Balinese Life
They Do Not Intend
to Become Super Women!

Village administrations in Bali are divided into two, namely the customary village (desa pekraman) and administrative village (desa dinas). The former is pertaining to any affairs that has something to do with Hindu society, its village temple, social interaction and its environment. Meanwhile the latter, is an institution that has relation to the performance of government affairs at village level.

Balinese women, actually, have a great role and responsibility in a family. Apart from managing the household tasks including taking care of children and husband, they must also participate in some activities in both institutions mentioned above. Therefore, they should allocate their time wisely.
In family life, women also help their husband to earn a living. They never discriminate kinds of jobs, ranging from farming, road construction, and traditional art up to executive level depending on their skill. If they work in the office in the morning, they will make their time to do others in the afternoon. If they are deeply involved in certain professions, they may not neglect other compulsory and voluntary activities in their environs.
As the desa pakraman is responsible for organizing temple festivals and any other rites of passage in Hindu religion, so all members should attend and take part in these events. Both domiciles inside and outside the village have the same rights and duties. Such social activities then can be categorized into two, firstly, ngayah (compulsory activity) that is an activity by invitation (arah-arah) whether for village temple festivals, individual ritual ceremonies or others. Members who fail to attend will be charged a certain amount of penalty as decided as the norm. The word ngayah also refers to different meanings like special devotion to gods in village ceremonies through dances, recital songs et cetera. Secondly is nguopin (voluntary or spontaneous activity) where members will not be invited and organized. It is based on members’ accord, but they usually feel uneasy when they do not attend it.
Practically in socio-religious activities, women have rather the same workload as men. Women have to prepare offerings, whilst men prepare its raw material and others that cannot be done by women. So other than household work, women also have to attend social activities as the village member or krama adat. By doing so they can get in touch with other members to strengthen the neighborhood, meet new members of krama adat (newly married from outside the village). Through this, they are also reminded that wherever they live or domicile they are still tied by their home village.
In administrative villages, women also have an organization called PKK group (Education for Family Welfare). It is an organization meaning to empower women participation in development programs. Through this program, they can learn how to manage the household, care for children, look for additional earning through home industry like producing various cakes. In short, even though they should be able to do the tasks mentioned above, it does not mean that they intend to become super women. (Wayan Punia)