Page 326 - Essencials of Sociology

Sweeping the house is traditional work for Western women. So it is in India, but Having poured rice from the 60-pound sack onto the floor, these
As in the West, food preparation in India is traditional women’s
the sweeping has been extended to areas outside the home. These women
work. Here, however, food preparation takes an unexpected twist.
are sweeping a major intersection in Chennai. When the traffic light changes
here, the women will continue sweeping, with the drivers swerving around that might be in the rice.
women in Chittoor search for pebbles or other foreign objects
them. This was one of the few occupations that seems to be limited to women.

When I saw this unusual sight, I had to stop and talk to the workers. From
historical pictures, I knew that belt-driven machines were common on U.S.
farms 100 years ago. This one in Tamil Nadu processes sugar cane. The
woman feeds sugar cane into the machine, which disgorges the stalks on
one side and sugar cane juice on the other.

This woman belongs to the Dhobi subcaste, whose
occupation is washing clothes. She stands waist deep at this
same spot doing the same thing day after day. The banks of A common sight in India is women working on construction crews. As
this canal in Hyderabad are lined with men and women of her they work on buildings and on highways, they mix cement, unload trucks,
caste, who are washing linens for hotels and clothing for more carry rubble, and, following Indian culture, carry loads of bricks atop their
well-to-do families. heads. This photo was taken in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.