Women and Children in Nepal - Work and Entrepreneurship
Women in Nepal often describe themselves as "the lower caste" in relation to men and generally occupy a subordinate social position. However, the freedoms and opportunities available to women vary widely by ethnic group and caste. Women of the highest castes have their public mobility constrained, for their reputation is critical to family and caste honor. Women of lower castes and classes often play a larger wage-earning role, have greater mobility, and are more outspoken around men. Gender roles are slowly shifting in urban areas, where greater numbers of women are receiving an education and joining the work force.
The large majority of the Nepalese are subsistence farmers who grow rice, maize, millet, barley, wheat, and vegetables. At low altitudes, agriculture is the principal means of subsistence, while at higher altitudes agropastoralism (the herding of cattle, water buffalo, sheep, and goats, with seasonal shifting of grazing areas, which in some cases include major long-distance movement to summer alpine pastures mixed with terrace farming) prevails. Many households maintain chickens and goats.
The majority of commercial activity takes place at small, family-owned shops or in the stalls of sidewalk vendors. With the exception of locally grown fruits and vegetables, many products are imported from India and, to a lesser extent, China and the West. Jute, sugar, cigarettes, beer, matches, shoes, chemicals, cement, and bricks are produced locally. Carpet and garment manufacturing has increased significantly, providing foreign exchange. Since the late 1950s, tourism has increased rapidly; trekking, mountaineering, white-water rafting, and canoeing have drawn tourists from the West and other parts of Asia. The tourism industry has sparked the commercial production of crafts and souvenirs and created a number of service positions, such as trekking guides and porters. Tourism also has fueled the black market, where drugs are sold and foreign currency is exchanged.
In the household, women cook, care for children, wash clothes, and collect firewood and fodder. Men perform the heavier agricultural tasks and often engage in trade, portering, and other work outside the village. Both men and women perform physically demanding labor, but women tend to work longer hours, have less free time, and die younger. In urban areas, men are far more likely to work outside the home. Increasingly, educational opportunities are available to both men and women, and there are women in professional positions. Women also frequently work in family businesses as shopkeepers and seamstresses.
Children and older people are a valuable source of household labor. In rural families, young children collect firewood, mind animals, and watch younger children. Older people may serve on village councils. In urban areas and larger towns, children attend school; rural children may or may not, depending on the proximity of schools, the availability of teachers, and the work required of them at home.
Women and Children in Nepal - Marriage, Family and Kinship.
Nepal is overwhelmingly patrilineal and patrilocal. Arranged marriages are the norm in the mainstream culture. Because marriages forge important social bonds between families, when a child reaches marriageable age, the family elders are responsible for finding a suitable mate of the appropriate caste, education level, and social stratum.
The bride's family generally provides a substantial dowry to the groom's family, while the groom's family furnishes a much smaller gift of clothing, jewelry, and personal items to the bride. Both families are expected to host a feast during the wedding celebrations, which generally last three days. The cost of a wedding, especially to the bride's family, is high and often puts families into debt.
Polygyny was legal and relatively common before being outlawed in 1963. Now it is found only in the older generation and in remote areas. A number of Tibetan-speaking people, such as the Nyinba, Sherpa, and Baragaonli, practice variant forms of fraternal polyandry (the practice of a wife having more than one husband). In most such cases, the woman marries two or more brothers. The children who are born of such marriages regard the oldest husband as their father and his brothers as uncles.
Among landholding Hindu castes, a high value is placed on joint family arrangements in which the sons of a household, along with their parents, wives, and children, live together, sharing resources and expenses. Within the household, the old have authority over the young, and men over women. Typically, new daughters-in-law occupy the lowest position. Until a new bride has produced children, she is subject to the hardest work and often the harshest criticism in her husband's household. Older women, often wield a great deal of influence within the household.
The emphasis in joint families is on filial loyalty and patrilineal seniority (order of succession by kinship) over individualism. In urban areas, an increasing number of couples are opting for nuclear family arrangements. Fathers are legally obligated to leave equal portions of land to each son. Daughters do not inherit paternal property unless they remain unmarried past age thirty-five. Although ideally sons manage their father's land together as part of a joint family, familial land tends to be divided, with holdings diminishing in every generation.
A man belongs permanently to the kinship group of his father, while a woman changes membership from her natal kin group to the kin group of her husband at the time of marriage. Because family connections are critical in providing access to political influence and economic opportunities, marriage alliances are planned carefully to expand kinship networks and strengthen social ties. Although women join the husband's household, they maintain emotional ties and contact with their families. If a woman is mistreated in her husband's household, she may escape to her father's house or receive support from her male kin. Consequently, women often prefer to marry men from the same villages.
Much more information can be found at the source from which the above was adapted:
http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Nepal.htmlA highly detailed report on the effort to improve the status of women in Nepal can be found here:
http://www.fesnepal.org/reports/2003/seminar_reports/papers_gender/paper_acharya.htmOther resources:
http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_631522233/customs_of_nepal.htmlhttp://www.everyculture.com/South-Asia/Nepali-Marriage-and-Family.htmlhttp://tecfa.unige.ch/tecfa/teaching/UVLibre/9900/bin76/nepinfo.htmhttp://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/where/nepal/our_solutions/conservation_nepal/kangchenjunga/kangchenjunga_factsheet/index.cfm-Kerry-
