions; but one may as 

 well read it, "women and children" even though 

 more especially girls than bo3-s. Men do less on 

 light tasks than women because more of their time 

 is turned to heavy tasks that they alone can do; 

 thus the practice of youngsters, who are necessarily 

 cut out of the heavy work, is like that of women. 



THE MILPA 



I have never heard of a woman's helping to fell 

 trees, clear and bm^n brush, hoe the soil, or any- 

 thing else to prepare the cornfield ; nor have I ever 

 heard of a woman planting or cultivating. Women 

 only harvest, frequently going alone to cut leaves 

 or a few green ears, especially if the field is in the 

 delta, when a woman even goes alone to harvest a 

 few ripe ears. Most frequently, however, men 

 take the lead in harvesting and women accompany 

 them, if at all, only to assist, partly because large 

 loads must be brought home, mainly because of a 

 feeling that milpa is men's work. To harvest a 

 large field laborers are hired to join what members 

 of the family are available, perhaps including 

 women; "^ but women are never hired, as men are, 

 to help. 



Stacking corn iu the granarj- is done by all the 



" In one case the wite anJ lO-yrar-old daughter arrived at the distant corn- 

 field at 10 a. m. with lunch and remained the rest of the day to pick beans and 

 gather together the ears of corn. In another case a wite and dauehter did 

 some harvestinR, in a nearby field, alone, and later accompanied the man of 

 the house to do more. 



family under the leadership of the man of the 

 house. Kemoving the grain from the cob is 

 primarily women's work. Wlien (infrequently in 

 Panajachel) corn in quantity is grained by beating 

 a bagful of ears with sticks, men do most of the 

 work. Generally each day's grain is taken off 

 with the fingers before use, hence is a kitchen 

 task of women. Nevertheless men often do tliis 

 chore in idle moments around the house, and men 

 rather than the women grain seed corn before 

 planting. 



Beans are removed from the pod (usually by 

 beating) by both men and women. 



TRUCK GARDENING 



Only men make garden beds, or pepino hills. 

 Boys but not girls or women help the men; it may 

 be said that this is work of males, as grinding is of 

 females. The only other gardening tasks exclu- 

 sive to men arc planting onion seed (which evi- 

 dently requires expertness which no women have 

 developed), and planting pejnnos, which involves 

 carting fertilizer and making holes. Otherwise 

 work in the truck gardens is done by both sexes, 

 one or the otlier predominating in each process." 

 Probably women plant more garlic, transplant 

 more onions, and possibly plant more beans than 

 do men. They certainly do more weeding as men 

 do more watering. Men harvest more onions, 

 garlic, and beans (which require some strength for 

 the pulling), but women probably cut more 

 pepinos. These differences are not matters of 

 custom but of circumstance. Thus, men usually 

 harvest the quantities of i^epinos or green beans 

 they take to the wholesale market and women cut 

 those they will sell locally. But husband and wife 

 (and others) arc apt to go together both to the 

 harvest and to the market. Onions, garlic, and 

 vegetables are prepared for market by the whole 

 family, with little distinction of sex. Women 

 doubtless wash vegetables more, since in general 

 each vendor prepares his own load for market but 

 women help their husbands wash the larger 

 quantities. Women go to market more frequently 

 than men, but carry considerably less. 



" A man and wife are often found together, perhaps transplanting onions 

 In the same garden bed. Women are frcfjuently seen working with babies on 

 their backs. When these cry, they are given the breast. Where there are 

 other children, an older sibling may relieve the mother of her burden while 

 she works, but of course the infant must remain close by to be fed. A wealthy 

 woman may hire a nursemaid to keep the baby in the shade nearby. 



