hakka: Hakka women (fwd)

[sllee <sllee@asiawind.com>]

Fellow Hakkas,

Please also send a copy of your msg to fhakka@asiawind.com. The simplest
way is to set up in your addressbook a nickname "hakka" which includes
both maillist and forum as address.  This way your msg will be sent to
both at the same time.  If I forward the msg, I become the sender all the
time and it will be hard to foloow the thread.  There may be more people
interested in Hakka culture but have not joined the maillist.  However,
they do want to read your msg at the forum. Thanks. 

SL Lee


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 1997 07:24:59 -0700
From: "K. Dudley" <dkdudley@twave.net>
To: Hakka <hakka@brooklaw.edu>
Subject: hakka: Hakka women

I am not a Hakka woman by birth, but consider myself just a tiny little 
bit Hakka since I learned (and love) the language and worked and lived 
with Hakka people for 6-7 years in Taiwan. In general, Hakka women there 
seem less reticent than Hoklo women. I think they are more independent 
because they have always worked at home and outside the home - maybe not 
as dependent on their husbands for their living? We lived with a Hakka 
farm couple who worked together, even though each had his/her special 
areas of work on the farm. Still I think the husband sees and values the 
hard work of his wife in this way. He also did more of the housework than 
I was expecting.

As a woman in a non-traditional role (as a pastor) I found more ready 
acceptance and encouragement among the Hakka Christians than among the 
Mandarin or Taiwanese speaking church members. One reason is that 
competent women are commonplace among the Hakka - they are not so much a 
threat to the men. Also, of course, church leadership is lacking among 
the Hakka of Taiwan, since so very few are Christian, and I think when it 
came to preaching at a church without a pastor, they didn't care whether 
I was male or female.

Hakka women are not "liberated" in the western sense of the word, since 
most Hakka women I knew worked all the time, while their husbands enjoyed 
more leisure. Why do you think that pouring tea is a man's enjoyment? 
Many women work while caring for children, and do almost all of the 
housework as well. Still their attitude is one of independence. Fierce? 
Aggressive? I don't think so, unless you are expecting a meek lady with 
no confidence. You don't push Hakka women around, to be sure!

In Taiwan, it is said that Hakka families do not want a Hoklo 
daughter-in-law, but Hoklo families are glad to have a hard-working Hakka 
daughter-in-law!

K. Dudley


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