UNDERSTANDING GENDER ROLES AND POWER RELATIONS AMONG THE TAMANG COMMUNITY: A QUALITATIVE DESCRIPTIVE STUDY IN THAKRE–06, DHADING, NEPAL

Abstract

Background: Gender roles and power relations are socially constructed through cultural norms and authority patterns, dictating the division of labor, civic participation, and decision-making architecture within communities. Objective: This study explored gender roles and power relations across household, agricultural, and socio-cultural activities within the indigenous Tamang community of Thakre Rural Municipality–06, Dhading, Nepal. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 29) and key informant interviews (n = 3) were conducted with 32 purposively selected participants. Data were analyzed manually using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework for thematic analysis [14], resulting in five core themes. Results: A rigid gendered division of responsibilities exists. Women bear a heavy double burden, driving reproductive domestic labor, childcare, routine agricultural cultivation (weeding, planting), and informal savings groups. Conversely, men dominate market-driven commerce, heavy land preparation, macro-financial inputs, political forums, and institutional leadership roles. While women's everyday social visibility is significant, final executive authority over high-stakes financial assets, major household decisions, and formal community structures remains heavily centralized among men. Acute time poverty stemming from unequal unpaid care work acts as a major structural barrier preventing women from ascending into public administrative domains. Conclusion: Gender dynamics within the Tamang community remain strongly constrained by traditional patriarchal expectations. Physical visibility in micro-economic and communal activities does not automatically secure equitable structural authority or decision-making autonomy. Achieving genuine parity requires interventions targeting the redistribution of household labor, mitigating women's time poverty, and reforming local institutional leadership frameworks.