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5 Soc. Change 3 (1975)

handle is hein.journals/sclcnge5 and id is 1 raw text is: Social Change : March-June 1975 Women in a Cross-Cultural Perspective* Chie Nakane *This article is based on the inaugural address given by the author at the 1 8th Triersniel Conference of the Intemational Federation or University Women, held in Tokyo in August 1974. 3 The basis of discussions on women is generally found in the dichotomising of the modern and the traditional status of women, regardless of the discussant's point of view. It is the generally held view that women have been tied by various traditional bondages, and are inferior or disadvantaged social beings compared to men. In this kind of view, what is referred to as traditional is the situation of pre-industrial or early industrial times, represented by such an ideology as that of Victorian England or Tokygawa Japan. Furthermore, since the popular pattern of discussions on women as well as women's movements started in the West, the views espoused have been heavily influenced by the Western notion of women vis-a-vis men. Thus, the discussions on women have been rather restricted in time and place. It seems to be necessary to broaden the perspective in order to have a more effective and scientific approach to the problem. Political issues such as women's movements are not my concern, I am interested in exploring empirically the range of women's status and role in a historical and cross-cultural perspective, and to set a possible range within which discussion on women would be fruitful. I There are certainly common features found among women of various societies, regardless of cultural differences. For example, domestic tasks, including child-rearing, are largely in the hands of women, and in all modern societies, in spite of numerous obstacles, the gradual emancipation of women in various fields is the undeniable trend. However, it is also true that women's place in society varies considerably from one society to another. It varies also according to different historical periods in the same society, and according to different strata of a society within a given historical period. First, let me try to sketch a general global picture. Have women really been as suppressed or disadvantaged in human history as the majority of modern women (and men) believe? In my view, the social significance of women has decreased along with the growing economic affluence and expansion of a society. In small tribal societies, where economic status differentiation is hardly developed, discrimination in terms of the importance of roles for men and women is much less perceived. Although it is men who engage in feuds and in tasks which require more physical strength-such as cutting trees for clearing the jungle and hunting animals in the forest-women not only make important contributions to domestic work but also make a substantial economic contribution as well, such as in cultivation and cattle breeding. Moreover, among people who lived under the constant fear of a decrease of population owing to a high mortality rate and warfare, women were always highly valued. Whether the kinship system was patrilineal or matrilineal, women were placed at the pivotal point in their social organisation. They held the key positions in their kinship network, which were basic to group formation and alliances. Whenever a society evolved into a comparatively affluent stage which could afford strata of the elite or professionals who do not engage in primary productive tasks, women began to be placed in a subsidiary status in the total social organisation build up through institutions occupied predominantly by men. The elite or professionals such as religious performers, administrators and' large-scale merchants were mainly men, who left women in menial and supportive positions. I think this fact must be related to men's capacity foi mobility rather than to their ability. Men are certainly advantaged by their physical characteristics to move around and cover long distances, and to do so at any time, in comparison with women. It is a well-observed fact that among many communities in Southeast Asia local trades are carried on mostly by women, while their husbands carry the load to

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