Figure - woman

The livelihood of a Dogon family is based on the crops harvested by working together in the fields. They are stored in family granaries managed by ginna bana - a patriarch of the great family. In addition to this type of property, there is also personal property. A man and a woman, upon marriage, do not form a community of property and each owns their own possessions. The woman owns the kitchen utensils and the man owns the agricultural tools and hunting weapons. They use their own objects for the common good of the family. The wife prepares meals for the whole family with the utensils, and the husband obtains food using agricultural tools and weapons. In a marital community, the most important thing is to fulfil one's duties. Of course, each spouse also owns their clothes, ornaments and other trinkets. The work in the common field, which is given to the family, provides the crops that are used by all the members of the household. On the other hand, the crops from the cultivation of one's own gardens belong only to the owner. The same principle applies to products produced in various domestic industries or obtained through trade. Nowadays, property is increasingly often money rather than objects. Earnings can be spent as each individual sees fit, but joint obligations such as paying taxes are always the responsibility of the man. There are situations in which the more resourceful wife has more money than her husband. This leads to misunderstandings and conflicts within the family. Women often invest their income in the education of their own children, especially if they live in a polygynous family, where the husband is not able to provide equal education opportunities for all children.

Ewa Prądzyńska