20. Men, Women and Community Development in East Nusa Tenggara

The gender box : A framework for analysing gender roles in forest management

“…Among the Malays of Trengganu, the masculinity of a man who cooked was called into question (Laderman 1996); yet not far from there, in Borneo among the Kenyah, men cook regularly without adverse social sanction. Similar flexible attitudes about cooking and gender roles were noted (throughout much of Southeast Asia, van Esterik 2008; among the Khmu of northeastern Laos, Roberts in press; and in eastern Indonesia, Gondowarsito 2002). Fowler (in press) notes related symbolic significance among the Kodi of Sumba (Indonesia): 'Trading fire is analogous to trading women.…”

“…See also Roberts (in press), on the Khmu, also of northeast Laos. The gendered division of agricultural labour on Semau (an island in West Timor, Indonesia) is described as shared and flexible (Gondowarsito 2002); something also found among many Bornean groups (cf. Colfer 2009, on the Kenyah; Colfer et al 1999, Colfer et al 2000, on the Iban; or Sutlive 1993, more broadly).…”

“…A study in Zambia linked women with chickens (Medvecky 2012); in Vietnam, women self-selected for a pigraising action/income-generation project (Sen and An 2006); Indonesia's West Timorese women preferred to raise goats (which can also be a problem for forest re-growth) and other small animals (Gondowarsito 2002). But contrary to expectation, in this latter group, men and women share cattle care (also found in a project in Satchari National Park, Bangladesh (Mukul et al 2012).…”