CRUZ DAS ALMAS : A BRAZILIAN VILLAGE' — ^PIERSON 



131 



ter takes care of a li/o-year-old child and sleeps 

 "with her; the 12-year-old daughter takes care of 

 the 5-month-old baby. "They do everything for 

 them," says the mother, "they keep them clean, 

 dress and carry them about." An elderly woman 

 in the village remembers with pleasure her older 

 sister and of how she helped "all the family." 



The older daughter, as well as the other chil- 

 dren, also helps with the work about the house 

 and in the fields. At a farm home, for instance, 

 the two daughters, aged 12 and 11 years respec- 

 tively, know how to cook. Their mother says, 

 "They get the armogo and I get the janta.'''' At 

 another farm home, a 13-year-old daughter does 

 all the washing for a family of mother, father, 

 and 5 children. "When I was a girl," remarked 

 a farm woman, "I was always working in the 

 house or in the field. The younger children had 

 to be looked after and it seemed that father was 

 always needing help in the field." If a mother 

 dies, the children may be reared by an older 

 daughter, unless the father remarries, or by either 

 the mother's or the father's mother, if living. 



Quite often a widowed grandmother lives with 

 the family of her son or daughter. Her relations 

 with the other members of the family, and es- 

 pecially with the children, ordinarily are intimate 

 and sentimental. She usually assists with the 

 household tasks, helps care for the children, and 

 often becomes their confidant and counselor. In 

 one case, the relations between grancbnother and 

 grandchildren are so close, that the grandmother 

 has assumed the role of the mother, as is sym- 

 bolized by the fact that the children call her 

 "mother" and use, when speaking to their mother, 

 the mother's given name. 



The mother-in-law ordinarily is the object of 

 respect and consideration. Daughters-in-law 

 often are heard to speak well of their mothers-in- 

 law and especiallj' of the value of their experience 

 with the practical affairs of life. "My mother- 

 in-law," said a woman in the village, "was a good 

 woman. I liked her a lot. She was just like a 

 mother to me." "My mother-in-law lived with me 

 for 12 years," said another daughter-in-law. "She 

 was a fine woman. She taught me many things. 

 It was a great loss when she died." Quite often, 

 when unable to settle a practical problem that has 

 emerged, a housewife will be heard to say, "My 

 mother-in-law will know about that." 



Although no evidence of conflict between 

 mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was observed 

 in the community, there exists at least a tradition 

 of such conflict. "A mother-in-law and a daugh- 

 ter-in-law in the same house," said an elderly 

 woman in the village, "is trouble for certain." 

 "She is such a good woman," said a man in the 

 village, referring to an acquaintance, "that she 

 could even get along with a mother-in-law." 

 "When a girl marries nowadays," said a young 

 woman, "she likes to have her own home. It's 

 really better that way." 



The pattern of intimate and sentimental rela- 

 tions within the family tends to generalize itself 

 to all persons in the community. In fact, the com- 

 munity itself takes on to some extent the charac- 

 teristics of a large, extended family as, in reality, 

 it almost is. 



RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SEXES 



Kelations between the sexes proceed largely 

 within the family. As has been noted, women at 

 no time participate in the conversation groups 

 that form regularly in the village. They do not 

 drink or play cards with men. At Mass and other 

 religious ceremonies, the men tend to occupy one 

 side of the church and the women the other, al- 

 though segregation is not always complete. At 

 festas, either religious or secular, women are to be 

 seen talking together among themselves. Rarely 

 does a woman converse with a man, except he be 

 a relative of the family. At dances, as has also 

 been indicated, the women sit together and the men 

 remain apart. There is no conversation between 

 partners during a dance and as soon as the music 

 stops, they separate. A married woman is not ex- 

 pected to dance with men other than her husband, 

 or an engaged girl with a man other than the one 

 to whom she is engaged. For a man to call at the 

 home of another man when he is away is definitely 

 contrary to the mores. 



Boys and girls at the village school occupy the 

 same class room. On no occasion, however, do 

 they sit together, except when a teacher delib- 

 erately employs toward a boy the most effective 

 means of punishment at her disposal by forcing 

 him to sit with a girl. For several years, the 

 teachers have been women. Since, however, there 

 are only three grades, the oldest boys usually are 



