Alright, Muslim Women of the Fergana Valley by Vladimir and Maria Nalivkin, edited+translated by Mariana Markova and Marianne Kamp, was probably the most useful book I've read so far on the culture!
-at this point in time, most Sart women wear a headscarf no matter what; not as a particularly religious function, but to keep their heads warm. They got scolded into it by parents.
-the veils (full body wear, not really comparable to hijabs at this point) are extremely common and considered what any decent and respectable woman does in public, but several women from lower classes do not as regular practice. These were public wear; at the time the authors are writing, 1886 (around ten years after Russia began to occupy the land) it's primarily prostitutes who are starting to go without them, but some women are also starting to do so. The authors say this is Russian influence, but I'm not convinced.
-What I think is Russian influence is the age of marriage being so low among so many (the time it took to pay bride prices put the actual age of marriage off for poor familes; the richest would often wait to find the exact right amount) as conservative reaction colonization mounted
-At this point, "dancing boys" (young men who were dancers and most likely prostitutes for men) were "going out of fashion" for women who danced. Other sources (online, need to find it again, it annoyed me on some of its claims iirc)
-widows and divorcees had a lot more ability to move around unquestioned in society than young women, unmarried or recently married
-divorce, at this point, is really common and easily obtained, as well as regularly threatened
-at the point in time in question, family doesn't ask for food from other family directly, apparently, but guests are served a hell of a lot of food that family isn't supposed to touch
-holy shit does polygamy mostly suck
-plenty of women have children around 45
-women are traditionally kept in the house until the first child is born, gagh
-(first) marriages are essentially all monetary and political; the fathers don't often have strong connections to their own children
-that said, lovers outside of the marriage are frequent and essentially an open secret, lmao.
-traditionally unwanted or unable to be maintained children are given to other families who want them; infanticide is rare and the only case the authors reported was one out of abject desperation; while there's a gender preference for girls, it mostly comes out in trying to skirt around the husband's feelings and the size of the party they hold for the new baby.
-there's definitely a very different feel between Sarts and Kyrgyz people
-Kyrgyz women are really expensive to marry, given they're usually raised to perform most of the skills men are in this city among the Sarts; Kyrgyz women also ride horses on their own, where Sart women have to ride behind a male relative or on a cart. (Good to know that plot point stands!)
-Women are talked about as dancing here without repercussion, despite the fact that Islam forbids it; I do feel comfortable saying that in a made-up city, a particularly conservative family would castigate one of their girls for dancing, but it wouldn't necessarily be an "all of society" thing
-women are supposed to behave in a specific and demure way; hiding their faces from strange men, staying away from Russians, etc, and they will if other people are around to scold them; but according to the authors, when people weren't around to enforce the crappy rules, the women were immediately happy to take off their veils and peer at him or even talk to him.
-women aren't supposed to talk to men, even their own husbands, in public. this would result in a pair going out and facing different directions while mumbling to each other to communicate. Prostitutes often ignored this rule.
-in this society at this point in time, there's very little that isn't forgiven by most, as long as they return to the accepted way of life. (eg, someone who ran away to be a prostitute would be welcomed back if she marries someone her parents pick, etc.)
-in the rare(?) cases marriages are chosen/influenced by the couple marrying, the families still go through the accepted motions
Some decisions I need to make about Selene;
-is she Kyrgyz or Sart? (or another semi-nomadic group)
I wanted her to originally be Kyrgyz-ish, mostly to fit with the original intentions of the book; someone fleeing war and turning to (kinky!) sex work. It might be simplest if she is Sart herself, but I'd kind of miss the...sense of superiority I see her character with.
I do think that friend of mine is right, now, that the war aspect might feel like a dropped plot point...but I think I can go forward leaving that open-ended; she was from a semi-nomadic group whose parents died, and she and her sister and aunt went to the aunt's family (her children) in the city, where the three of them were treated poorly enough Selene ran away to become a ballerina (this usually involved sex, at this point in history, fwiw. I can explain more if asked). How her parents died doesn't need to be relevant, at least in the first book; if I feel a need to expand later, I can!
-was she running from an arranged marriage, or abusive family, or both? I was thinking abusive family, but the age of marriage brings that into question - also if her nine year old sister would be married as a result of her running away, which is an unfortunate possibility. I might say that the aunt interceded, or enough people were scandalized by the idea it didn't happen, but it depends. (I probably don't need to directly address this)
-how often should she go into the Sart part of the town? How blended should things be? If I go with the fantasy analogue to Tashkent, they've been under Russian control for a decade longer, but treated less violently than groups colonized later.
-I'm starting to have concern over how everything is going to come together in terms of the porn and the plots, but dammit, if Kushiel's Dart could do it, so can I.
At this point, I feel pretty comfortable with understanding Next up, I want to learn more about the Russian side of Central Asia; their customs, behaviors, really any similar account to this one. I would also love an account of every day life in a ballet company in the 19th century. unfortunately I also need an understanding of what russian gentry was like at this point. sigh. I know enough...
