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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



to be justified in botli custom and law. A young- 

 wife recalls : 



Once a relative of mine, tbe uncle of my father, wlio 

 had married a second time, found out that his wife was 

 being unfaithful to him. She hadn't been entirely bad ; she 

 just liked other men. She had a sister who was no good. 

 He told her never to go to her sister's house. But when 

 he'd leave, she'd slip out and run over. One day he came 

 back early and asked his little daughter, "Where is your 

 mother?" The girl replied, "She's at my aunt's." He 

 went into the village and asked the butcher, "Can you 

 lend me a big knife? I want to kill a goat. I'll send you 

 a hind quarter for the favor." The butcher, who had no 

 suspicions of what tlie uncle of my father might do, sharp- 

 ened his largest knife and gave it to him. Then the uncle 

 of my father went over to the sister's house looking for 

 his wife and when he found her, he killed her. When 

 they came to take hira, be ran out of the house to meet 

 them and said, "I only cleansed my honor; for, in my 

 family, no one can have a dirty face." 



"Of course he should not have done that," con- 

 tinued the informant. "He was a Christian and 

 that was a sin. But she had feito urn grande 

 desprcso pra ele (treated him with great disre- 

 spect) and in this way he revenged himself." 



A man whose wife is unfaithful to him and who 

 ndo reage (does nothing about it) is called a como 

 manso, literally a "tame horn." The expression is 

 said to come from an ancient belief that horns 

 sprout on the head of a cuckold. The present 

 significance is that such a person "is easily dis- 

 tinguished; everyone can see that he is deficient." 



ROLE AND STATUS OP WOMAN 



The role of woman in the local society is symbol- 

 ized by the fact that, upon first entering the village, 

 one notes the almost complete absence of women 

 in the streets or, so far as at first can be observed, 

 anywhere. If he looks more closely, however, he 

 will discover that the women of the various house- 

 holds, without coming directly to either the doors 

 or windows of their houses, are discreetly observ- 

 ing his movements, almost hidden in their homes. 



A woman's role, almost without exception, is 

 exercised within and as a part of the family. It 

 is from her activity here that status, almost en- 

 tirely, is obtained. The cases in which at least 

 a portion of a woman's role extends beyond the 

 confines of the family are few : those of the mid- 

 wives, the two school teachers, the "blessers," the 

 principal patroness at the village church who has 

 a prominent role in preparing the processions, the 



two girls who sing at religious ceremonies, the 

 postmistress, the few women who wash clothes 

 on occasion for other families, and the two girls 

 who work as "servants." In each of these cases, 

 however, the major portion of the woman's role 

 is exercised within her own family. 



The routine of local women is largely circum- 

 scribed by the following activities : 



Fetching water and firewood. 

 Cooking. 



Washing and ironing clothes. 

 Cleaning the house. 

 Bearing children. 

 Caring for the children. 

 Training the children in acceptable conduct. 

 Helping care for domestic animals. 

 Working in the fields when needed. 

 Sewing. 



Embroidering, knitting, crocheting, and making 6ro- 

 glio (lace fringe on flour sacks). 



A woman sometimes is allowed by her husband 

 to keep the money she makes raising chickens or 

 other fowl. Even then, however, the money 

 usually is spent for items needed for the family. 

 "I raise a few chickens and a few ducks," re- 

 marked a young farm wife. "I also sell eggs. 

 The money I get is mine. I bought that woolen 

 coat you see there. Wlien my husband is out of 

 money, I sometimes get things for him. I bought 

 the suit he's wearing. I buy things for the chil- 

 dren, too." 



Several young men who were asked their con- 

 ception of what a woman should be and do, re- 

 plied as follows: 



A good woman works hard and is obedient. She takes 

 care of her family as she should. She washes the clothes, 

 straightens up the house and looks after her husband. 



A woman's work is to cook and wash clothes. She 

 should also help her husband in the field so that their 

 life will be a little better. With a lazy vrife, a man 

 never gets ahead. 



I want a woman who is a hard worker and who will 

 do everything in the house. I also want a woman who 

 will do what I tell her. The man should give the orders, 

 not the woman. 



A woman's work is to wash the clothes and do the 

 cooking. A woman who is ambitious for her family will 

 also help her husband in the field. There are women who 

 are hard workers and there are others who are no good ; a 

 woman should not want to "gad about" and make a 

 fool of her husband. 



Without a woman it would be much harder to get the 

 cooking done and the clothes washed and take care of 

 the livestock. 



