STATUS OF A MIZO WOMAN
THROUGH THE AGES
-Lal Dena
The main
objective of this paper is to examine the status of a Mizo woman in a changing
Mizo society from historical and sociological perspectives for a worthwhile appraisal
of her status today. My basic hypothesis is that Mizo society is basically patriarchal
in nature which is therefore responsible for the development of hyper-masculine
biasness thereby tending to push a woman to traditional familial roles. As a
result, patriarchal elites in Mizo society continue to dominate society and
politics till today. This is also true
in the case of East Asian and Southeast Asian societies. L.H.M. Ling, in this
connection, argues that this patriarchal familial relation extends beyond the
nuclear family to include multiple generations within and across families, as
well as social relations in general. In other words, this kind of state-society
relations corresponds directly to those between parents and children: firm
benevolence from parents/state in exchange for filial devotion from
children/subjects. Endorsing Ling’s argument, Rose J. Lee and Clark also
strongly contend that “in almost all societies, women as a whole are forced
into subordinate roles and statuses that embedded in and reinforced by a wide
array of patriarchal cultures”. Having its ethno-cultural roots in Southeast Asia, Mizo society is not an exception to this.
To have a clearer perspective on this, let us make a brief survey of the status
of a Mizo woman through the ages beginning from pre-colonial period.
In
a traditional Mizo society, the father was the head who was all-in-all over all
his family affairs. In a developed patriarchal system, the head of the
household was also a representative in the inter-clan and community relations.
The power and authority of the patriarch over his children, young or adult, was
often almost unlimited. In most of the developed communities in which the patriarchate
flourished, occasionally an individual woman would achieve great fame and even
became ruler. A case in point was the emergence of Ropuiliani who became chief
of Denlungah after the death of her husband, Vandula and established her
hegemony over other surrounding nine villages in South
Mizoram in 1895. But this was an exception; because Mizo woman, as
in other patriarchal societies, seldom participated directly in public life. .
In a Mizo family
in the past, a woman had no right either in a family or society. As a matter of
fact, she belonged in body and mind, from her birth till her death, to her
father and brother and to her husband after her marriage. The woman possessed
nothing even though she did most of the work within and outside the house. The
following sayings, among many others, clearly testify the inferior status of a
Mizo woman in the past: (1) the wisdom of woman does not extend beyond the bank
of a river; (2) woman (wife) and old fencing can be replaced any time; (3) let
a woman and a dog bark as they like; (4) woman and crab have no religion; etc.
Unlike the male child, by custom and convention, a Mizo woman had no
inheritance right or share in the property of her father. The Mizo customary
laws were also male-biased and did not at all protect woman’s interests. The
Mizo woman had no freedom to choose her future partner which was entirely in
the hands of her parents. Two customary practices which inevitably accompanied
her marriage were bride-price (mo man) and dowry (thuam)
which tended to treat woman as a sort of commodity. In the past, the dowry
consisted of any one or more of the following:
at least three strings of thival beads; at least one string of
thifen
beads; and at least one string of old amber beads, etc., plus household
belongings commonly used by woman. Another biasness of Mizo customary law was
that a woman could commit adultery either while her husband was alive or even after
the death of her husband. If she committed adultery while her husband was alive,
the whole of the bride-price paid must be returned to her husband who was also
entitled to retain his wife’s dowry. If she committed adultery after her husband’s
death while living in her husband’s house, she had to perform compulsorily
three ceremonies such as thlaichhiah, thlahual, mithi chaw pek.
Thlaichhiah
is a sacrificial ceremony for a dead husband. Because it was once believed that
the spirit of the slain animal on the occasion might accompany the departed
soul to the other world. Another inseparable ceremony is the thlahual
which was performed in general for those who grieved too much over their
beloved ones in order to prevent their thla (soul) from following the
spirit of the deceased. But in this particular context, the woman’s unfaithful
behavior was believed to have disturbed her husband’s spirit and the ceremony
was usually performed in order to quieten her husband’s spirit. It was a kind
of expression of deep anguish over her immoral act. When this ceremony was
performed, the woman had to remain at her father’s house at least three months.
During this period, she was to perform everyday another sacrifice called mithi
chaw
pek- a ceremony of putting aside a portion of the food the woman was to
eat at each meal for her dead husband. But the question here is: what happened
to the man with whom she committed the act of adultery? The Mizo custom was
completely silent on this. Divorce was also so easy. One had to simply say to
his wife “I divorce you”. Of course there were several ways of divorce in
traditional Mizo society (by simply returning the bride-price, by mutual
agreement, etc). When divorced, a woman could not claim ownership of the children.
With
the coming of Christianity followed by modern education, the position of a Mizo
woman had undergone tremendous changes. In the beginning, Mizo parents refused
to send their daughters to school, saying “who would work if the girls were
sent to school?” A group of Mizo young men also told the lady missionaries that
they did not want to have their girls educated for; they said that women and
girls were destined to do the household works. They further argued that women
had no mind and there was no point in trying to bother about their education. Despite
this opposition, Mizo girls began to learn the three R’s including child care,
home nursing, cooking, knitting, sanitation, etc. As a result, there was a
great difference in the facial expressions and outlook of educated women and
those of uneducated womenfolk. Soon the Mizo young men also began to prefer
educated wives and the whole status of women became more respectable than
before. The value systems had also undergone sweeping changes. Traditional
value systems were being replaced by modern and western value systems. When
political consciousness dawned upon the people from the forties of the 20th
century, women were no longer confined to the four walls of their kitchen.
Aware of their aged-old inferior status and because
of the impact of modern education, Mizo women have recently formed the Mizo
Hmeichhia Inzawmkhawm Pawl (MHIP) and its counterpart in Manipur- have
been spearheading the movement for the overall emancipation and welfare of
womenfolk in Mizo society. Among
others, the MHIP has been trying to eradicate; the commercialization of the
bride-price; the dowry system; sexual exploitation of women of any kind; and inequality
between man and woman. At the same time, it has also taken measures to uphold women’s values and rights; to
promote and bring about a cosmopolitan outlook to the women in general and through various activities like seminar,
workshop and conferences; to impart instructions to rural women through demonstrations
and lectures; to serve as a channel of communication for the protection of women’s
interests; to sensitize women for
eradication of social evils, economic exploitation and cheap commercialism
concerning women; to encourage women’s participation in public life including
politics; to promote women’s education and to take up their mental and moral
welfare; and to raise funds through donation, subscription, fees and other
contributions from the members of the association, general public and financial
institutions including government. Thanks to the two frontal women’s
organizations, Mizo women today are having a better place in the society.
Marriage is now a matter in which their opinion is sought first. Exploitation
in the name of sex has greatly decreased. Unlike in the past, there is no more
social stigma on widow or divorced woman. Today a Mizo woman plays a very
significant role in all walks of life. A visit to market places reveals that
almost all shops are run by women with their neat, tip-top dresses and stylish
hairdo like those of the Bold and the Beautiful Ones. This picture is not
different when one goes to offices or educational institutions which usually
have no fewer womenfolk than their male counterparts. Socially and economically,
woman has now an honored place in today’s Mizo society. A Mizo woman is as free
as her male counterpart. She has now a due share in her parental or ancestral
property and is even entitled to inherit her father.
This is the
general picture of a Mizo women’s position today. But when we talk in terms of
their political participation, they are still much lagging behind of their male
counterparts. Why is this so? On the whole, woman’s representative in any
political decision-making processes is abysmally low in the whole of Asia and else where. In a very developed country like Japan, the
percentage of woman representation in the national diet is only 2.3 percent and
the highest is in Finland
where proportional representation of woman stands at 38.5 percent. Development
and modernization are expected to accelerate social and policy reforms regarding
the status of woman. It is also theorized that social and economic changes
combined with modernization should help a woman overcome many of the social
barriers which are engrained in the patriarchal culture of Mizo society. There
are attempts for empowerment of women through legislative reforms. But in so
far as the election scenario both at the level of the village council and assembly
is concerned, women’s participation in political decision-making has still been
a far cry. Why is this so? As it has
been pointed out before, Mizo society is basically a patriarchal society which
encourages hyper-muscularity in all its social, economic and political
functions while at the same time, pushing hyper-femininity at the bottom of the
society. In spite of their high literacy and competence as civil officers both
in the state and central services, their political role has yet to assume noticeable
significance. In the final analysis, overall democratization of Mizo’s
socio-economic and political structures can be expected to promote women’s
empowerment and emancipation. This will mean clear-cut reservation of electoral
seats right from the grassroots level as it has been implemented in the
panchayati raj institutions where even a fixed quota of pradhan (chairperson)
in gram panchayats and adhyakshas (Chairpersons) in Zilla Parishads are
reserved for elected women. The enhanced political representation will again
enable them to enhance their political power so that they can have more
equitable share in decision-making for their society. Given this political
power, women even within the patriarchal cultural domination, will be able to
exercise their political rights for more fulfilling and rewarding roles in
society.
Women’s
empowerment has become a global issue and the question of the Mizo woman’s
political empowerment need to be considered in the context of what is being
done and implemented in East Asia and
Southeast Asian regions. Everything said and done, only democratization and
empowerment can provide a Mizo woman an avenue through which she can continue
her long journey towards her total emancipation. To be more specific, two
political mechanisms may be considered in this regard: increased proportional
representation of woman in all elected bodies and fixation of a certain quota
of offices therein; and the increased political activities by autonomous
women’s bodies. Then and then only, she can be in policy-making elites and
decide for the overall improvement of women’s status.
References;
1. Lalremsiem, Position
of Women in Mizo Society; A historical Study (Unpublished M.Phil Dissertation)
Department of History, Manipur
University (1988).
2. N. E. Parry, Lushai
custom (A Monograph on Lushai customs and ceremonies) Tribal Research
Institute, Aizawl, Mizoram (Rep. 1996).
3. R. M. Mac Iver & Society;
An Introductory Analysis Macmillan (Rep. 1996)
Charles H. Page,
4. N. Chatterjee; Status
of Women in the earlier Mizo Society (A monograph) Tribal Research Institute,
Aizawl, Mizoram, ( 1978).
5. Rose J Lee & Democracy
and the Status of Women in East Asia, Lynne Rienner
Cal Clark, Publishers, London (2000).
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