Judith Butler leads a discussion on gender and sexual precarity, on how some of us, based on our performativity and performative acts, are in lack of protection from the government and authorities, how we are exposed to violence, cruelty or being discredited. She examines performativity of a gender - that is given at birth, and compares it with performative acts - actions that we conduct opposed to what society expects us to do based on our external looks. I would like to examine the same patterns in Kazakh families among women, who are expected to behave in a specific way or to follow explicit performative acts in order to be accepted in their societal environment. 

Traditional Kazakh families are divided into three different classes, which are called “zhuz”: senior, middle and junior. Based on their ancestry, women are required to marry a man from the same zhuz. If a woman chooses a man from another class or another race, she will become a disgrace to her family and will never be taken back home. No matter how successful, happy and prosperous her new family is, she or even her children will never be welcomed in her parent’s house. Moreover, these traditional Kazakh women in society are referred to as “kelinka”. This term stands for stay-at-home women, who are not allowed to have a job, must respect and accept man’s predominance, raise children, keep a house clean and cannot have a maid or any other helpers at home (or it will be accounted as “wife doesn’t cope with her duties”). I will not go deep into horrific consequences if these women will be with a man before the wedding night, as I assume it is very clear by now. All previous description is Kazakh women performativity, based on their gender, race and descent, as well as their expected performative acts, which are set as norms that are acting upon them.

With technological development and human evolution, in well-developed cities Kazakh women became more modern and open-minded. This led to a tremendous change not only in in their emotional behavior and desires, but also brought a wave of questioning their presupposed performative acts in relation to their performativity. Significant influence came from being in the center of multicultural environment, surrounded by females of other nationalities, Kazakh women started building self-confidence and vision of other relationship among family members (especially between husbands and wives). Breaking the pattern of performative acts that were put on them by obligations of traditions and heredity. Some cases of these changes were not accepted by relatives and society in general, however some were quite successful and changed the prospective of their families by broadening the horizons of human relations. Must be said that those positive alternations, those “misperformances” were followed by dramatic sacrifices, violence and required substantial time.

Going back to Judith Butler’s analysis, I would like to review this topic from the prospective of “claiming a right when there is not a right to claim”. Kazakhstan is a traditional country, when men’s forсe prevails everywhere, including authorities and law. Or, even to put it in a more precise definition, women are accounted as less than a human. On January 11^thof 2020, the president, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, signed a law (Art.73-1; 73-2) which eliminates the responsibility for beating a wife. The law states that a man can be arrested for beating a person, but if this person is his wife, ex-wife, or if he is a biological father of a woman’s child, then this man is released with just a written warning from authorities. With this said, women initiated several protests for women's rights and against cruelty. To receive an approval from the government for one protest it took 23 inquiries to the authorities. Not only law is opposed women's equal rights, but also stands on the way of peaceful manifest.

It is not shameful to be raped. It is shameful to be a rapist!

Kelinka is also a HUMAN!

Violence cannot be excused

If he beats, this means he sits (author: in prison)

Girlfriend for Girlfriend!
We are a group that is under precacity!

      
          In conclusion, women from traditional Kazakh families are going from a stage of performing acts of historical norms to a stage of establishing new performative acts that will mean equality, freedom and support from the government. Even though their performativity originally meant a sign of respect to everyone else except for themselves, now, with their performative acts they are changing the meaning of who they are by establishing new explicit patterns of behavior.