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2007-02-18 Home Front: Culture Wars

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Posted by Anonymoose 2007-02-18 09:50|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Some people will have more grandchildren than others.

Posted by gromgoru 2007-02-18 11:07|| 2007-02-18 11:07|| Front Page Top

#2 Kashmiri girls feel the dearth of grooms

Baramulla, Feb. 18 (PTI): The wait for marriageable women to find suitable grooms in the Kashmir Valley is getting longer, with the 17-year-old insurgency in the region creating a dearth of bachelors.

Until some years ago, most parents ensured their daughters were married off by 25. Now, this has stretched to as late as 35 years and the women - who are also usually the breadwinners of their families - are becoming an increasingly visible group.

Aneesa Shafi, Head of Department of Sociology at the University of Kashmir, says "the valley has lost thousands of its young men - all of marriageable age - in the last 17 years. This has created a dearth of suitable grooms. The institutions of family and marriage are the worst hit.

"With many youth getting involved in militancy and their future becoming uncertain, it is difficult for parents to marry their daughters to them," she points out.

What was earlier a social stigma - having an unmarried girl at home - seems to have become a norm in the valley.

With traditional society seeing rapid changes, not just in its politics, but also its social and cultural fabric, these women have learnt to accept their new roles.

Ghazala Gul, a post-graduate student at University of Kashmir, says, "For girls in the valley, 30 to 35 is the normal age of marriage. I will marry only after my future is secure."

Shafi says, "the priority of these women has changed in the last decade-and-a-half. Marriage is no longer on top of their agenda. It is careers and money which drive these women, who want a secure future."

She also blames late marriages on the region's changed economy. "The tourism industry, which employed a majority of youth, has been crippled. A lot of these youth have lost their livelihood."

Nusrat Andrabi, an educationist and the only woman member of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Waqf board, said "many families lost their sole bread-earner, and women had to take up the responsibility of feeding the family. The roles changed and women now have a greater responsibility of not just cooking, but also running the show."

"This dramatic change in the lifestyle of women has exposed them to the outside world. They are taking interest in politics and bureaucracy."

Andrabi says, "marriage has taken a back-seat and more and more girls are enrolling themselves for higher studies to secure their future."

Posted by John Frum 2007-02-18 14:43|| 2007-02-18 14:43|| Front Page Top

#3 go figure, women are the breadwinners whilst the boyz spend their time seething and plotting (and dying)

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-02-18 14:58|| 2007-02-18 14:58|| Front Page Top

#4 The average jihadi survives 4-6 months after crossing the LOC.

Posted by John Frum 2007-02-18 15:10|| 2007-02-18 15:10|| Front Page Top

23:58 JosephMendiola
23:47 gromgoru
23:47 JosephMendiola
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22:54 USN, ret.
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