SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

father and son, the former would increasingly involve in agricultural
activities while the latter would increasingly stick to sericulture activity.
Similarly, where there is a mother and a daughter, the former would
increasingly involve in household activity along with agriculture, while
the daughter would show an inclination for sericulture activity. Similar
is the case with the Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law dyad. All these
again point to the factor of age and the associated sentiment. As for the
sons, only those who have found some outside employment are nonparticipants.
A majority of heads and sons are active participants, while
a majority of wives and daughters are passive participants, bringing out
the gender differences into focus. Here again, the stereo-typic approach
of what are apparently skilled and productive are meant for the males
and a passive and a mere supportive role is all what is expected of the
females has been evidently displayed.
To assess the nature and pattern of sericulture participation, it is
important to understand the relationship status of main sericulturists to
the head of the family. A main sericulturist is one who would normally
initiates steps to adopt sericulture in the household. The exception is
among households that have come up following a division from parental
family. It is also the main sericulturist who manages the sericulture
work. He also normally takes an active part in its operation. Some of the
key activities of silkworm rearing like chawkie rearing and moult setting,
which are believed to require high skill and personal care, are largely
attended to by main sericulturists. In Seripura, all main sericulturists are
also active participants except for a single case in which the main
sericulturist relies more on the labourer in the operation of sericulture.
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