Wolfman
Chief Solipsistic, Autosycophant
Hmmmm...another question that I haven't really examined in detail, I'll try to get more info on that next time I go. My own perception would be not so much that one gender 'looks down on' the other gender's work; but rather that it is simply felt that one gender does particular jobs well. To draw a parallel...if you had a big, strong, muscular man, and a small, weak man, the former would be the rather obvious choice for a job like being a blacksmith. However, that would not necessarily mean that one looked down on the other.
But as I think about it, for example, women traditionally do the weaving of fabrics, clothing, etc. I've never seen a man do this, and I don't know what the reaction would be of Mosuo if they saw a man doing it. Would they simply feel that it was funny, but was his choice? Would they look down on him for doing a 'woman's job'? Will have to ask more questions about this next time I go.
The Mosuo only have two 'exports' that I'm aware of. The first is their hand-woven materials (that provide a very limited income from a few tourist areas); the second is the people themselves (who go to other cities to get jobs). There are other possibilities for export (such as a local form of red rice that they grow which is quite tasty), but not much has been done to exploit or build on this yet.
By far the majority of income for the Mosuo is derived from tourism; but that benefits (or hurts, depending on your perspective) only those Mosuo who live in tourist areas.
For the majority of Mosuo, they live in a largely cashless society, based more on trade and barter. The majority of their daily needs for subsistence -- food, clothing, etc. -- are secured in this manner. What money they do make will come from selling excess produce in markets, or perhaps selling hand-made clothing, etc. But its a very limited income.
"Why do the Mosuo need money then?" Its a common question, and a good one. From a basic subsistence point of view, to just have enough food, housing, clothing, etc., most of them are able to do so quite well without any reliance on cash. However, what happens when someone in your family is seriously injured, or becomes ill, and you have to go to the hospital? Then you have to pay the cost of transportation to/from the hospital; you have to pay all the medical costs, etc. Or what about when your children want to go to school? Most of the basic costs are covered by the government, but if your children get into junior or senior high school, or university, the odds are very far that the school will be too far away to walk there. Instead, your children will have to board at the school, and you have to pay all the costs for that -- travel, accommodation, food, etc.
Yes, the Mosuo can continue to 'subsist' at the level they are currently at (and have been living at for hundreds of years). But they cannot grow, they cannot develop. Again, there are those Mosuo who have no desire to change, who like things just the way they are; and I respect that. But there are many other Mosuo (from my experience, they would compose the majority) who want at least some degree of change and growth. There's lots of debate and disagreement about how much change, and what kind of change...but they do want it.
More importantly, as I've discussed elsewhere, they want to be able to control the changes taking place within their society, rather than having it controlled by outsiders. And in order to do that, they need education, resources, etc....all things which require money.
