Women in Suriname are women who were born in, live in, or are from
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
.
Surinamese women may be ethnically
East Indian,
Creole/Afro-Surinamese,
Javanese,
Amerindian,
Mixed, or of other ancestry. Many women of Suriname work in the informal sector and in
subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
.
[Suriname]
everyculture.com
Surinamese women have been described as the "emotional and economic center" of the household (see
matrifocality
A matrifocal family structure is one where mothers head families and fathers play a less important role in the home and in bringing up children.
Definition
The concept of the matrifocal family was introduced to the study of Caribbean societie ...
), particularly in Creole family groups. However, in traditionally patriarchal East Indian family groups, they have been described to act as subordinates, expected to obey cultural norms, such as not to practice living together with a partner without being married first and that the bride should maintain her virginity until consummation after marriage.
[
In relation to caring for infants, Suriname's mothers place their babies inside cribs near them, particularly for sleeping, but they are separated into another room if already at the right age. Other child rearing practices of women in Suriname include mothers carrying their babies during the day until night time, when mothers place their babies in hammocks to sleep. Child care is different in ]Maroon
Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown".
According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...
women and Amerindian women, because they are "reluctant to let anybody touch their babies".[ In general, Surinamese women allow their children to spend the first five to six years with them.][Suriname Facts]
COUNTRYREPORTS
There are Surinamese proverbs that describe women in Suriname. The saying "An old woman's soup tastes better than a young woman's breast" is an example of those proverbs.
adventuress-travel-magazine.com
Clothing
According to ''Country Reports'', every ethnic groups of women in Suriname may differ in terms of clothing practices. Women of Suriname with Javanese heritage wear ''sarong
A sarong or sarung () is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid o ...
s''. The women with Creole ancestry or are Afro-Surinamese wear the '' koto'' that is accompanied by a handkerchief or with head or body covering called as the '' angisa'' (also known as the ''anisa''.[
]
Surinamese women
Among the prominent women of Suriname are Elisabeth Samson
Elisabeth Samson (17151771) was an Afro-Surinamese coffee plantation owner.
She was born in 1715 in Paramaribo to a freed slave, known as Mariana. All of her other siblings had been born as slaves and were emancipated by her half-brother Charlo ...
, Cynthia McLeod, Marijke Djwalapersad, Jennifer Simons
Jennifer "Jenny" Simons, married Geerlings (born 5 September 1953 in Paramaribo) is a Surinamese politician. On 30 June 2010, she was elected as Chairperson of the National Assembly of Suriname with 26 out of 50 votes. Simons is the second femal ...
, and Ruth Wijdenbosch
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Arka ...
.
Cynthia McLeod (born as Cynthia Ferrier) is a Surinamese novelist, the half sister of Dutch politician Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the cl ...
(who is of Surinamese descent), who wrote about the life of Elisabeth Samson, a free black woman whose name occurs prominently in historical works on Suriname because she wanted to marry a white man (which was forbidden in the colony Suriname during the first half of the 18th century). According to McLeod, Samson was a rich free black person in Surinamese society that was dominated by prejudices and white supremacy. McLeod wrote the highly captivating novel titled ''The Free Negress Elisabeth, Prisoner of Color''.
In Surinamese politics, Marijke Djwalapersad became the first woman in Suriname's history to assume as Chairperson of the National Assembly of Suriname (Surinamese Parliament) on October 10, 1996, holding the position until July 24, 2000. Then on June 30, 2010, Jennifer Simons
Jennifer "Jenny" Simons, married Geerlings (born 5 September 1953 in Paramaribo) is a Surinamese politician. On 30 June 2010, she was elected as Chairperson of the National Assembly of Suriname with 26 out of 50 votes. Simons is the second femal ...
(last name became Geerlings after marriage) became the second female chairman of the Surinamese National Assembly. Another Surinamese female politician, Ruth Wijdenbosch, became the first woman in Suriname to be appointed as vice-chair.
See also
* List of Surinamese people
Surinamese people or people of Surinamese descent who are famous or notable include:
Art Visual arts
* Leo Glans (1911–1980)
*Soeki Irodikromo (1945–2020)
* Stuart Robles de Medina (1930–2006)
* Gerrit Schouten (1779–1839)
*Erwin de Vri ...
* Human trafficking in Suriname
Suriname is principally a destination and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual slavery, sexual exploitation and forced labor. It is also a source country for underage Suriname ...
References
External links
Today in Suriname History: Elisabeth Samson
{{Suriname topics
Surinamese women
Women in South America