Gender Roles as Seen Through Wedding Rituals in a Rural Uyghur Community, in the Southern Oases of the Taklamakan Desert

Sociologists have distinguished between sex and gender. Sex refers to whether a person

is considered female or male, based on the kind of body they have. Gender describes the idea

and practices that constitute femininity and masculinity. This paper describes gender roles

through the wedding practices among Uyghurs communities in Xinjiang and the extent to

which these have affected the role and status of men and women in contemporary Uyghur

society. Modern marriage among Uyghur, and the procedures adopted in choosing partners,

have changed radically since 1980. Changes such as these are easy to observe. However,

traditional ideals continue to form the coexistence of traditional gender models and modern

ideals. This paper examines the roots of gender roles in traditional culture as seen through

wedding rituals, and will then return to a consideration of the contemporary. Weddings are

not just for the two families, but are important gatherings for the entire village. Uyghurs

perceive the act of marriage as a series of rituals taking place over many months, even

years sometimes. Some of the more unusual rituals will be described and links will be

made between the rituals and differing gender roles in the society. As Uyghur society shows

much equality at times, this is reflected in the mutual exchange of toylaq (gifts) between the

girl’s side of the family and the boy’s side. However, the superior role of the husband in thehousehold can be seen in other rituals such as elchi evetmek (match making) qizning altigha

tash kuyup ogzidin mangmaq (put a stone under the bride and running on the rooftop), an old

custom that shows the dominance of the groom over his bride. Also the qizni gilem ustide

oyge ekirmek (carrying the bride in a carpet to her husband’s house) is an old custom that

can be seen as showing respect to the bride. Other customs, such as qiz qachumaq (wife

kidnapping), while seemingly putting the bride in a position of no agency, is almost always a

mutual decision by the young couple to avoid obtaining permission from unwilling parents.

Suzini bermek or hetini bermek (divorce) is not uncommon and in this case, the bride may

keep her gifts and the bride price, except under unusual circumstances. This paper will

describe these more unusual rituals and customs and will compare an isolated village with its

more modern urban counterparts. It will show that gender is socially constructed by using the

sociological and anthropological explorations of how gender has meant different things and

how roles have been expressed differently in different times and places.