More Work for All the Women
This is the sixth entry in a week-long series on the Muslim Festival of the Sacrifice.
Washing offal out of intestines can be an awful job! It’s cold, wet work, especially when the day falls in the winter season of November through February.
I’ve heard several women admit to me over the years that they don’t really like this holiday. Those who have admitted it to me were more well-to-do women, admittedly, whose families probably eat meat every day. In past centuries, all the work was was probably worth it for the reward of eating meat. For many women these days, it means a lot of messy work and a lot of serving of visitors who arrive at the home–some expected, and some unexpected.
I have yet to meet any men who tell me they don’t enjoy this holdiay.
Most children are not expected to help with the work. The children brag to each other about how many sheep their family will sacrifice. It seems to be the Western equivalent of wearing used ski-lift tickets on your jacket to school (the more the better) in terms of increasing your status among other kids.
In my next and last post in this series, I will discuss My Feelings About the Day, and How They Have Changed Over the Years.
Madame Monet
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About Café Crem
Café Crem was created by Miki and Kev Moore in 2007 with the intention of gathering like-minded artists, writers and musicians together around the coffee table to discuss and share thoughts, ideas, art, etc.
This initial desire has surpassed our wildest dreams with a myriad of collaborations taking place between the various members, creating pieces of work that simply would not exist without Café Crem.
Have a wander though in our different rooms:
“Cafe Literati”, the Literary Room
“Café L’Arte”, the Art Gallery
“Ca’ Puccini”, the Music Studio
and, last but not least,
“The MiniBar”, our creative space for our kids and teens!
You are all welcome.
Contact Miki at miki@goodaboom.com if you want to participate!
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Cafe Crem’s Video of The Month
“Soul Sketching”, by Susan Cornelis and Kev Moore
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Following the thread to this point brings up the question of {judgement}.
If {WE} as a race called humanity are to live together as one in love and harmony, then one must
{not judge} our multi-cultural and multi-lingual heritage.
The internet seamlessly brings together all of {THIS} and we should be appreciative and grateful that there is {Opportunity} to learn and understand each other.
I don’t apologize for the {people} who have nothing better to do than to surf the net and find targets to post their offending comments. Even better we leave these comment up tp show our solidarity as individuals who are all connected in one way or another.
Let the one who judge cast the first stone {I use one instead of he to include both men and woman}.
Tolerance and humility go a long way in this world.
I’ve enjoyed all of these, Madame Monet, and look forward especially to the next one. I’ve learned a lot.
The thing with bragging is everywhere of course! You speak about the ski-lift tickets among children. Well, I see the same all the time on golf courses. Golfer use to leave their green-fee tickets on their bags, to show in how many different places they have played! I guess we are all like that, somehow… I can’t blame the children then!
Concerning the more work for the women… the men have more work too, haven’t they? Or can’t one compare? I suppose there are other occasions where men have far more work as women… or not?
I hope the women here won’t assault me for these questions… I had always -and still have- big problems to join the general claim: “Poor women!”
As we saw the film about The Festival of The Sacrifice in Mali, there were some others aspects concerning the women on that day, positive aspects… I’ll post some photos tomorrow.
Interesting analogy with the Ski Passes, Mm.Monet. I’m not aware of this tradition, it must be an American, as opposed to a Western, thing. In England, the usual playground bragging rights would normally centre around “my Dad’s bigger than your Dad!”
Michael, I concur, and feel here on this blog we seamlessly interweave, culture, race and religion in a wonderful way. Hell, we even let the odd tea-drinker in!
I’m particularly looking forward to your next and last post. Being a woman i certainly react to what you said about how little fun the women have around this ceremony. I have so much help from my husband around our holidays. It’s the only way I can imagine getting through it.
I think Im going to celebrate this festival next year and lock Miki in the kitchen…….
It will do your diet good, this is for sure!
Yes, the men work, but it’s mostly standing and watching the butcher (which used to be the men’s work, if there was no butcher, but which most get out of these days). Then they just sit around comfortably on low chairs cooking brochettes (shish kebabs) next to small fires (which is quite nice when it’s cold), while the women are occupied doing the wet and messy work in the cold for several hours.
Madame Monet
What I really wanted to say is that if you consider a whole year in the life of a man and a woman, I guess that the men work as much as the women do, and surely spend many hours in the cold too… the days when the men work are just other days… we must not work all on the same day…
When it comes to such themes and questions, I always feel compelled to take the defense of the men, because women generally tend to forget all the good things men do…
(You are not meant here, Madame Monet, I feel you are a quite objective person!)
I have seen very sad and dangerous things in the process of the women liberation, this is why it is a very sensitive theme by me…
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