Romania's Women

Romania's Women Doina Pasca Harsanyi Historical Background In 1915, the British anthropological anthology Women of AU Nations gave the foUowing account of Romanian women: "Among the aristocracy, the women are said to pass their time lounging on a sofa, dressing and adorning themselves, or driving in public promenades. The peasant women are the chief workers of the fields, and far more industrious than men. They are commonly employed as navies and road menders, and often a gang of women can be seen working on excavations, etc., on equal terms with the men. Like the women of the Slav races, they are beautiful in their youth, but are worn out before middle age comes, by the over-strains of being both child-bearers and field-workers." The British anthropologists concluded that Romanian women, like many other women in the region, needed to "awaken to the meaning and dignity of their womanhood, as a thing equal, though different; to find a voice which shaU free them from the oriental ideas stiU undermining men's and their conception of themselves-----"J Save for the turn-of-the-century rhetoric, these remarks ring as true today as they did sixty-five years ago. Many cataclysms have shaken Romanian society since that time, but the mentaUty and customs of the people have been remarkably slow in changing. Travelers and scholars visiting Romania before World War II were struck by the deep gulf that separated the huge majority of peasants, Uving in a traditional rural society; isolated and largely unaffected by the changes of modern times, from a westernized eUte, Uving a sophisticated Ufe, foUowing the latest social and cultural trends in Europe. The scant urban working class was almost indistinguishable from the peasantry in its way of Ufe, while the thin middle class mimicked the aristocratic eUte. The peasant culture remained the only respected social and cultural standard for the social classes; therefore, the rules governing daüy Ufe in a rural society functioned as ideal social parameters for aU in Romania. Within the peasant culture, the philosophical approach to sex is an extension of the mythical representation of the male as an exponent of the solar principle—generator of action and aggressivity—and of the female as an exponent of the lunar principle—generator of passivity and contemplation .2 This mythical paradigm is translated into a patriarchal order that strictly delimits the spheres of men and women, assigning each of them specific roles and values throughout their Uves. Within the household © 1994 Journal of Women's History, Vol 5 No. 3 (Winter)_________________ 1994 exdina Pasca Harsanyi 31 © Allyson Smith 1991 "Women workers in Bicaz Chei, Romania" 32 Journal of Women's History Winter hierarchy the woman is always under the authority of at least one man, and if she is a daughter-in-law, she is submitted to the mother-in-law's authority as weU. In the words of Gail KUgman, "the wedding is a subtle act of incorporation in a subordinate position."3 Men's domination and women's submissiveness are seen as human and social norms rooted in a natural and reUgious order beyond human judgement. A woman's duties comprise an array of domestic tasks considered women's work and, of course, breeding and taking care of the new generation. In general, the Romanian household fits into the larger pattern of man as provider, whose main work is outside the home, and woman as caretaker , whose work is mainly inside and around the home. The man's authority over his wife and children is unquestionable and seen as the norm. Even when the woman takes on typicaUy male jobs—as often happens with widows or when the men are missing for a longer time—the woman's status does not change. An authoritarian woman and a weak man would disrupt the natural and social order. Aman is required to master his feelings ("to act like a man") while a woman can and must be emotionaUy weaker, sensitive, and compassionate. As a result, aU circumstances which require an emotional involvement—births, baptisms, weddings, childrearing , illnesses, deaths—are under the direct supervision of women. The rituals in which women are...