Gender Relations In The Baul Culture Of Bangladesh:Reconciling Feminist Perspectives

This paper explores women's position in the Baul society of Bangladesh in the light of feminist perspectives.Most feminists contend that women subordination is universal and that women's bodily functions(menstruation,pregnancy,childbirth,etc.)cause them to become suppressed and subordinated by males because of the cultural construction in every society.Rural Bangladesh is likewise a traditionally male-dominated patriarchal society.The 'Baul',is a folk group like Chinese Taoism,live in rural Bangladesh within those patriarchal surroundings.But are the Baul women suppressed or subordinated by Baul men in their atmosphere as called for by the feminists?Keeping that question in mind,this study proposes discovering the position of women in the Baul culture of Bangladesh relating to the woman's position in different cultural groups including,mainstream societies of Bangladesh.This study has been conducted in rural areas of Kushtia,Chuadanga,Meherpur,Jhenaidah,Magura and Manikganj districts of Bangladesh,areas where the Bauls are mostly concentrated.This is framed under fully qualitative research design based on comprehensive ethnographic methods.Chain referral purposive sampling has been approved for the selection of samples from the population.The information has been gathered through face to face interview,key informant interview,participant observation,and life history techniques.In addition,three focus group discussions were carried out to gain further insight into the research questions as well as for the validation of information collected through other techniques.The gathered information has been transcribed,narrated and linked with the literary information and theoretical framework to authentically and logically establish the research findings.The study has been carried out under the guidelines of prevailing sociological research rules specifically mentioned by APA(American Psychological Association).The findings of the study suggest that gender relations are culturally constructed and vary from culture to culture,but in the Baul culture of Bangladesh,women are not usually subordinated by the men in every aspect of their lives because of the honorable position of women belong to Baul ideology.In fact,Baul women enjoy relatively more honor and democracy compared to other women in different cultural groups and the mainstream societies of Bangladesh.The research findings also raise concerns about the reconciliation of universalistic women subordination as directed by the feminists.