Saturday, September 22, 2007 by g3 blog
6.0. Is the Woman in Power?
Do woman have the upper hand in all matters? No. People often have such a misconception. The problem is they believe that matrilineal and matriarchal are the same term; women have all the power, but that is a myth. Minangkabau is a matrilineal society not matriarchal society. Matriarchal society is gynocentric form of society whereby the woman especially the mother often acts as the leading role in the society. Ultimately, they have the power over all matters. Minangkabau is matrilineal system which passes clan name from mother ancestor to a female descendant (Wikipedia, n.d., para. 1). A matriarchal society is always matrilineal but a matrilineal society is never matriarchal.
Like mentioned beforehand, woman have more control over man in only four areas: inheritance of customary land, rule of residence, descent system and traditional political system. Even in these matters, powers are not absolute. Although minangkabau women do not hold much power, they are land empowered as shown in section 2.1 and 2.2. With land empowerment, also comes control over labour matters. Furthermore, there is a possibility that “Negeri Sembilan men and women alike believe women are better caretakers of valuable land” (Sloane, 1998, p. 1). Hence, it is of everyone best interest if women are given the control over customary land.
People also over-generalized these areas. One of our group members asked her cousin who just returned from a homestay in Seremban if he found any pretty girls he would like to marry. He said no because doing so will make him lose all his assets. This is a common misconception: “Bilo eden nikah samo orang orang negeri, harto eden dan gaji eden solosai” (Kassim, n.d., p.28). This means when “I marry a Negeri Woman all my property and pay will be gone” (Kassim, n.d., p.28). Women do not get everything. In an event where the marriage has to end either due to cerai mati (divorce when spouse is dead) or cerai hidup (divorce while the couple is alive), the property is divided according to its type. There are three types of property: harta carian, harta dapatan and harta bawaan. Harta carian is the couple’s joint earnings. If they cerai mati, the property will be given to the living spouse. When the couple passed away, then their joint earnings will be divided according to faraid law. However, in a case of cerai hidup, they would have to sell the property and divide the earnings equally. Harta dapatan is harta pusaka which belongs to the clan and the woman’s acquisition before marriage. These properties will be given to the wife’s family in an event of divorce. The last type of property is harta bawaan which is personal property of the husband before marriage. On divorce, these properties will be returned to the man. However, the properties are subjected to profit. If the property costs more at the time of divorce then and time of marriage, the difference in value will be considered as harta carian. Thus, the profit must be divided equally between the husband and wife. If the husband dies, his harta bawaan will be given to his next of kin and distributed accordingly (Ibrahim, n.d., p. 51 – 52). Hence, the man does not leave with nothing in an event of divorce unless they did not seek wealth before marriage. Many people exaggerate the amount of power woman have, causing in misconceptions. Woman hold autonomy in most matters not full authority.
Do woman have the upper hand in all matters? No. People often have such a misconception. The problem is they believe that matrilineal and matriarchal are the same term; women have all the power, but that is a myth. Minangkabau is a matrilineal society not matriarchal society. Matriarchal society is gynocentric form of society whereby the woman especially the mother often acts as the leading role in the society. Ultimately, they have the power over all matters. Minangkabau is matrilineal system which passes clan name from mother ancestor to a female descendant (Wikipedia, n.d., para. 1). A matriarchal society is always matrilineal but a matrilineal society is never matriarchal.
Like mentioned beforehand, woman have more control over man in only four areas: inheritance of customary land, rule of residence, descent system and traditional political system. Even in these matters, powers are not absolute. Although minangkabau women do not hold much power, they are land empowered as shown in section 2.1 and 2.2. With land empowerment, also comes control over labour matters. Furthermore, there is a possibility that “Negeri Sembilan men and women alike believe women are better caretakers of valuable land” (Sloane, 1998, p. 1). Hence, it is of everyone best interest if women are given the control over customary land.
People also over-generalized these areas. One of our group members asked her cousin who just returned from a homestay in Seremban if he found any pretty girls he would like to marry. He said no because doing so will make him lose all his assets. This is a common misconception: “Bilo eden nikah samo orang orang negeri, harto eden dan gaji eden solosai” (Kassim, n.d., p.28). This means when “I marry a Negeri Woman all my property and pay will be gone” (Kassim, n.d., p.28). Women do not get everything. In an event where the marriage has to end either due to cerai mati (divorce when spouse is dead) or cerai hidup (divorce while the couple is alive), the property is divided according to its type. There are three types of property: harta carian, harta dapatan and harta bawaan. Harta carian is the couple’s joint earnings. If they cerai mati, the property will be given to the living spouse. When the couple passed away, then their joint earnings will be divided according to faraid law. However, in a case of cerai hidup, they would have to sell the property and divide the earnings equally. Harta dapatan is harta pusaka which belongs to the clan and the woman’s acquisition before marriage. These properties will be given to the wife’s family in an event of divorce. The last type of property is harta bawaan which is personal property of the husband before marriage. On divorce, these properties will be returned to the man. However, the properties are subjected to profit. If the property costs more at the time of divorce then and time of marriage, the difference in value will be considered as harta carian. Thus, the profit must be divided equally between the husband and wife. If the husband dies, his harta bawaan will be given to his next of kin and distributed accordingly (Ibrahim, n.d., p. 51 – 52). Hence, the man does not leave with nothing in an event of divorce unless they did not seek wealth before marriage. Many people exaggerate the amount of power woman have, causing in misconceptions. Woman hold autonomy in most matters not full authority.
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