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

most of them have to face similar constraints as that of the poor. This is,
besides their own handicaps like poor self confidence and self-esteem,
born out of the social stigma that they suffer. The few SC sericulturists
who sustain for long in sericulture do manifest a better living status.
Moreover, they enjoy a better social identity than their non-sericulturist
kin. There is a greater social interaction and exposure and they feel a
greater confidence in themselves and in their ability.
Though involvement of women's labour is more in sericulture,
their activities in sericulture are hardly perceived to be highly skilled.
Moreover, the female labour continues to be cheaper in the rura1 labour
market while the value of male labour is sometimes three-fold,
irrespective of the work. The hired female labour becomes convenient
for filling in the female labour gap of sericulture within the family. The
value of family female labour is more realised in sericulture than in the
traditional agriculture. For this reason, the women who show greater
inclination to shoulder the sericulture responsibility get a kind of
recognition that is reflected in the interactional relationship and making
of crucial decisions. Some women consciously decide not to take an
active role in sericulture, lest they lose their men's companionship that is
highly available under the pretext of sericulture.
Some of the social values concerning education, health and intercaste
pollution have acquired progressive meaning among the
sericulturists along their socio-economic mobility. Some of the
traditional values have also found reinterpretation, applying the
economic rationality. In some of the sericulture families, mostly of
marginal and small land-holding categories, there is a tendency to stop
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