Growing up in a Pakistani family, I have always seen my mom at home taking care of us kids. She also used to call my family relatives and organize family gatherings. She used to cook great meals and made sure everyone had a splendid time. When we moved to Canada, life wasn’t the same, we had no family relatives in Canada, and my mom, for the first time, was working fulltime as well. But she never lost her kinship values. In the text “The female world of cards and holidays: Women, families, and the work of kinship”, the author explains about kin work and how it is deeply embedded with the females of our cultures. First of all, the author describes kin work as a reference to how the woman in the household takes on this “fictional” responsibility,
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She called and made plans with other women in my family for gathering. My father and my siblings did not get involved in the planning. Once we moved to Canada, my father did not bother calling anyone back in Pakistan. He used to finish work, come home and relax. Every once in a while, he would help my mom with cooking, but the was all. My mother on the other hand, she would come home from work made sure the house was cleans and the children were doing well. From there she would make food and make sure every ate well. Once dinner was complete, she would call back home in Pakistan and talk to at least one relative per day to complete some of her kin work. The author also states: the very existence of kin contact and holiday celebration depended on the presence of an adult woman in the household (443). Which means, if the adult female were no longer there, the kin work would be left undone. And if that woman were replaced, the new woman would reconstitute the man’s kinship networks. In my family, we have witnessed this many times. Some of my father’s sisters have passed away, and now we rarely ever hear from the rest of the family …show more content…
Also when my mom goes to Pakistan for holiday, my father does not know how to keep up with the kin work, and he often simply neglects it or postpones it until my mother comes back. The author also points out that women had more accurate and extensive knowledge of their husbands’ families (443). This is another example of something that is very present in my family. My mother sometimes knows much more about my fathers’ family that he does. The main question I ask myself is: How do women know that they have to take over these “invisible” responsibilities? What I mean is, kin works and not something that is given to them as a responsibility. Their husbands or their mothers do not tell them that they have to fulfill those responsibilities, yet they still do them. The author sheds some light on this subject as well. She states that it is due to social interference. It is a mixture of religious and cultural affiliations. I personally think that kin work has a lot to do with culture. We have been taught in class that culture is learned. It can mean that kin work is learned as well. When girls see their mother taking on this
She called and made plans with other women in my family for gathering. My father and my siblings did not get involved in the planning. Once we moved to Canada, my father did not bother calling anyone back in Pakistan. He used to finish work, come home and relax. Every once in a while, he would help my mom with cooking, but the was all. My mother on the other hand, she would come home from work made sure the house was cleans and the children were doing well. From there she would make food and make sure every ate well. Once dinner was complete, she would call back home in Pakistan and talk to at least one relative per day to complete some of her kin work. The author also states: the very existence of kin contact and holiday celebration depended on the presence of an adult woman in the household (443). Which means, if the adult female were no longer there, the kin work would be left undone. And if that woman were replaced, the new woman would reconstitute the man’s kinship networks. In my family, we have witnessed this many times. Some of my father’s sisters have passed away, and now we rarely ever hear from the rest of the family …show more content…
Also when my mom goes to Pakistan for holiday, my father does not know how to keep up with the kin work, and he often simply neglects it or postpones it until my mother comes back. The author also points out that women had more accurate and extensive knowledge of their husbands’ families (443). This is another example of something that is very present in my family. My mother sometimes knows much more about my fathers’ family that he does. The main question I ask myself is: How do women know that they have to take over these “invisible” responsibilities? What I mean is, kin works and not something that is given to them as a responsibility. Their husbands or their mothers do not tell them that they have to fulfill those responsibilities, yet they still do them. The author sheds some light on this subject as well. She states that it is due to social interference. It is a mixture of religious and cultural affiliations. I personally think that kin work has a lot to do with culture. We have been taught in class that culture is learned. It can mean that kin work is learned as well. When girls see their mother taking on this