RolesGender Roles in Sri Lanka
Buddhi talks about gender roles in Sri Lanka.
Todd: So, Buddihini, today we're going to talk about roles and family: traditional roles or what people do. Now in Sri Lanka, is it common for usually the women to do all the cooking?
Buddhi: It was so. It was so, but still the mentality is such that they expect the daughters and the wives to do the kitchen stuff and the cleaning, the laundry and all that, but we do have a lot of working mothers now and they are many single parents as well so the culture has been changing a little bit, but still the majority is that women should do the usual household stuff and the men do the work outside and get the money. If it's like the cityside, and if the wife is also working, obviously it's not expected that the wife ends up doing everything.
Todd: So, what happens? Do you split the duties or do you hire a servant?
Buddhi: Yes, hiring some helper is quite common in Sri Lanka. I personally don't agree with that.
Todd: Oh, really, you don't want to have like a cook or a maid or anything like that?