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Women, Development and Empowerment: A Pacific Feminist Perspective

On Women's Traditional Power

On Women's Traditional Power

PARTICIPANT
If it concerns a village issue, then a woman has to be consulted at home. On the land issue, the man discusses questions with his mother and also has to consult all the sisters, before he makes a decision.

page 110

PARTICIPANT
We are landowners too, we have a right to land. But, do men consult women on all other issues? If it is a discussion on the home, I can see in my village that the man will go and talk it out with the women. But, if it is a question about a road, where a road should lie in the village, they ignore us women. If it is a question of agricultural technology, they won't consult us.

PARTICIPANT
I think women in the village play a big part in everything because they can always choose, for instance, where a road should go. If women are really against it, they can stand up to that. I am sure there is nothing to stop us.

Question: But do they?

Answer: Yes, they do. It is through their husbands that they have a say.

The last comment perhaps revealed more clearly than any debate how little power women have, even if they are consulted traditionally. This led the debate back to questions of what was and was not, traditional society, and questions of direct and indirect power held by women. The issue was brought sharply back into focus by a participant remarking:

PARTICIPANT
We all agree that in the traditional context women may have wielded power and continue to wield power in informal ways and in some cultures, in formal ways. When it comes to modern politics, the formal structures is controlled basically by men.

We keep referring back to what our traditions are, but if it is not a reality today, there is no point in talking about that tradition. I am very anxious that we do not over-defend our traditions. What are the present structures that are part of our reality, and what is women's position in these structures? That is important.

page 111

The workshop's collective sharing of views was used to arrive at a “framework for the changes and ideals that women would like to see in the future”. The changes Pacific women wanted were then used as a basis for formulating strategies in the final session of the workshop. Below is the framework - or feminist vision - arrived at by the workshop, in its session on defining Pacific feminism.