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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



still! You're a hurra ;'^'^" you don't know any- 

 thing." The wife with patient submission and 

 no apparent rancor, became quiet. 



IVlien a stranger enters the house of a local 

 resident, he is never presented to either the wife 

 or daughters. If he inquires regarding them, the 

 reply may be, "They are well," or "They are there 

 in the other room," or "They have gone to get fire- 

 wood." The manner in which this is said indi- 

 cates that the inquiry is not especially important. 



During the course of this study, male members 

 of the i-esearch staff were invited to take meals in 

 several homes in the village and on farms. On 

 no occasion did a wife or daughter join the men 

 at the table or, in those cases in which there was 

 no table, in the room where the meal was taken. 

 They remained instead in the kitchen, appearing 

 only to bring in food or to take out used dishes. 

 Even in those cases where they had not previously 

 been met by the guests, they were not presented 

 upon their entering the room, the husband and 

 father paying little attention to their presence. 



Sometimes, when guests are well known to the 

 entire family, an older woman may participate 

 in the conversation at the table even though she 

 does not partake of food there. A villager, for 

 instance, was entertaining several men friends at 

 dinner. As usual, the wife remained in the 

 kitchen while taking her meal. From time to 

 time, however, she spoke through the kitchen door, 

 which was near the table. Becoming more and 

 more interested in the conversation, she edged 

 her way little by little, unconsciously, into the 

 room. She eventually passed around the end of 

 the table, temporarily leaving her plate on the 

 table's edge. When she had finished speaking 

 and absent-mindedly was about to lift some food 

 from the plate to her mouth, the husband called 

 out, sternly, "Get these dirty dishes off the table ! 

 If you don't do it pretty soon, you're going to be 

 late getting the kitchen cleaned up." "Yes, yes," 

 was the reply, as the wife hastened to obey. 



Several men were playing cards one evening 

 in the home of a villager, a young man who had 

 been married about 2 years. He and his wife had 

 a 3-month-old child. Wlien it became time for the 

 baby to be put to bed, the wife brought him in 

 from the kitchen and, passing through the room 



2« Feminine form of bttrro ; the word is used to imply utter 

 stupidity. 



where the men were playing, without speaking to 

 anyone or looking at them, went to bed in the next 

 room. Through the doorway, however, since 

 there was no door, she could easily hear whatever 

 was said, even in low tones, in the room where 

 the men were playing. The men continued to 

 speak in loud voices and, at times, to scrape their 

 feet heavily over the floor during the excitement 

 over some turn in the game, without taking into 

 consideration the fact that the wife and child were 

 trying to sleep in the next room. Around mid- 

 night, the child awakened and began to whimper. 

 For some time, the father went on playing. Sud- 

 denly, he shouted to his wife, "Ana, Ana, look 

 after that child." The woman awakened and put 

 the child back to sleep and all became quiet once 

 more in the bedroom. About 3 o'clock in the 

 morning, the husband suddenly remarked to his 

 friends, "Let's have cafeV and then, turning his 

 head toward the other room, shouted in a loud 

 voice, "Ana, Ana, make cafe for us!" Shortly 

 the wife appeared in the doorway, sleepy-eyed, 

 her dress askew, and went into the kitchen whence, 

 a little later, she brought a coffee pot and several 

 tin cans. After pouring the cafe, she handed each 

 can to her husband who then gave it to one of his 

 guests. When a man remarked, "This cafe is 

 good; it came just at the right time," the wife 

 smiled in a satisfied way, without lifting her eyes. 



A woman is not expected to participate in poli- 

 tics, except to vote in keeping with her husband's 

 convictions. Said a political leader in the village, 

 "A woman votes as her husband votes. In the 

 house, it's always the rooster who crows ; the hen 

 must keep quiet." Of a man in the community 

 whose wife tends to assume a role in political and 

 other affairs which is not in keeping with that laid 

 down in the local mores and who himself is dis- 

 liked by reason of the superior attitude which he 

 tends to take toward other members of the com- 

 munity, villagers were heard to say, "With a wife 

 like that, there isn't any man who'd be any good.*' 



In a few cases, a man may occasionally assume 

 a role which is ordinarily reserved to the woman. 

 "My husband," said a woman in the village, 

 "knows how to do everything around the house. 

 Once when I was sick for over a week, he did the 

 cooking for every meal." Another man in the 

 village, as has been indicated, is noted for his cu- 

 linary skill, especially in preparing roast pig and 



