Discussions with women in Kach Mulazai revealed an acute awareness of socio-economic changes affecting village life in recent years. Women generally displayed a very pragmatic perception of social and economic transformations, and were particularly concerned with the consequences of these on their daily lives.
Some of the changes in women's activities and expected roles were illustrated through comparisons of the women's own lives with those of their mothers, grand-mothers, daughters or grand-daughters. Other changes were illustrated by the older women through comparisons of their own lives when younger. The two sets of comparisons revealed that women's lives were changing both as a result of changes in the external situation, and as a function of their changing place within the life cycle. Because the two are so intricately intertwined, it requires great care and attention to disentangle them.
Many of the changes in the daily life of households, in general, and of women, in particular, seem to be related to the gradual monetization of the economy brought on by changes in the production system. The transition from a subistence-oriented economy based on animal husbandry and rain-fed cultivation of wheat and sorghum, to a market-oriented economy based on increasing cultivation of irrigated orchards has had far-reaching consequences which are well perceived by women (particularly by those who can compare the different situations).
Today, everything is centered on money, and life has become expensive. Many women note wryly that although their families now have more money than they had ever had before, this money is drained away into the purchase of items they used to get for free.
An example given was firewood, which women used to collect themselves. In fact, one criterion used in the past to measure the worth of a woman was the amount of firewood she brought home. Now, however, with little brush or firewood available in the areas surrounding the village, firewood has to be purchased. This, in turn, has occasioned a change in gender roles as men have taken over responsibility for the purchase of truckloads of wood.
While women connect the basic monetization of the economy to the change in mode of production, they are at a loss to explain why consumer prices should be rising so high in recent years. Some suggest the breakdown of trade links as a result of wars and insecurity in the central Asian region. Others cite the impact of Afghan refugees, claiming that it is expensive for Pakistan to maintain so many newcomers. Others vaguely evoke general political policies of the central government, while others just shrug and confess their inability to understand.
Women's perceptions of environmental degradation are surprisingly acute. Most women attribute this to the increasing population of the area, noting the increasing number of households in the village compared to just a few before.
Some women cite the negative environmental impact of the massive inflow of Afghans into the area since the start of the Afghan wars, blaming their incoming herds for overgrazing. Before the wars, these nomadic groups would merely pass through the region on their seasonal transhumance routes. Now, however many have settled down, intensifying conflicts over scarce rangeland resources.
The women note, for instance, that even though the rains had been plentiful this past spring, there is not sufficient pasturage to support both their animals and those of the nomads.
Women mentioned two consequences in particular of this general degradation of natural resources. One, as noted above, is that firewood is virtually unavailable in the areas surrounding the village. The other is that there is little local fodder available for animals in the winter, with men now reported to be buying straw trucked in from the Punjab to feed their animals in the winter thee.
The change to an orchard-based economy of production for the market seems to have brought about a drastic limitation of women's role in agriculture. Whereas women stated that they used to work alongside of their husbands in the fields, all work related to the cultivation of fruit in the orchards is now performed and controlled by men. This may be partly because such labour entails contacts with outsiders (contractors, workers, etc.), which are prohibited for women, but may also be a function of the higher cash value of the produce. As in other parts of the world, it seems that women in this part of Balochistan have become more marginal to processes of production when these processes are aimed at the market.
Women's role in animal husbandry has also been reduced, primarily because of the decreasing importance of livestock in the production system and their resulting reduction in numbers. Women report that in the past, they were involved in all aspects of livestock raising, including those activities that took them on to the range for grazing and the collection of fodder. Now, however, women's roles are restricted to care for the animals within the household compound. Women contribute particularly to the preparation of dried meat (landi) in the winter months and of milk products in the spring.
Women are clearly aware of the ambivalent nature of changes in their productive roles. Describing their lives in the past as being burdened with work - collecting firewood and fodder, grazing animals, laboring in the fields, etc. - they remark that they now have much more leisure time and so are in one sense freer'.
At the same time, however, the women remark that they had actually been 'freer' in the past as they were able to move about in pursuit of their activities outside of the home compound. Now, however, with no economic necessity pushing them outside, their movements are more strictly controlled.
"In the past, we were free. Men didn't ask where we were going because we had to go outside of the house for various chores. Now we are bound to our houses and if we want to go out we have to ask men's permission. Men are now suspicious of our movements outside of the house since they see no clear reason for them".
It seems, thus, that women have gained some freedom from the hardships of subsistence labour only at the expense of their freedom of movement.
Many of the older women had married into the village from other villages; now, however, most of the brides are drawn from the village itself. The primary reason for this shift is the availability of a wider pool of eligible village women to draw from. This is both a function of pure numbers (the population of the village has grown significantly in recent years) and of sociological maneuverings to expand the pool still further.
According to the women, it used to be customary for a mother who could not breastfeed to turn to another woman as wet-nurse for her child. This, however, created bonds of siblingship between the children of the respective women who were subsequently prohibited by Islamic creed from intermarrying. Recognizing this as a problem, women have now abandoned this practice, taking advantage instead of the more widespread availability of powdered milk and feeding bottles.
All women agreed that it was easier for girls to marry boys of the same village for this kept them in closer contact with their natal kin and allowed them to retain, circles of girlhood friends. It was more difficult for stranger women to establish close contacts with women outside of their husband's compound and the period of adjustment was acknowledged to be difficult.
It was not clear from the focal group discussions whether or not the age at first marriage had changed over the years. Most women said girls were generally married at around the age of 13; however several cases from earlier times were cited of girls marrying long before the puberty
"I was born in the evening, and the next day my uncle came to arrange my engagement to my cousin. One of the reasons for such haste was that my uncle was afraid my mother would breastfeed one of his own children which would mean he could not marry me to his son. He was also afraid that someone else might claim me first and he wanted to establish stronger links between our two families. I moved into my new husband's house at the age of seven. I called my husband 'laala' meaning 'big-brother, because I did not even know he was my husband. We did not sleep together as husband and wife, though, until I had my first period".
"I was married off by my fatherat a very young age. When my new husband tried to touch me, I grew terrified and ran off to my home on several occasions. One day I cried out in confusion that I wash my husband's clothes, cook his meals, and obey his mother, so why does he continue to attack me? I did not understand as I had never discussed such things with my mother. Nowadays I think that girls are more informed ".
While some of the older women claimed to have a say in selecting marriage partners for their children or grandchildren, it seemed clear from the ensuing discussions that the major decision-making continues to be performed by men. Very rarely are the views of the children - girls or boys - taken into consideration.
One girl's refusal to marry her cousin had been accepted by her parents because he was alleged to have beaten his first wife, now deceased. This, however, was an exceptional case. Another girl who refused some of the young men proposed to her was threatened by her parents with marriage to an old man if she did not consent to their choice of partner.
Two forms of marriage exchanges are practiced by Pashtuns in this region. One, based on 'sarai' (or exchange), consists of exchanging one girl for another, usually without accompanying payment (except to compensate such things as age discrepancies between the two girls and the like). The other preferred type entails the payment of brideprice. Like everything else in the society, the amount to be paid in brideprice has risen steadily in recent years.
In the past, women report, brideprice was very cheap. The female group motivator, for instance, said that her brideprice was Rs. 1,500; another woman's price was two sheep. Now, however, villagers can be expected to pay out around Rs 120,000-140,000 for a wife. The set price for men from outside the village who wish to marry village women is even higher, at around Rs. 200,000-240,000.
One of the inevitable consequences of such spiraling costs is that women tend to be sold to the highest bidder. Family or lineage ties have become less important factors in the selection of marriage partners than pure monetary gain. The mothers of the girls state that they are generally more upset about this than are fathers.
For one thing, mothers would prefer that their daughters marry inside the village so as to maintain, contact, whereas fathers are more willing to give their daughters to outsiders who can pay more. At the same time, however, both mothers and fathers seem to believe that the man with the most money will be able to offer their daughter the best life. They also feel that requiring a high brideprice can serve their daughters as a sort of insurance against maltreatment, reasoning thus:
"If I have a very expensive dress, I will take extremely good care of it US a valued possession. But a cheap dress I won't care e anything about and will treat badly".
Project surveys attempting to record the ages of women involved in the women's association run up against the problem of lack of precision in reckoning age in years. Women state that they reckon their ages from the onset of their first menstrual periods, which they consider occurs at the age of 13 or 14.
Thereafter they say, for example, "I got married three months after my first period". In general, the basic phases of a woman's life cycle seem to be 1) infancy and toddlerhood; 2) girlhood up to first menstrual cycle; 3) marriage; 4) early years of motherhood; 5) becoming a mother-in-law and grandmother.
The most basic social distinction between girls and women is between the unmarried and the married. Thereafter, the cut-off between 'youth' end 'aye' for a woman is marked by the marriage of a son which brings a new daughter-in-law into the household and bestows newfound power upon the mother-in- law.
Age and life experiences are respected in Pashtun culture among both men and women, with women gaining increasing respect and power as they grow older. In the course of the first focal group meetings with project staff, a number of younger, unmarried women were present, but sat silently in the corner out of respect for their elders.
Both older and younger women concur that women's overall workload was heavier in the past. Older women spoke of the greater degree of leisure they now enjoyed. One explanation offered had to do with perceived changes in the joint family system.
"Before, life was harder because there was only one woman working within the household; now with the joint family, all women share together in household tasks ".
This explanation came as somewhat of a surprise, since it is generally assumed that the joint family system represents part of the traditional culture of Pashtun society and not some recent development.
Changes in the mode of production may have contributed to some changes in household organization, with larger household made possible by the more settled existence, denser population, and greater wealth fostered by cultivation of orchards. At the same time, this perception of a heavier burden of housework in the past might partly be a function of the women's ages.
It was generally agreed that a younger woman's life is harder than an older woman's life since the elders control the household and are always making the younger members do all the work.
When one very elderly woman objected that she did work in the home, the others challenged her, amidst much good-natured laughter, about how much work this actually amounted to. Another older woman explained that her lessened work contribution to the household was not a function of higher status but simply a result of the weakness of ape. Again, this explanation met with much skeptical laughter.
Younger women's childcare responsibilities seem to account for most of their household work. Although some childcare tasks may lie shared with other female members of the household, including mothers-in-law, older daughters, and co-wives, the bulk of the responsibility rests with the younger women. This has important implications for younger women's availability for project activities. attendance at meetings, anti regularity of participation.
Younger women's participation in project activities may also be constrained by their relative lack of power in making decisions, voicing their opinions, and setting the agenda in general. At the focal group discussion intended for younger women, for instance, the presence of several of the older women who had insisted on attending seemed to limit the younger women's freedom of expression.
It also appears that younger women have less access to cash to contribute to eventual project activities (such as the savings scheme, etc.). This is because women's main source of cash consists of gifts from their menfolk and older women have a wider network of income-earning male kin (particularly sons) on whom to make claims for support.
Younger women attempted to explain that while elderly women could do what they wanted with their money, they themselves were obliged to spend what little money they had on the purchase of clothes, food, and play things for their children. The older women, however, loudly dismissed this explanation, claiming that they themselves were spending all their money on their grandchildren.
As part of a donor-supported government drive to increase girls' school enrollments in Balochistan, a primary school for girls was created in the village two years ago. Some 68 girls aged 3 to 15 are currently enrolled in grades 1-3. They are taught by a young woman with a middle level pass who is originally from Quetta but who married into the village. This woman, whose salary is paid by the government, was trained in techniques to manage three grades in one classroom, given a limited supply of materials, and left to launch the school.
Four women from the community, who are also members of the women's association, are responsible for monitoring her performance and the progress of children in the school. Pupil interest is high, as is community support, and the dedicated teacher is doing a remarkable job under difficult circumstances.
Asked about the importance of education for girls, the women of our two focal groups were overwhelmingly positive.
"In our time", says an older women, "a good woman was one who could do fine embroidery and weed the fields of wheat by hand". Now, however, it is becoming increasingly important for girls to get an education "Because nowadays our sons and grandsons are only interested in marrying educated girls".
Older women, watching with rapt smiles some of the younger girls from the school proudly showing off their new writing skills remarked that "The one who holds the pen can become king; otherwise nothing".
Without exception all of the older women arc completely illiterate, although as girls many had attended madrassas for Koranic instruction. Some assert that they desire the girls in their village to continue schooling to an advanced degree in order to become professionals.
Asked if there wouldn't be an ensuing conflict between the domestic and professional expectations of women, one drew on her earlier observations about the monetization of the economy, suggesting that "Instead of the woman being obliged to make bread for the daily meal herself, tilt, family will just buy it from the baker. And some day . there may be a bazaar where we can buy everything".
Women also downplay? possible male resistance to higher education for women, suggesting that men would get used to it and learn to accept it (as they had learned to accept women's attendance at meetings held in the social centre with the project's female group promoter).
Still, as positive as they are about the education of young girls (aged 6-7), most women seem to accept without question their withdrawal from school before they reach the age of marriage. This was to be the case of a 15-year old girl currently enrolled in the school who was, according to the teacher, by far the best pupil. It was only with much pleading that her parents had agreed to let her finish out the current school year, before marrying her off.
Women gain awareness of events in the wider world through a limited number of channels. Most seem to depend on male family members (particularly sons) to inform them of news.
Women rarely travel outside of the village. Exceptions include occasions when serious health problems necessitate consultation with a doctor or lady health visitor (usually in Muslimbagh), and occasional trips to visit natal kin in cases where the woman has married into the village from outside. Even when women do make such forays into the outside world, however, they are always accompanied by men and their interactions are strictly circumscribed.
None of the women (and very few of the men) can read news printed in newspapers. Most families have radios but not all of the women are allowed to listen to them.
One woman complained that she had brought her own radio (a gift from her brother) into her husband's household on marriage, but her brother- in-law took it from her and sold it so that now she has nothing.
Men from families adhering to the religious party seem to be especially opposed to their womenfolk being exposed to this media. Sometimes when men are listening to the radio, the women can listen too. Often, they explained, they may also listen when their menfolk are away.
Women's favorite programme, according to a media survey conducted by the project among eight women in Kach Mulazai, is the Pashtu music programme- Khaburi Atari - broadcast by the local station. Women whose families have radio cassettes listen to taped Pashtu music as well.
Women also said that they were quite interested in general education programmes and sometimes listened to programmes in Urdu, though very few understand this language. Men listen to music as well as news in Urdu and Pashtu. Primary listening times among men are in the morning and evening. Women, on the other hand, stated that they were more likely to listen in tile afternoons and evenings.