Gunda Béla et al. (szerk.): Ideen, Objekte und Lebensformen. Gedenkschrift für Zsigmond Bátky - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 29. (Székesfehérvár, 1989)
Lajos Vincze: Women, Sex and Herd in Peasant Pastoralism
WOMEN, SEX AND HERD IN PEASANT PASTORALISM The scarcity of ethnographic material about women is a matter of common complaint among anthropologists. The ethnography of pastoral societies suffers particularly from this lack of data. These societies, by unanimous consent, are strongly male oriented in which the role of women might appear to be of little consequence. It is the conclusion of a recent comparative study that “when viewed as a whole, the participation of women in production does indeed appear low among pastoralists” (Martin and Vorhies 1975, 339; see also Hammond and Jablow 1976, 75). In particular—with few exceptions (e.g., Fazel 1977)—management and pasturing of the herd as well as trade and control and protection of resources are largely male responsibilities. Some pastoralists go as far as considering any contact of women with the herd to be harmful to the animals (Campbell 1964, 31—32). Even when this is not the case, women usually are relegated to perform jobs which are auxiliary to herding such as processing the milk and wool, transporting and erecting the tent (Forde 1974, 367; Herskovits 1948, 158). The present paper deals with Hungarian and Rumanian pastoral groups. Until the first decades of the 20th century, the traditional form of animal husbandry were practiced in extensive areas of both countries; and it contributed in large measure to the peasant economy. Though my presentation refers to a situation that prevailed mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries, for the sake of convenience, I will use the ethnographic present. Both Hungarian and Rumanian pastoral groups make use of a herding technology similar in many respects to tribal pastoralism. Nevertheless, they operate in a quite different economic and social context. In Hungary, the marshland of the Plain, in Rumania the Carpathian Mountains and the swamps of the lower Danube, serve as ecological basis for the traditional animal husbandry. While in Hungary the herds are made up of cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs, in Rumania sheep herding surpasses by far the importance of other species. Milking and cheese-making is important only in sheep herding. In pasturing, both short-range and long-range transhumance are practiced in accordance with the seasonal availability of pastures. In spite of the remarkable contrast between the Hungarian and Rumanian environments, the organization of herding exhibits many similarities (see Vincze 1977). Typically in both countries various peasant households own the animals in a herd on an associational basis. The aggregated herds are entrusted to the care of hired specialized herdsmen who may, or may not, have animals of their own in the herd. Peasant owners do not take part in the work of herding during the grazing season the duration of which may vary from several months to a whole year. Herdsmen form a small but distinguished occupational group within the community, tend to intermarry, and usually the occupation of the fathers is passed on to the sons. Characteristically, herdsmen work in a team with the herd under the authoritarian leadership of an established older herdsman (számadó in Hungary, baciu in Rumania). Under his direction, various herdboys work according to a well defined division of labor. A good number of herdsmen are unmarried, particularly those serving with the herds, which pasture year-round in the open, long distances from the village. Those who have families tend to live in the outskirts of the village. Flerdsmen, as well as their families, are not engaged in cultivation, except in their small house gardens. Participation of women in the production With one notable exception, to which I shall turn later, the participation of women in pastoral production is small indeed. Processing of milk offers women some possibility to collaborate; however, even this is far from being general. Since milking and cheese-making is important only in connection with the sheep, it is this area in which some measure of participation may be expected. In most cases, however, milking and cheesemaking are done by men. Only in some instances, and usually when the pasture is in the vicinity of the vilage, are women called upon to 209
