前台与后台:皖北农村“养老-送终”活动中的性别权力景观

Foreground and Background: the Gender-based Power Scene in the "Old-age Support and Funeral Ceremonies" in Northern Rural Anhui

文章通过对皖北农村丧葬习俗和养老实践的考察,发现在"养老-送终"这两个连续性事件中呈现出有趣的性别权力景观:尽管女儿积极参与养老活动,但在送终的葬礼上,儿子仍旧承担不可替代的角色;作为家庭事件的运行后台,女性(包括女儿和儿媳)在养老活动中积极参与,并具备较强的影响力,但在家庭表演的前台——葬礼上,男性仍旧是家庭的正式代表。对此,可以由传统家族文化支撑的男性的象征性权力和由女性积极实践所获得的实践性权力来解释这种性别权力图景。

This paper investigates the old-age support practice and the tradition of funeral ceremonies in northern rural Anhui and finds that there is an interesting gender-based power scene in the two events of ＂old-age support and funeral ceremony＂： namely, the daughters participate actively in the old-age support of their parents, while the sons play the irreplaceable role in the funeral ceremony. Women （including the daughters and daughters-in-law） actively participate and have a strong influence in family-based activities including supporting parents. They have their influence only in the background while men （sons） performing in the foreground, for example, in funeral ceremonies, men are still the official representatives of the family. This paper discusses men＇s symbolic power that is supported by the traditional family culture and women practical power that is explained by women＇s contribution in family affairs.