BGSE-001

Gender Sensitization:
Indira Gandhi National Open University Society, Culture and
School of Gender and Development Studies
Change

Block

2
GENDER AND FAMILY
UNIT 5
Family, Love and Power 5
UNIT 6
Marriage 14
UNIT 7
Motherhood 27
Expert Committee: Course Design and Course Planning
External Members
Prof. Sanjay Srivastava Dr. Rajni R. Menon Ms. Huma Masood
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Trainer/Researcher, New Delhi UNESCO, New Delhi
IGNOU Faculty
Prof. Debal Singharoy Dr. Babu P. Ramesh Dr. Shubhangi Vaidya
IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. Heena K. Bijli
IGNOU, New Delhi
SOGDS Faculty
Prof. Anu Aneja Prof. Annu J. Thomas Prof. Savita Singh
IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. Nilima Srivastava Dr. Himadri Roy Dr. Smita M. Patil
IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. Sunita Dhal Dr. G. Uma
IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi

Block Development Team

Unit No. Unit Writers Unit Transformation
5 Sawmya Ray Sunita Dhal & Nilima Srivastava
6 Sawmya Ray Sunita Dhal & Nilima Srivastava
7 Anu Aneja Nilima Srivastava

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Prof. Krishna Menon Dr. Meenakshi Malhotra Dr. Nilima Srivastava
School of Human Studies Associate Professor, HansRaj College SOGDS, IGNOU
Ambedkar University, Delhi University of Delhi, Delhi New Delhi

Course Coordinators
Dr. Nilima Srivastava, Dr. G. Uma
SOGDS, IGNOU SOGDS, IGNOU

Block Editor (Content and Language)

Prof. Krishna Menon Language & in House Editing
School of Human Studies Dr. Nilima Srivastava & Sunita Dhal
Ambedkar University, Delhi SOGDS, IGNOU

Block Coordinators
Dr. Nilima Srivastava G. Uma
SOGDS, IGNOU SOGDS, IGNOU

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BLOCK 2 GENDER AND FAMILY
Introduction
This Block aims to develop your understanding with regards to the institution of
family and how its related processes impact life of each individual in a society
in different ways. We have already read in Block 1 that gender intersects with
both public and private spaces. Block 2 aims to look into the gender issues in
private spheres like family, love, power, marriage and motherhood.

Unit 5 of this Block is titled “Family, Love and Power” discusses family from
gender perspectives. Family is considered as the basic unit and an egalitarian
social structure of a society. Here, we discuss how patriarchal values are
reinforced in the family that makes women settle for a subordinate position. We
would also look into the institution of family from feminists’ perspective. Queer
critique of family is also appended. Family is considered as safe heaven for girls
and women. But, data from National Crime Records Bureau on domestic violence
shows that the family cannot be considered as safe and protected space for
women.

Unit 6 is on “Marriage”. Marriage, a social institution, is traditionally considered

as sacred and life long relationship between an adult male and a female in our
society. Mainstream sociological research has contributed much to the institution
of marriage. But, Feminists have critiqued mainstream research on marriage and
have contributed in the form of creating new understanding of the social
institution. The Unit discusses feminists critique on marriage, violence in marriage
life and the issue of divorce.

Unit 7 in this Block is on “Motherhood”. It starts with explaining gender roles

related to motherhood and fatherhood. Culture and patriarchy play important
role in construction of motherhood. Further, the Unit explains the relationship
between motherhood and class, caste structures in rural and urban India. Learners
may have heard about the issue of surrogacy and reproductive rights of women
in India. There are various factors that contribute to the migration of population
from rural to urban areas. The issue of migration and motherhood is also
explained from a feminist perspective. Finally the Unit discusses the challenges
and necessary policy interventions.

Thus, after reading this Block you will be able to critique the institutions of
family and marriage, and understand motherhood in a new light.

Nilima Srivastava G. Uma

Gender and Family

4
 Family, Love and Power
UNIT 5 FAMILY, LOVE AND POWER

Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Objectives
5.3 Nature and Functions of the Family
5.4 Feminist Perspectives
5.5 Feminist Studies on Family
5.6 Domestic Violence: Undermining the Notion of Family as a Safe Haven
5.7 Summing Up
5.8 Key Words
5.9 References
5.10 Suggested Readings
5.11 Unit End Questions

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Family is the basic unit of a society. It is also an institution that is considered as
the seat of nurturing , care and socialization of an individual. It is also supposed
to be an institution that protects a person from the evils and threats of outside
world. But, on a closer look with patriarchal backdrop and gender lens, the
institution of family is found not to be an egalitarian but hierarchal structure. In
this unit you will read about how family can be a seat of power and subordination
and oppression of some members namely, women, the girl child and also of the
members of non-normative sexuality. Let us now a look at the objectives of
reading this unit.

5.2 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to :
• Explain the nature and functions of family;
• Analyse myth of family as an egalitarian and secure space; and
• Critique subordination and hierarchy within the structure of the family.

5.3 NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

Various studies from across the world have elaborated upon the nature and
functions of family. Majority of these studies emphasize on the universality of
family as a social institution, that in provides socialization, support, love, and
protection to its members. These studies portray family as an egalitarian space
whereby all members enjoy equal patronage and love, and consider it as a haven
in an otherwise insecure and violent world. However, there are studies which
challenge such unilineal understanding of family. These studies come mainly
from feminists and queer scholars. They discuss heteronormative gendered family
ideology that puts its members in a ladder of hierarchy, whereby certain members
5
Gender and Family enjoy more power and higher status than others. They bring forth the ways in
which power operates within family determining differential access to resources
both material and non-material. Violence and discrimination are used as tools to
maintain family “integrity”, status, power, and honour, thus negating the idea of
family as a safe haven and egalitarian space.

Let us read about functionalism which is an important mainstream theory.

Functionalism
Functionalism states that family forms the basic institution of every society and
is universal in nature. Through its various functions, family meets the functional
pre-requisites of the society and helps maintain its equilibrium.

This theory is based on the understanding that the biological imperatives of

motherhood predispose women for indoor work, whereas the greater physical
strength of men leads them naturally into the provider role.

The most basic relationship within the family is that of mother and child based
on the physiological facts of pregnancy and lactation. Therefore the mother is
primarily responsible for rearing and nurturance of the child whereas the father
plays an indirect role.

Functionalists propose that the wife is required to give direct help to the husband’s
work. She is expected to adjust and assist the husband in meeting the various
demands the occupational sphere places on him.

Talcott Parsons is the most prominent proponent of functionalist theory and his
ideas finds an elaboration in his famous work - Social System (1951). According
to Parsons family is the basic agent of socialization and every member of the
society derives their role and status from their position in the family. (Parsons
and Bales, 1955).

Parsons also describes that a nuclear family is the best form of family for an
industrialized world. In nuclear families, the wives are mainly responsible for
raising children and not expected to hunt for ascribed status and the children are
not yet grown up for competition. Therefore, the authority and ascribed status of
the husband is not threatened, thereby maintaining the stability of the family and
society.

In such explanations by functionalists, the question of distribution of power among

members of the family is presented as a voluntary acceptance of hierarchy with
the male head /husband enjoying power and the female/wife accepting it without
any conflict.

Feminist studies critique functionalism bringing forth the various ways in which
power operates within family leading to hierarchy, discrimination, and violence
against various members. They show family as not just a space of love, peace
and cooperation but also of conflict, violence and negotiation.

5.4 FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES

Mainstream studies described the family as an indispensable social institution
6
based on cooperation, harmony, common interests and equality. To a large extent
they have also taken ‘man’ within the family as the basic unit of their study and Family, Love and Power
have neglected women’s experiences. Feminism challenged this vision of the
family and drew attention to examine the experiences of women in the domestic
sphere.

Let us read how different strength of feminism critique the institution of family.

Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminism argues that women and men are different not due to their
biology but due to the process of sex-role socialization. They recognize that
through sex-role socialization women a taught to be primarily housewife and
thus are prevented from realizing their full potential. This relegated women to
the so called private sphere of family, make them dependent upon their husband
which lead to their subordination. They demand equal opportunity for women in
all spheres as they believe that women are capable of achieving anything as
much as men. They argued that this equality can be achieved by bringing women
out of the domestic sphere through equal opportunity for jobs which can be
brought by legislation and social reforms. Betty Friedan, Ann Oakly, Susan Okin
Moller are among the many liberal feminists who have studied the family and
women’s position within it.

It can be said that though liberal feminists challenged the assigned gender roles
for women. They did not wholly reject the institution of family and women’s
role as mother and wife within it.

Socialist Feminism
According to Marxists feminists, women’s subordination is related to the
ownership of property. As the working class does not own property, subordination
of women does not exist among the proletariats. They also argue that family
along with exploitation of women will be wiped out with the usurping of
capitalism.Socialist feminists contest such ideas and point out ways in which
even the working class male benefits from the family. They point at the ways in
which the structure of the family in capitalism affects and appropriates women’s
labour and renders them unequal both within the family and in the labour market.

Radical Feminism
Radical feminsts emphasize on sexual rather than economic exploitation. They
link women’s oppression to their sexual and reproductive role performed basically
within the family. They call upon women to reject their biological reproductive
role and take the help of technology to subvert male domination. Some of the
important radical feminist analysis of family comes from Kate Millet, Shulamith
Firestone,and others.

Kate Millet (1971) unites that the patriarchal family insists upon legitimacy of
offspring. It pronounces that the status of both child and mother is chiefly
dependent upon the social and economic status of the male.

Shulamith Firestone in her book The Dialectic of Sex (1972) opines that the
material basis for the inequality between men and women is produced within the
biological family. The family requires that women are dependent on men, and
children on adults, for their survival. This pattern of dependence according to
her gives rise to a ‘psychological pattern of dominance-submission’. 7
Gender and Family
5.5 FEMINIST STUDIES ON FAMILY
Feminist scholarship began by pointing to the wide gap between the everyday
experience of women within family and anthropological-sociological knowledge
available. Therefore, the immediate task that they undertook was to underline
the invisibility of women in the existing studies (Rege, 2001, p.14).

Much feminist work has targeted the family in terms of the structure of marriage,
unequal distribution of resources between men and women and gender division
of labour. They argue that women face discrimination in access to health,
education, food and clothing, son preferences within family domestic violence
and many other such issues occurring within the family structure.

Critique of Mainstream Research: Feminists pointed out that early Indian

sociologist for all purposes assumed the Hindu joint family of classical, sanskritic
usage as the Indian family. It excluded the family structures and kinship ideals
and practices of non-Hindus, that of south and north-east India, lower castes, of
non patrilineal communities and others. They thus ignored the various ways in
which different kinship patterns in different regions and communities affected
the lives of its members, especially that of women differently (Uberoi, 1993,
p.39). It was only the work of Irawati Karve in which she undertook a comparative
study on kinship and marriage in north and south Indian families that some light
has been thrown on differential pattern of kinship and its effects on its members
especially that of women.

Thus, mainstream studies, feminists argued failed to inform or confront practical

challenges related to the institution of family in India and wrongly portrayed it
as an egalitarian and harmonious institution benefitting all (Uberoi, 2001).
Feminists also pointed out that in all these studies of joint family and glorification
of its unity, the price women paid for maintaining the unity; and women’s varying
often difficult experience within it was neglected (Patel, 2003, Uberoi, 1993,
2006). Most women living within the patrilineal. They are dependent, secluded
and segregated and their sexuality is managed by men. Women within these
patrilineal families therefore hardly had choices and bargaining power (Dube,
2001, p.7).

Familial Ideology and Women’s Subordinate Status

Scholars focused on the violence perpetrated on women in the name of family
honour and showed how the rationality of the family honour subordinates women
and grants men the power to exercise control on women’s self and sexuality
(Das, 1996).

Family honour and purity of caste is believed to be dependent upon control over
and purity of female sexuality. Family, according to feminists, plays an important
role in maintaining this purity through socializing its members especially women
to control their sexuality. Girls are expected to be feminine and not attract male
gaze to remain pure. Family itself controls and punishes arbitrary behaviour in
this regard. Restrictions on mobility, maintaining purdah, stress on virginity,
chastity and fidelity, stigma of illegitimacy, importance on early marriage of
girls are all mechanisms through which family actively contributes in maintaining
caste boundaries and protects its purity and honour.
8
The responsibility for protection of family and caste honour that family confers Family, Love and Power
its male members gives men the right to exercise power over the females in their
charge and often to dictate every facet of their behaviour. Such ideology forms
the basis of violence against women within and outside the family.

Another such aspect of oppressive family structure that was neglected by

mainstream studies was the process of gender socialization which forms one of
the basic functions of family. Feminists argue that mainstream studies did not
critique the gendered nature of the process of socialization because mainstream
scholars agreed with patriarchal ideology and saw nothing wrong in its
reproduction.

Feminists argue that the process of gender socialization in India primarily takes
place through rituals and ceremonies, the use of language, and practices within
the family. Gender division of labour is ingrained in children very early in
childhood. Little girls are expected to help in domestic work such as cooking
and looking after infants. Boys on the other hand are reprimanded if they show
any interest in the above works. They are expected to accompany their male
elders to the work site outside the home. Girls, feminist studies show are expected
to learn to bear the pain and deprivation, eat anything that is given to them, and
acquire the quality of self-sacrifice. (Dube, 2001)

Feminists also point out that given the fact that son preference is ingrained in
Indian families which are largely patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal in nature,
girls grow up with the notion of temporary and secondary membership within
the natal home.

Related to the questioning of gender socialization is the questioning of the gender

division of labour prevalent within family. Feminist scholarship on family in
India brought to light the gendered division of labour as it existed within family,
explained how it contributed to women’s subordination and challenged such
division. Rajni Palriwala (1990) addresses household within the context of
women’s work. She argues that such division of labour kept women away from
the market oriented income generating productive work thus making women
economically dependent on men. This kept them out of decision making and
gaining any kind of actual power.

Other critique of the family comes from the dalit feminist thought and queer
theory.

Check Your Progress

1) Explain liberal feminists’ receptiveness of family.
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9
Gender and Family 2) Explain how familial ideology subordinate women.
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In the coming section you will read about dalit feminist critique of family queen
critique of family studies and domestic violence within family.

Dalit Feminist Critique

Feminism in India assumed the experiences of Hindu upper caste, middle class,
urban women to be the experiences of all women.
Dalit-Bahujan critique took Indian feminists to task for the seeming invisibility
of caste inequality and emphasized on the ‘politics of difference’ (Guru 1995).
Dalit Bahujan feminists argued that this ‘difference’ is essential for understanding
the dalit women’s subjugation, characterised by two patriarchal structures:
i) Brahminical form of patriarchy that stigmatized dalit women because of
their caste status, intimate forms of control by dalit men over the sexual and
economic labour of their women’.
Queer Critique of Feminist Family Studies
Queer critique questioned Indian feminist negligence of, the role sexuality played
in determining family form, and the unequal distribution of power within. They
argued against feminist non-questioning of heteronormativity. According to queer
critiques, feminist questioned gender roles, subordination of women, violence
against women, unequal rights to property and decision making and others within
family. Rinchin (2005) writes ‘within the family, violence is seen as a serious
concern but never as a threat to the validity, relevance and existence of the
institution itself.
According to her, ‘members of the family are burdened with the duty of replicating
the structure. Families are also not open for any and every one as the gates for
entry are birth and marriage. The use of force and violence for submission and
compliance is not unknown.
According to her there is an urgent need to ‘broaden the whole concept of family,
rather than going back into it, by interrogating and dismantling marriage or by
relegating it to one way of living rather than the only one (p. 720).

5.6 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: UNDERMINING THE

NOTION OF FAMILY AS A SAFE HAVEN
Some of the major forms of domestic violence in India are discussed below. You
will read about a few more forms of domestic violence in the next unit on ‘
Marriage’.
Sex Selection and Female Infanticide: Aborting girl children even before birth
is a pattern of violence largely perpetrated in Indian society. Even before the
female baby is born she is killed inside her mother’s womb by abortion. The
10 decline in female-male sex ratio over last few decades confirms this fact. With
the spread of amniocentesis, a medical technique to discover birth defects which Family, Love and Power
involves sex determination of the foetus, female foeticide has become a common
form of violence against women.
Female foeticide and infanticide are often the manifestation of a dominant
ideology which valorizes the male child. The desire for a male child is linked to
the Hindu belief that the son facilitates the passage of his parents to the next
world. This belief along with the construction of son being the provider and
daughter being an economic burden is the cause for increasing female foeticide
and infanticide.
Unequal Access to Facilities and Resources: The dominant ideology assumes
that girls are inferior, physically and mentally weak, and above all sexually
vulnerable. Based on this discriminations and restrictions are imposed upon the
girl child. Distribution of basic resources within the family is regulated along
the factors of gender and age. These basic resources include nutrition, health
care, education, other material assets as well as parental attention and care.
Evidence indicates that girls and women are usually far less privileged than boys
in access to material resources. The male child gets the larger share in food and
girl child gets only left over. Forms of discrimination in access to food exist
even in upper castes middle class homes indicating that factors other than scarcity
are crucial.
Child Abuse: ‘Children are victims of substantial abuse of a physical,
psychological and emotional nature. This includes sexual aggression, beatings,
as well as extracting hours of labour from children who should be in school or at
play (Karlekar: 1998: 1744). Given her burden of the household duties, it is the
girl who is abused more, she experiences only daughterhood and is deprived of
a carefree childhood which is generally reserved for boys (Kosambi: 1998). Child
sexual abuse is one of the most rampant forms of child abuse which is rarely
talked about.
Families rarely talk about such sexual abuse. When the rapist is a father, brother,
uncle or cousin the chances of reporting is even lower. Though the girl child is
more vulnerable to sexual abuse especially in Indian context one cannot deny
the prevalence of male child sexual abuse. If there is a silence around the sexual
violation of the girl child in the family, this is equally true of cases of sodomy
and abuse of the male child (Karlekar: 1998: 1745).
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment also occurs in the domestic sphere.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment. Sexual
harassment forms one of the basic tools of men to keep women in their
patriarchally defined space. It can be in the form of comments on the physical
appearance of the female and abuse with sexual overtones, fingering, jostling
against women, manhandling, ogling etc. It creates an atmosphere of fear and
hurts the dignity of the woman concerned.
Sexual Assault or Rape: Rape is broadly defined as non-consensual sexual act
through the use of physical force, threats or intimidation, including the rape of a
woman by her husband—which is marital rape. Rape may also occur between
people who know each other and between people who have previously had
consensual sexual relations. Unlike common belief that rape is committed in
dark streets by ugly and fearful looking strangers, most of the rapes happen within
the four walls of the home by family members, acquaintances, neighbours, cousins
and other close relatives. 11
Gender and Family Violence against Aged Persons and Widows: A situation of dependency on the
younger generation results in neglect and in some cases, ill-treatment and different
forms of violence against older people, in particular women. Widows and aged
persons are usually economically dependent upon their relatives. Therefore, they
are more vulnerable to violence by their family members who include in-laws,
sons, daughters-in-law, and other relatives. Widowhood exposes a woman to
new forms and networks of exploitation and violence. In patriarchal society,
widows are considered a curse and an evil omen and their movement is restricted
in various ways. Sexual vulnerability of the widow is widely prevalent. They are
prone to sexual abuse within the marital family and are sometimes forced into
prostitution by their in- laws.(Karlekar: 1998)
Violence and discrimination against LGBTQ members: As discussed earlier
the idea of family is based on heteronormativity and therefore any deviation
from such norms leads to discrimination and violence. Traditionally, children
born as trans sexuals called as hijras are abandoned by the family or killed in the
form of infanticide. Homosexuality is unaccepted and violence including life
threatening consequences is used as a tool to bring confirmation. Rape is used to
cure daughters of homosexuality and make lesbians confirm to heterosexuality.
Homosexual men and women are forced into heterosexual marriages and
threatened of dire consequences if they do not confirm.
The above forms of violence reflects a part of the various ways in which different
members of the family live a life of hierarchy and unequal power and status
within family. These violences show that family is not always a space of safe
haven and eternal love but actively hierarchizes, discriminates and violates its
own members in different capacities.

5.7 SUMMING UP
The unit discusses the nature and functions of family especially taking the help
of functionalist studies of family. It describes how largely family is accepted as
the basic unit of all societies and is functional to the maintenance and progress
of society.
Feminist rejected such understanding on family and their efforts in bringing out
the discrimination present within family is taken up. Indian feminist and queer
studies on family and their attempt to unfold the important role family and familial
ideology played in subordination of women is discussed.

5.8 KEY WORDS

Access & Control of Resources: Resources are important to ensure livlihoods
of individuals. Women have been denied access to education, health services,
credit, land and techonologies historically due to gendered divisons of labour,
Patriarchy, Economic inequalities and socialization.

5.9 REFERENCES
Banks, Olive (1986). Faces of Feminism. New York: Basil Blackwell
Dube, Leela (2001). Anthropological explorations in gender: Intersecting fields.
12
Delhi, Sage Publications.
Firestone, Shulamith (1972). The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Family, Love and Power
Revolution, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Friedan, Betty (1963). The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell Publishing Co. Inc.
Guru, Gopal (1995) ‘Dalit Women Talk Differently’, Economic and Political
Weekly, October 14-21, pp. 2548-2550.
Karlekar, Malavika (1998). ‘Domestic violence and feminist identity formation’,
Economic and political weekly, 33 (127): 1744-49.
Millet, Kate (1971). Sexual Polititcs. New York: Avon Books.
Palriwala, Rajni and Carla Risseeuw (eds) (1996). Shifting Circles of Support:
Contexualising Kinship and Gender in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa.
Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Parsons and Robert F. Bales (1955). Family, Socialization and Interaction
Process. Glencoe: Free Press.
Rege, Sharmila (ed) (2001). Sociology of Gender: The Challenge of Feminist
Sociological Knowledge. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Rege, Sharmila (ed) (2013). Against the Madness of Manu: B R Ambedkar’s
Writings on Brahmanical Patriarchy, New Delhi: Navayana.
Rinchin (2005). ‘Querying Marriage and Family’. Economic and Political Weekly,
40(8):718-721.
Uberoi, Patricia (ed) (1993). Family, Kinship and Marriage in India, Delhi: OUP.
Uberoi, Patricia (2001). ‘The family in India’, in Veena Das (ed.): Oxford
handbook of Indian sociology (275-307). Delhi: Oxford University Press.

5.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

Bell, Norman W. and Ezra F. Vogel (1968) (eds.). A Modern Introduction to The
Family. New York: The Free Press.
Dube, Leela (2001). Anthropological explorations in gender: Intersecting fields.
Delhi, Sage Publications.
John, Mary (2005) ‘Feminist Perspectives on Family and Marriage’, Economic
and Political Weekly, 40 (08): 712-715.
Rao, Anupama (2005). ‘Sexuality and the Family Form’, Economic and Political
Weekly, 40(8): 715-718.
Rinchin (2005). ‘Querying Marriage and Family’. Economic and Political Weekly,
40(8):718-721.

5.11 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) What is functionalist explanation of family?
2) Explain gender socialization in India and how it affects women’s lives within
family.
3) Explain dalit feminist critique of family ideology and its relation to caste in
India.
4) What is heteronormativity and how does it violate rights of different members
of the family? 13
Gender and Family
UNIT 6 MARRIAGE

Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Objectives
6.3 Definition and Meaning
6.4 Forms of Marriage
6.5 Functionalist Theory on Marriage
6.6 Violence in Marriage
6.7 Queer Perspectives on Marriage
6.8 Divorce
6.9 Summing Up
6.10 Key Words
6.11 References
6.12 Unit End Questions

6.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit along with understanding marriage as an institution; we will discuss
the different kinds of discrimination inherent to marriage. It should be stressed
that marriage by itself and as is understood today wasn’t/isn’t a universal system
in terms of time, space and communities and how the patriarchal and sacramental
nature of marriage keeps women subordinated and perpetrates violence against
them.

6.2 OBJECTIVES
This unit will help you to:
• Define marriage as an institution and some of the various forms it takes;
• To understand functionalist perspective on marriage;
• Discuss feminist perspectives on marriage; and
• Discuss Indian feminist studies on marriage.

6.3 DEFINITION AND MEANING

Marriage is traditionally considered to be a socially/legally recognized
relationship, between an adult male and female. Marriage brings with it certain
rights and obligations. According to Anthony Giddens (2009) marriage can be
defined as a socially acknowledged and approved sexual union between two
adult individuals. When two people marry, they become kin to one another. The
marriage bond also, however, connects together a wider range of kinspeople.
Parents, brothers, sisters and other blood relatives become relatives of the partner
through marriage’. Heteronormative patriarchal social order prevalent in all
societies necessitates the two partners in marriage to be from opposite gender.
Heteronormativity is about only opposite gender i.e. a man and woman being
14 allowed to marry.
 Marriage

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Same sex marriage is tabooed and not allowed socially and legally except a few
countries which grant legal sanction to such marriages.

Couples from the same sex i.e. as shown in this picture a

woman and a woman in love are not allowed to marry.

Source: http://previews.123rf.com/images/atthameeni/atthameeni1407/
atthameeni140700020/29650244-hand-drawing-cartoon-concept-happy-
same-sex-couple-wedding-Stock-Vector.jpg

Same sex couples like in this picture a man and a man marrying is tabooed,
stigmatized and made illegal by both society and law. http://f.tqn.com/y/
politicalhumor/1/S/2/Y/4/same-sex-mariage-division.jpg
15
Gender and Family In India too same sex love and marriage is tabooed and banned both by society
and the law.

Do you
agree?
Think
&
Reflect

Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=cartoons+of+law%27s+sanctions+of+heterosexual
+marriage&biw=1280&bih=589&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmo
VChMIytrl1t_6xwIVxSSOCh1OdgyH#tbm=isch&q=posters+on+section+377+&imgrc
=rZxti0ZjZ9bgoM%3A

It is believed that at the basis of almost every kinship systems is marriage. Marriage
is a social or a binding legal defining the union of a man and a woman, living
together in a sexual relationship with the expectation of producing offspring.
This relationship is defined and sanctioned by tradition and law.

Traditionally marriage involves a man, a woman and their children. One of the
important purposes of marriage is believed to be for biological reproduction.

Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=cartoons+of+law%27s+sanctions+of+ heterosexual

+marriage&biw=1280&bih=589&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_
AUoAmoVChMIytrl1t_ 6xwIVxSSOCh1OdgyH#tbm=isch&q=indian+cartoons+of+family+
in+india+&imgrc=XxFfOhBybON9uM%3A

Today this understanding needs to be amended, as men and women do not

necessarily include having children as one of the purposes of marriage. In certain
societies couples reproduce even without entering into marriage and then may
or may not choose to marry. There are couples who enter into marriage but chose
to be childless or opt for adoption rather than have their own biological children.
Further as same-sex partners are entering into marriage, such couples may go for
adoption, medical inception and other scientific and legal methods to include
16 children in their family.
 A homosexual couple with their child. Marriage

Source: https://www.google.co.in/search ? q =
cartoons + of + law % 27s + sanctions + of +
heterosexual + marriage & biw = 1280 & bih =
589 & source = lnms & tbm = isch & sa = X &
ved = 0CAcQ _ AUoAmoVChMIytrl1t _
6xwIVxSSOCh1OdgyH # tbm = isch & q =
cartoons+of+family+and+offsrping&imgrc=_-
xm7AOG5ZF-FM%3A

Thus, the importance of marriage no longer remains exclusively attached to the

notion of biological reproduction but is also undertaken for the purpose of
companionship. (Scott and Marshall, 2005).

6.4 FORMS OF MARRIAGE

Marriage takes various forms in different societies. The two broad commonly
accepted subdivisions in forms of marriage based on number of partners are
monogamy and polygamy. Monogamy refers to the marriage of one man with
one woman. This is the most common form of marriage found across modern
contemporary societies.

One man marrying one woman is monogamy.

Source: https://zorach.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/man-woman-holding-hands-icon.jpg?w=640

Polygamy is the term for plural marriage. It can in turn be subdivided into
polyandry or the union of one woman with several men; polygyny, or the union
of one man with several women. Group marriage, involves several men living
with several women. Within polygamy, polygyny is more common than
polyandry.

Polyandry: marriage of one woman with more than one man. Polygyny marriage
of one man with more than one woman.
17
Gender and Family

Source: http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1880s-1890s/polyg2.jpg
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/food/polyandry.jpg

Based on rules of marriage, marriage takes place in two broad forms - endogamy
and exogamy. Endogamy ensures that partners in the marriage belong to the
same social group i.e. the same caste, tribe, religion, class and others.

Marriage between Brahmin woman and Brahmin man = Endogamy i.e.

Caste Endogamy.
Marriage between Dalit man and Dalit woman = Endogamy i.e. Caste
Endogamy.
Marriage between Christian woman and Christian man = Endogamy i.e.
Religious Endogamy.
Marriage between Bodo man and Bodo woman = Endogamy i.e. Ethnic
Endogamy.

In India the Hindu social order through its caste system strictly followed and
continues to follow caste endogamy. Any violation of it entailed punishment
including what is known as honour killing. Endogamy and violent enforcement
of it continues rather rigidly even in contemporary times.

News paper’s report on honour killings in India.

18
Such honour killings are largely perpetrated when caste endogamous rules of Marriage
marriage are challenged by young couples i.e. when couples belonging to different
castes especially the girl belonging to higher caste marries a boy belonging to
lower caste.

Caste endogamy supposedly ensured the maintenance of the purity of the caste
group, maintenance of caste boundary and hierarchy, and perpetuated caste
inequality through unequal distribution of property and power among several
castes (Rao, 2005).

Further, marriage between individuals belonging to different castes is called

hypergamous marriage, if the woman belonged to a lower caste and the man to
a higher caste. The marriage of a higher caste woman to a lower caste man is
called hypogamy. In Indian society hypergamous marriage is relatively easily
accepted as compared to hypogamous marriages. Hypogamous marriages often
lead to violence against the caste group to which the man belongs by the upper
caste group to which the woman belongs.

Exogamy on the other hand entails that individuals marry outside their own
group. Gotra exogamy whereby individuals are expected to marry outside their
gotra (lineage group), and village exogamy (which was the norm of marriage in
some north Indian villages) entailes that members married outside one’s village,
are some among the various forms of exogamy. Exogamy of gotra is also strictly
followed in India. Breaking of gotra exogamy rules can also lead to honour
killings.

News report of honour killing for not maintaining gotra exogamy.

Source: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/4418honourkillings-120930061915-phpapp01/95/
honour-killings-14-728.jpg?cb=1348985994
19
Gender and Family Based on sex of partners, marriage can be of two kinds i.e heterosexual marriage
and homosexual marriage. In heterosexual marriage, partners belong to opposite
sex, whereas in homosexual marriage the partners belong to same sex.

Before reading further, attempt the following exercise.

Check Your Progress

1) Explain different forms of marriage.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2) Write a short note on
a) Endogamy
b) Exogamy
In the following sections you will read about feminist theories on marriage,
violence in marriage and queen perspectives on marriage.

6.5 FUNCTIONALIST THEORY ON MARRIAGE

Various strands of feminism critiqued mainstream theories such as functionalism
for not recognizing existing unequal power relations within marriage and family.
According to feminists by glorifying marriage and family and advocating them
as essential and egalitarian institutions, functionalism reinforces and justifies
gender based discrimination.

Various feminist researches across the world brought forth that women take on
the lion’s share of domestic and caring giving work which is not recognized as
productive labour with any market value. You will read about women’s work in
detail in Block 3.

Women are socialized into acceptance of feminine domestic roles in marriage

which makes them “good” and “respectable” wives (Friedan 1963).

Gender socialization whereby girls are told that their task is to cook, clean, and
perform repetitive uncreative work and be subordinate. Whereas boys are told to
occupy position of power, do masculine creative task and enjoy the fruits of
women’s work.

20
At the same time when they go for work outside home they are paid much less Marriage
than men. There is continuity between women’s subordination within the “private”
sphere of marriage and family and the “public” sphere of wage work. Further,
research also show that even when women go out to work in similar positions as
men, they are still burdened with house work performing “second shift” – one
shift at office and another taking care of home and family by doing housework.

Second Shift - Women doing office as well as housework. Such double burdens
on women affect their performance which in turn affects their economic gains.
On the other hand such gender division of labour burdening women doubly
forces women employees to put extra effort to achieve the same goals as male
employees occupying same position.

Based on studies feminists argue that any advocating of gender division of labour
in marriage harms the position of women as a whole, merely by constraining
their options and ambitions. Confining them to domestic sphere and placing on
them the exclusive burden of housework, gender division of labour limits
women’s choices and life chances.

Though like any individual women possess dreams and ambitions, hobbies and
interests and would like to be involved in creative, competitive works and earn a
living and status yet gender division of labour restricts them to the private sphere
and to housework thus curtailing their interests, ambition and freedom making
them dependent and subordinate. This also affects their personality and affects
their self confidence.

21
Gender and Family

Source: http://www.virudh.com/uploads/picture-3-1398683428.png

They become economically, socially and politically dependent on men hampering

their self confidence, forcing them to tolerate discrimination and violence. Thus,
gender division of labour directly and indirectly coerce women to accept
subordination in marriage.

Amongst the different strands of feminism, Marxists feminists argue that

monogamous marriage is a social institution that has nothing to do with love and
everything to do with private property. Thus, marriage benefits the capitalist
class and women’s subordination within marriage can be overcome only by
overthrowing. It is the exploitative system of private property.

For radical feminists, marriage is a tool of patriarchy which through its

heterosexual norms keeps women subordinated. Patriarchy is the first form of
social exploitation. In this system of patriarchy, men as a group hold power over
women. Power lies with men. Men become the standard against which women
are compared and found lacking. Consequently man himself becomes the
exploiter and women the major oppressed class (Abbott et.al., 2005).

Girls and boys are socialized into feminine and masculine roles from childhood.
Family, religion, media, books, peer groups all socialize girls to be proud of
femininity and subordination whereas they tell men not just to be tough and
22
violent but also not to be soft, emotional and weak. This has a larger impact on Marriage
marriage and the position of women within it.

Socialist feminists argue that in order to understand subordination of women

within marriage and family, it is important to understand the organization of
both production as well as reproduction. They agree with Marxist feminism’s
idea that confinement of women to the domestic sphere of housework and
motherhood serves the economic interests of capitalism. Women relieve men of
the burden of housework and childrearing, and allow them to concentrate on
productive employment.

To summarize, feminists see marriage not as an egalitarian harmonious institution

but that which is fraught with contradictions. According to feminists, marriage
is a hierarchical institution whereby women are given secondary status. Gender
division of labour, capitalist economy, unpaid housework, unequal wage system
in paid work, heterosexual norms, control over women’s sexuality, eulogizing
of masculinity and femininity, violence, unequal property and other rights, along
with discriminatory laws make marriage an unequal exploitative institution. They
reject the notion that marriage is functional and beneficial to all members and
bring forth the various ways in which women are discriminated and suffer in
marriage.

Let us now read how violence is perpetuated in marriage.

6.6 VIOLENCE IN MARRIAGE

ill effects of early marriage

Early and frequent

pregnancy

Source: http://www.hrln.org/hrln/images/issues/reproductive%20rights/chart2.bmp

23
Gender and Family

Marital violence can be perpetrated both in active and passive manner, it can be
in an overt and covert manner, and can be physical, sexual and psychological in
nature or all at a time. Violence in marriage involves kicking, beating with hand
or stick, dragging the woman by hair, cutting her body, abusing her with foul
language, keeping her hungry, having forced sex, shouting, scolding, threatening,
desertion, restriction in her movements, restricting her from employment, and
many other means of torture. Some of the forms that it takes in India are discussed
below:

Early marriage: Early marriage is encouraged to control the sexuality of the

girl. She should be passed safely from her natal home to the marital home without
bringing in danger to the family name. A girl’s sexuality has to be controlled as
if she misuses her freedom it may bring disgrace upon the family honour. Early
marriage results in early pregnancy, which is harmful, and life taking for the
mother. It also does not give women chance to grow as an individual restricting
their educational and employment opportunities. This further keeps them
subordinated in marriage and tolerate violence.
Dowry: is an age-old practice related to marriage in India. It is the exchange of
wealth especially from the bride’s home to the grooms. It can be in the form of
cash, ornaments, lands, modern gadgets or other movable and immovable
property. Dowry forms one of major causes of wife battering. Dowry violence
and dowry deaths are regularly reported from homes in India. Wives are beaten,
deserted, tortured, murdered, burnt for extracting more dowries. The evil of dowry
is behind sex selection abortions and infanticide. In the recent times, one sees
that the dowry system has percolated to those societies where dowry as a system
never existed.

Wife battering: the most widely practiced and widely denied form of domestic
violence is wife battering. Wife battering involves physical, psychological and
sexual abuse inflicted upon the wife that sometimes leads to the death of the
woman. It is a complex social phenomenon of power relationships within the
family.

It is socially acceptable to keep the wife in a subordinate position. It isn’t talked

about and interfered in as it is regarded as a personal matter between the wife
and the husband. Due to their gender socialization wives sometimes tend to
accept such violence. Wife battering is a common form of violence within the
four walls of the home, which is thought to be the most safe and secure place.

Marital rape: is commonly defined as any unwanted intercourse or penetration

obtained by force, threat of force, or when the wife is unable to consent. Rape in
marriage is a sexual violence, an abuse of power by which a husband attempts to
establish dominance and control over his wife who he feels is his “property.”

For a long time most of these violence were not even legislated against by the
law. It is mostly through the efforts of the women’s movement that today most of
these forms of violence are declared illegal through legislations. However,
violence such as marital rape is yet to be recognized as a crime both by the law

24
and society. Marriage

6.7 QUEER PERSPECTIVES ON MARRIAGE

These are broadly of two kinds. One group argues in favour of extending marriage
rights to the queers. Such demands challenge heteronormativity of marriage. For
this group it is a matter of being granted equal rights as citizens and the benefits
that comes with marriage which is denied to them by making queer unions illegal.
The very fact that marriage is denied to such groups is a marker of their secondary
status in the social and legal arena.

The other strand too challenges heteronormativity in marriage but does not see
extending right to marriage for queers as a solution. They reject marriage as an
institution. This anti- marriage queer group argues that such right to marriage
will neither transform the exploitative nature of marriages nor will it help reduce
hierarchy and discriminations queers face.

6.8 DIVORCE
In many societies divorce has become an accepted part of marriage. All legal
systems today grant the right to divorce to both women and men in marriage.
Divorce laws have become simpler with granting of mutual consent divorces.
Though divorced status is considered as normal in many societies, in India it is
still difficult to opt for divorce especially, for women.

India has different marriage and divorce laws for different religions. Almost all
religions have their own marriage and divorce laws.

Grounds for divorce in India mainly include adultery, desertion, cruelty,

impotency, chronic diseases, and conversion into another religion. Though several
laws have been passed the divorce procedure in India is still complex and time
taking. The judiciary in India largely believes that marriages should be saved
and often grant extended time span and provide marital counseling before actually
hearing their case for divorce.

Divorce still is seen as an act of breaking of marriage and family even when
sought under conditions of cruelty. This is largely the case when a woman initiates
divorce bringing upon her the tags of “home breaker”, “loose morals”, “selfish”,
“bad mother” and others. State, society and community are still anxious to save
marriage and family and protect the dominance of men even at the cost of women’s
rights to a life of dignity and freedom from violence.

6.9 SUMMING UP
Marriage can be defined as a socially acknowledged and approved sexual union
between two adult individuals. Traditionally marriage in most societies is thought
to be a sacrament. However, today marriage has taken the form of a contract and
is bound by legal rules and regulations. Marriage takes various forms the most
common classification is that of monogamy and polygamy. Marital ideology
across the world has been based on the principle of female subservience and
male domination. Domestic violence which includes marital violence is a sad
25
Gender and Family reality of the institutions of marriage and family and takes various forms. Divorce
today is granted in almost all societies by law. However, in India the discourse
on women’s rights within marriage and family is a complex and contentious
matter as it is closely intertwined with religious and other social identity politics/
issues.

6.10 KEY WORDS

Hemorrhage : A flow/oozing of blood from a ruptured blood vessel.
Fistula : It is an abnormal connection between two hollow spaces such as blood
vessels, intestines, or other hollow organs. Fistula are usually caused by injury
or surgery.

6.11 REFERENCES
Abbott et.al. 2005. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives. London:
Routledge.
Banks, Olive. 1986. Faces of Feminism. New York: Basil Blackwell
Bhroin, Feargha Ní. 2009. ‘Feminism and the Same-sex Marriage Debate’,
http://www.marriagequality.ie/download/pdf/feminism_paper_final_01.05.pdf,
accessed on September 3rd 2015, 10.30am.

6.12 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Explain feminist theories of marriage.
2) Examine how violence takes place in the institution of marriage.

26
 Marriage
UNIT 7 MOTHERHOOD

Structure
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Objectives
7.3 Gender Roles: Motherhood and Fatherhood
7.4 Patriarchy, Capitalism and the Maternal Body in a Cross-Cultural Context
7.5 Motherhood in Indian Contexts: Urban/Rural, Caste and Class Divides
7.5.1 The Urban Public/Private Divide
7.5.2 Rural and Migrant Mothers
7.6 Reproduction and Surrogacy
7.7 Mother India: Mothering as Metaphor and Reality
7.8 Contemporary Challenges and Breakthroughs
7.9 Summing Up
7.10 Key Words
7.11 References
7.12 Suggested Readings
7.13 Unit End Questions

7.1 INTRODUCTION
In most contemporary societies, since it is mostly women who mother, we tend
to associate the terms ‘motherhood’ and ‘mothering’ primarily with women.
Besides this, we usually have very fixed notions about who is an ‘ideal mother’,
and how ‘ideal mothering’ should be carried out. While there is no doubt that
women reproduce, why is it that the act of giving birth and the responsibility of
childcare have become conflated to become associated only with women? What
does motherhood involve and invoke and how does it impact the lives of women
who are mothers? In this Unit, we will look at motherhood as an institution and
examine its impact on women’s life choices, life styles and economic and social
conditions, and also see how mothering is in turn often determined by these
conditions. We will critically analyze the notion of motherhood in an attempt to
understand its role in women’s lives. We will also specifically examine the
implications of motherhood upon women from different class and caste backgrounds,
and across the rural/urban divide. In doing so, we will attempt to identify the
challenges presented by socially and culturally determined notions of mothering
upon women, and seek out some affirmative possibilities for mothers in the
future.

7.2 OBJECTIVES
After studying this Unit, you would be able to:
• Achieve a critical understanding of motherhood in the context of gender
roles in India;
• Locate motherhood within the cross-cultural context of patriarchal and
capitalist structures; 27
Gender and Family • Comprehend the relationship between motherhood and class and caste
structures in urban and rural India;
• Discuss the issues of reproductive rights and surrogacy from the perspective
of Indian women;
• Examine the notion of mothering as work from the perspective of urban and
rural migrant women;
• Compare the representation of the ‘maternal metaphor’ from patriarchal and
feminist perspectives;
• And engage with the changes in women’s lives within the context of
contemporary transitions in culture and economy.

7.3 GENDER ROLES: MOTHERHOOD AND

FATHERHOOD
We often hear that women are, by their very nature, more caring and nurturing
and that motherhood is the most valuable gift that women enjoy. Such sentiments
are usually accepted as compliments to women and their innate abilities to provide
love and care, and to be able to sacrifice their own needs for those of others.
However, such seemingly complementary assertions may very well conceal
prevalent social biases against women. They may also work to the disadvantage
of women. For instance, because of social and cultural expectations, those women
who may not wish to see marriage and motherhood as their primary function in
life may feel like social anomalies. In the field of education, girls may opt for
certain disciplinary fields and careers rather than others (such as Mathematics or
Science) which do not disturb their sense of internalized gender roles and abilities.
Women may also feel the social pressure to live up to cultural ideals which
associate self-sacrifice and self-abnegation primarily with one gender.
Consequently, girls are often influenced by ingrained cultural values which tell
them that it is their duty to sacrifice better nutrition, educational opportunities,
financial resources and right to property to the male members of the family.

Due to such culturally ingrained values and gender biases, women who become
mothers may often do so at the expense of other desires and ambitions.
Motherhood may thus interrupt or interfere with women’s ability and desire to
work and follow professional careers. At the same time, the association of
childcare responsibilities primarily with women can also place pressure on men
to function only as providers and alienate them from a fuller realization of their
roles as fathers. Prescribed gender roles for women and men consequently impact
the level of freedom in terms of personal choices exerted by both genders. They
also influence how women and men perceive their roles as mothers and fathers
in a given culture. Owing to rigidly defined prescriptions, many women see
marriage and motherhood as their life-goal. Some may become mothers without
really questioning their preparation for this role or give up their professional
ambitions completely once they become mothers. It is also true, of course, that
many women may genuinely desire to become mothers, and may happily opt for
domestic responsibilities over professional ones. However, an interrogation of
gender roles in society shows us that freedom of self-determination is greatly
influenced by cultural norms. Consequently, what one may believe to be a ‘free’
choice may actually reflect internalized perceptions of idealized roles, and the
28
uninterrogated ‘performance’ of such roles by individuals. (For further reading Motherhood
on the notion of ‘performativity’ and gender, you may refer to work by Judith
Butler.)

Women who become mothers of their own free will may also succumb to certain
behaviors and traits that are expected of mothers. For instance, they may be
compelled to abandon pursuit of higher education goals, not seek employment
or give up established careers. Many women from the middle and upper-middle
classes single-handedly shoulder the burden of domestic chores associated with
mothering, such as preparing family meals, getting children ready for school,
overseeing homework and other educational requirements. But it is not only
women who are at a disadvantage as far as gender roles are concerned. Cultural
stereotyping of parenting roles in patriarchal societies can also influence men in
a detrimental way. For instance, fathers may feel obliged to limit their interaction
with their children in terms of their prescribed functions – that is, primarily as
breadwinners and providers, rather than as sources of emotional or intellectual
support. This serves to restrict emotional bonding between fathers and children
and could be counter-productive for the emotional growth of children. It can
also limit men’s perceptions of their roles as fathers and keep them from enjoying
the pleasures of a more wholesome relationship with their children. An
examination of motherhood in the context of gender roles thus helps us to take a
serious look at the notion of freedom of choice, as well as how both motherhood
and fatherhood get prescribed in pre-determined ways due to gender stereotyping.

7.4 PATRIARCHY, CAPITALISM AND THE

MATERNAL BODY IN A CROSS-CULTURAL
CONTEXT
Although our main focus here will be to look at motherhood in Indian contexts,
it would be useful to first locate Indian motherhood within a larger cross-cultural
framework. Given the fact that most contemporary societies are influenced, to
various extents, by patriarchal norms, mothering continues to be conceptualized
from male-dominated perspectives across the world. Such perspectives influence
the way mothering and the maternal body are understood and experienced as
lived realities.

On the one hand, an objectification of women’s bodies in patriarchal cultures

can result in efforts to make the body conform to certain cultural expectations
and beauty myths (such as the emphasis on being thin or light-skinned). In terms
of maternal bodies, this has specific implications. Feminist scholars in the west
have noted that maternal bodies are ‘disciplined’ into conforming with set patterns
of behavior and appearance. In the US, for instance, some feminists, like Eva
Feder Kittay, have emphasized the impact of patriarchal control on women’s
bodies, pregnancy and childbirth. Because of the ‘medicalization’ of maternity,
pregnancy and childbirth are often treated as a ‘disease’ in most cultures (Kittay,
1983). Other scholars, such as Jana Sawicki, following the work of the
philosopher Michel Foucault, have interpreted the disciplining of women’s and
maternal bodies in the light of his theories related to how power operates in
society. According to Foucault, power systems operating at macro levels percolate
down to the micro level and are played out through power relations between
individuals (see Jana Sawicki, 1991). In contemporary times, these larger power
29
Gender and Family systems may include capitalism, racism and other forces. These forces which
function at the macro level benefit from and sustain each other and impact how
relations and identities get defined at the micro level. For instance, the unpaid
work performed by mothers (including childcare and housework) may benefit
both patriarchy and capitalism. This is because women’s unpaid housework
sustains male dominance as well as provides economic benefits to one part of
the population at the expense of the other. When seen from this perspective, it is
not patriarchy alone that is responsible for the oppression of women and mothers;
rather, patriarchy works together with other repressive forces, such as capitalism,
racism and casteism. In each of these hierarchical systems, those with less power
become the victims of various kinds of oppression. Based on our analysis, we
could then say that women are one such category victimized by the collusion
between patriarchy and capitalism. This perspective helps us to see how
motherhood is located within these larger structures of power. It also tells us
that in order to question some of the negative ways in which mothering roles
impact women, we would need to begin by interrogating the larger power
structures to which women and men belong.

7.5 MOTHERHOOD IN INDIAN CONTEXTS:

URBAN/RURAL, CASTE AND CLASS DIVIDES
As you have already seen, the way motherhood is conceptualized and experienced
is very often impacted by larger forces such as class, caste and ethnicity. Due to
the patriarchal nature of Indian society, motherhood in Indian contexts is
determined to a large extent by the cross-section of these forces. The impact of
globalization and economic liberalization has created a complex class hierarchy
in contemporary urban India, with each class aspiring towards the ones above it.
Consumerism, competitiveness and a race for financial accumulations have
particular effects on the marginalized. The coming together of patriarchy and
capitalism results in a culture of consumerism which promotes a greater
objectification of women’s bodies. In the specific context of the maternal body,
this often implies that such a body tends to be valued for what it offers the
patriarchal culture – the promise of offspring, especially male, who will continue
to ensure the sustenance of patrilineal society. Consequently, the maternal body
becomes identified with the idea of the ‘womb’ as vessel or container – in other
words, a body which is reduced to its reproductive function as progenitor of
progeny. While the reproductive function is overvalued in this process, the
maternal body is also desexualized because of it. In other words, such a body is
envisioned as the chaste mother but not as lover or sexual partner. Similarly, the
non-maternal but sexualized female body is devalued since it is perceived
primarily as sexual object, over and above any other functions. In both these
cases, the ‘personhood’ of the woman and the mother is diminished since her
function as ‘reproducer’ or as ‘sexual object’ holds sway over any other identity.
Women caught in such a binary trap may find themselves struggling to exert
agency in terms of life decisions – decisions whose hold is often in the hands of
male members – husbands, fathers, brothers, or the larger patriarchal family.

These influences have particular ramifications for different classes and castes,
and for women across the urban/rural divide. For instance, in the middle classes,
women, in their roles as mothers, are expected to be the upholders of traditional
family values and impart the same to their children, even when some of these
30
values may reinforce sexist perceptions towards girls and women. These may Motherhood
include the subordination of wives and daughters to the husband, or the
subservience of wives to the in-laws. Mothers are also often expected to instill
in daughters a sense of compromise and the ability to ‘adjust’ to difficult
circumstances, especially those which demand that they put their own welfare
behind that of male members. This may be something as small as giving up the
choicest share of the family meal to a brother or father, or as substantial as the
giving up of property rights by sisters in a silent recognition of their brothers’
first right over inherited property. When mothers instill such values as instances
of ‘ideal behaviour’ in their daughters, they nurture future generations of women
and mothers who remain trapped in gender hierarchies.

7.5.1 The Urban Public/Private Divide

As we have already discussed, mothers in middle-class households continue to
be seen as primary care-givers, and shoulder the burden of housework, childcare
and domestic responsibilities, while needing protection and security. On the
other hand, men are seen as providers, protectors and expected to perform well
outside the home. This creates a clear-cut divide between the domestic or ‘private’
sphere and the professional or ‘public’ sphere both of which acquire gendered
dimensions. While the private sphere is associated with women and traditional
morality, the public sphere is the male controlled domain of modernization, also
seen as more vulnerable to the ‘evil’ influences of western cultural values. The
phenomenon of a greater number of working class women entering the public
sphere has meant that the well-kept division between the private and the public
is disturbed and gives rise to discomfort. Due to economic considerations, many
urban married women from the middle-classes are being encouraged to contribute
financially to household expenses. However, the culturally upheld ‘secondary’
status of women means that the burden of providing a larger share to household
income still largely rests on men. Moreover, young mothers may curtail their
professional aspirations based on social expectations, or choose certain
professional careers (such as teaching or nursing) which are perceived as more
‘respectable’. In contemporary times, due to rising economic trends of
globalization especially in urban areas, many of these expectations are changing
at a fast pace and bringing about transformations in the way women and mothers
view their own worth, and the way they are perceived by others.

Traditionally, mothering is perceived to be an activity which is to be performed

largely within the private or domestic sphere. This places mothers and
homemakers as a category separate from, and often opposed to, that of working
women who are seen as encroaching upon the public domain traditionally
dominated by men. In the case of employed women with young children, handling
multiple responsibilities across domestic and professional fronts remains
challenging, especially in circumstances where there is an absence of adequate
support systems. Urban mothers who are also homemakers are expected not
only to perform household chores but also oversee child-rearing tasks. It is
therefore not uncommon to hear terms such as ‘superwoman’ and ‘multi-tasking’
as epithets applied to working mothers. Such descriptions, however,
complementary they may seem, conceal a lack of concern for the difficulties
experienced by working mothers in their day to day lives.

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Gender and Family 7.5.2 Rural and Migrant Mothers
In the case of rural women, motherhood often comes at the cost of extreme
danger to the lives of both mothers and their offspring. Poverty and lack of
adequate healthcare facilities result in unwanted pregnancies and high mortality
rates for mothers and infants According to 2011 census data, Sex ratio in India is
943 per 1000 males. The Maternal Mortality Rate is 167 according to 2011-2013
data. Additionally, taking care of young children is often a responsibility which
is undertaken in competition with the urgent need to perform labour in fields,
households, or factories. Rural women continue to face challenges and struggle
for basic necessities in terms of nutrition, health and education for themselves
and for their children. Due to a lack of educational and economic resources, they
may lack access to contraceptive measures and consequently suffer from unwanted
pregnancies at a risk to their health, or be unable to take decisions regarding the
number of children they produce. Many rural women working in the agricultural
sector perform labour both outside and inside the home; however, much of this
work goes unrecognized due to gender biases. According to 2011 census, working
hours of rural women (both Private and Public Sphere- Home and Agriculture
Sector) is 25.6 and Male is 51.7.

Rural migrant women in particular face extreme conditions in fulfilling maternal

responsibilities. You may have noticed such women working at construction
sites, often with babies and very young children left to take care of their own
safety in dangerous conditions nearby. The option of providing security, nutrition
and educational facilities to their children is something not available to many
poor women both in urban and rural settings. Many migrant rural women are
employed by middle-class and upper-class urban households as maids. Even
when childcare and ‘mothering’ work is performed by maids, caste and class
divides are almost always upheld. In terms of raising their own children, many
rural and poor women are restricted by severe economic considerations. As you
can see, mothering continues to remain embedded within the complex caste and
class generated oppressions which define the lives of these women.

Even a brief look at urban and rural women from different classes and castes
thus shows us that while women continue to shoulder domestic and economic
burdens across classes, motherhood as an institution is determined by patriarchal
forces beyond the control of the majority of women.

7.6 REPRODUCTION AND SURROGACY

Reproductive rights, or the right to choose when, how and whether or not to bear
a child, are an indicator of women’s personal freedoms in many societies. In
many western countries, the antagonism between ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’
groups is marked by religious as well as cultural factors. For instance, in the
United States, the women’s movement struggled for many decades for the right
of women to choose whether or not to carry through a pregnancy. In 1973, the
Roe vs. Wade case awarding a single woman from Texas the right to terminate
her pregnancy became a landmark judgment in terms of women’s reproductive
autonomy (see https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18). In India, the Medical
Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 legalized abortion for women over the
age of 18 (with written consent from a guardian in the case of unmarried women).
However, despite legal rights, many cultural restrictions continue to limit the
32
choices that women can exert in terms of their reproductive rights. For instance, Motherhood
both female foeticide (termination of the life of a female fetus) and infanticide
(killing of an infant girl within one year of her birth) remain ongoing problems
in a culture which privileges sons and sees the girl-child as a burden, if not a
curse to be borne by the family. Tandon and Sharma describe female infanticide
in the following words: “It is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female
child within one year of its birth either directly by using poisonous organic and
inorganic chemicals or indirectly by deliberate neglect to feed the infant by either
one of the parents or other family members or neighbours or by the midwife”
(Tandon & Sharma, 2006, 3). Although sex selection procedures have been
declared illegal in India, many young mothers are still forced to go through
these illegal procedures and to abort female fetuses. Female infanticide also
remains a persistent problem across urban and rural India. The Infant Mortality
Rate is 40 according to 2013 data.

Moreover, as we have previously noted, many girl children, even when they do
survive, continue to suffer disadvantages in terms of nutrition, education, financial
resources and employment opportunities. Adoption practices still reflect a ‘son
bias’ in our nation, with a larger number of parents preferring to adopt male
children. According to 2014 data, around 6,750 girls and 4,460 boys were adopted
in India. Maharashtra tops the adoption count with 1,465 girls and 1,208 boys.
From April to June 2015, child adoption centres across India have received around
1,240 requests from couples to adopt a girl against 718 requests for a boy.

As you have seen above, capitalist and consumerist forces exert a vast influence
on the ongoing objectification of the maternal body. Surrogacy, which involves
providing one’s womb for gestational purposes, very often in return for monetary
advantages, has become a contested and hotly debated institution in India.
Surrogate mothers often tend to be poor/ rural women who choose to rent out
their wombs in exchange for financial benefits. Surrogate mothers perform a
kind of ‘work’ which is monitored and controlled by those with greater power
and resources (see Amrita Pande for a detailed discussion of this issue). Based
on a ‘contract’ between biological parents and surrogate mothers, surrogacy is
now treated as an ‘industry’. As such, it is an indicator of the influence of
commercial and capitalist forces on mothering practices. Surrogacy can also be
misused. Women who are severely constrained by poverty may ‘choose’ surrogacy
as a method of economic survival. In such cases, it can lead to the exploitation
of poor women’s bodies by those with greater financial resources, especially by
foreigners looking for ‘cheap’ surrogacy options in third world countries.
Although the state has imposed many regulations on surrogacy in India, with
recent restrictions on non-Indian parents attempting to hire Indian surrogate
mothers, it still remains an area of concern (see http://www.theguardian.com/
world/2015/oct/28/india-bans-foreigners-from-hiring-surrogate-mothers).
Surrogacy practices continue to reveal to us the extent to which the female body
is perceived and utilized as a reproductive vessel, with little concern regarding
the personal agency of women who choose to become mothers.

As you have seen, reproductive rights and reproductive practices are a reflection
of the extent to which mothering as an institution is still deeply marred by gender,
class and caste biases.

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Gender and Family
7.7 MOTHER-INDIA: MOTHERING AS
METAPHOR AND REALITY
You may wonder why, in a country where we have worshipped the female form
in the shape of goddesses for so many centuries, and where we continue to revere
our goddesses alongside gods, mortal women face so many difficulties and
challenges, and are placed at a social disadvantage compared to men. It is a
well-known fact that mother-goddess worship holds an important place in the
religious and cultural fabric of our country. Mothers have been worshipped in
the form of idealized goddesses such as Sita, Lakshmi and Durga in many parts
of the country. Mother-goddess worship goes back to pre-Vedic times and
evidence of the worship of fertility goddesses has been traced back to the Indus
valley and Harappa civilization (see Mandakranta Bose; Sukumari Bhattacharjee;
Liddle & Joshi). The association of fecundity with the female body and the early
dependence of ancient civilizations on agriculture as the chief mode of survival
solidified the idealization of fertility mother-goddesses over time.

Despite these ancient ties to mother goddess worship, it is astonishing to note

that in today’s society, women continue to be denigrated, sexually violated, raped
and killed just for being women. How do we explain this apparent contradiction?
Feminist scholars have suggested that there was a gradual denigration of the
female goddess from pre-Vedic to Vedic times due to a growing caste hierarchy
and increasingly rigid patriarchal social structures (see Bose; Liddle & Joshi).
Both territory and the female body play a significant role in sustaining the rigidity
of these structures, since ‘ownership’ of both can be claimed and secured by
men in patriarchy. Equated with ‘territory,’ the female body is viewed in terms of
its potential to uphold patriliny – that is – the tracing of descendency from fathers
to their male progeny. Just as territory can be protected and safeguarded against
invasions by foreign forces within patriarchal structures, the female body gets
projected as a site to be controlled. The purity and chastity of the maternal body
plays a significant role in terms of maintaining caste and ethnic ‘purity’ of future
offspring. The objectification of women’s bodies, as ‘vessels’ of reproduction,
helps to sustain patriarchal control over class and caste structures. Symbolic
representations which associate the maternal body with territorial land are
consequently embedded in culture, as seen in common expressions such as
‘mother-earth’ and ‘mother-nation’. In other words, the culturally constructed
‘maternal metaphor’ helps to uphold such patriarchal perceptions and designs.

In times of external threat to the security of the nation, these associations become
more pronounced, as was evident during the time of the struggle against British
imperialism. The metaphor of ‘Mother-India’ or the nation-as-mother was
famously embedded at this time in Indian culture, especially through the iconic
Bollywood film of the same name. In this mapping of the mother’s body onto
that of the nation, the male son is projected as the brave soldier who will lay
down his life in order to defend the honour of the nation personified as mother.
Yet, this metaphorization leaves little space for the mother as individual outside
of the mother-son relationship. It further serves to desexualize the maternal
body which becomes symbolic of the purity of a nation whose boundaries must
remain unpolluted by foreign forces. While such symbolic representations deify
the maternal as an ideal, it leaves real women struggling to attain their status as
subjects.
34
However, this is not the only manner in which the maternal metaphor has been Motherhood
posited. Many feminist scholars have employed the metaphor as an affirmative
symbol of the potential for female creativity. French feminists like Hélène Cixous
(1975) and Julia Kristeva (1985) have, in their individual works, attempted to
construct this metaphor in exciting and creative ways. For instance, Cixous
associates the maternal with women’s ability to be able to give life to an other, to
‘gift’ pleasure, as well as to give birth to creative work which can inspire other
women to reach their own potential as artists and writers. More recently, feminist
scholars like Bracha Ettinger (1995) have discussed the links between art,
creativity and the maternal capacity for ‘compassion’. As you can see, the maternal
metaphor may have been used to devalue women in patriarchal societies, but
there are always subversive possibilities which allow us to see mothering in a
positive light, be it as reproductive activity, or the re-generation of creative work
by women artists.

7.8 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES AND

BREAKTHROUGHS
In her well-known book The Reproduction of Mothering (1978), Nancy
Chodorow had argued in favour of the practice of shared parenting as the only
way out of the conundrum in which the burden of mothering is placed squarely
on the shoulders of women, and keeps them from achieving their full human
potential. Since then, many feminist scholars have shown us the way forward in
terms of transforming the perceptions and practice of motherhood from the
perspective of gender equity. Much work has been done in this regard in the
fields of mothering and psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, history,
education and science, among others. Across the world, feminist scholarship
and research on motherhood continues to generate new ways of re-examining
and experiencing mothering.

Although we have seen how motherhood, as an institution, remains embroiled

in age-old gender biases in India, it is also true that we are beginning to see many
positive changes during contemporary times. As more and more urban and rural
women begin to gain educational capabilities, employment and economic
independence, they are able to chart out their individual destinies as women and
mothers with greater degrees of freedom. Traditional family and social structures
still continue to limit the choices that women make in terms of marriage and
motherhood; however, these structures are also adapting to the personal freedoms
which women are acquiring through educational and professional opportunities.
As an increasing number of men become active participants in parenting and
childcare, gender relations begin to reflect a more equitable balance between
genders, and both motherhood and fatherhood are re-defined. Public as well as
private policies in favour of the girl child, education for girls, employment
opportunities for women, improved maternal and child healthcare, and extended
maternity as well as paternity leaves, all help to provide a more secure environment
within which women can define their roles as mothers in more personally
satisfactory ways. These are all promising signs for the future.

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Gender and Family
7.9 SUMMING UP
In this Unit, you have seen how motherhood is inextricably linked to gender
roles in patriarchal societies such as ours. Through a critical analysis of the impact
of patriarchy on mothering practices across urban and rural divides, and class
and caste structures, we have attempted to unravel some of the detrimental effects
of hierarchical social structures on women who mother. We have also seen the
impact of increasing consumerism on the maternal body, especially in practices
such as surrogacy. The impact of cultural legacies on the representation of
maternal roles has also been examined. These discussions would have helped
you to develop a critical insight on a very important aspect of women’s lives,
namely, mothering. An introduction to feminist perspectives would have also
enabled you to identify some affirmative perceptions of mothering, both as lived
reality and as metaphor.

(A few of the ideas discussed here have been adapted from the Unit “Maternal
Bodies in Urban India”, MWG 004, Gendered Bodies & Sexualities, 193-208,
MA in Women’s & Gender Studies Programme, IGNOU, 2013).

7.10 KEY WORDS

Maternal Mortality Rate : Maternal Mortality Rate is number of women
who die from pregnancy related causes while
pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy
termination per 100000 live births.
Workers Participation rate : The participation rate refers to the number of
people who are either employed or are actively
looking for work.
Under Five Mortality rate : Under five mortality rate is the probability per
1000 that a new born will die before reaching
age five, if subject to age-specific mortality
rates of the specified year.
Infant Mortality Rate : The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number
of deaths of infants under one-year-old per
1,000 live births.

7.11 REFERENCES
Bhattacharjee, Sukumari. “Motherhood in Ancient India” in Motherhood in India.
Maitreyee Krishnaraj, Ed. New Delhi: Routledge, 2010. pp. 44-72.
Bose, Mandakranta. “Gendered Divinity” in Women in the Hindu Tradition.
New York: Routledge, 2010. pp. 12-57.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge. 1990.
Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering. Berkeley: Univ. of California
Press. 1978.
Cixous, Hélène. Le rire de la meduse, 1975. L’Arc 61: 39-54 (“The Laugh of
36
the Medusa.” Trans. Keith and Paula Cohen Signs 1 (4): 875-99. 1976). Reprint Motherhood
New French Feminisms, Eds. Marks & Courtivron, 1989.
Ettinger, Bracha. The Matrixial Gaze. Feminist Arts & Histories Network. 1995.
Liddle, Joanna & Rama Joshi. Daughters of Independence. London: Zed Books,
1986.
Kittay, Eva Fedder “Womb Envy: An Explanatory Concept,” in Mothering: Essays
in Feminist Theory. Ed. Joyce Trebilcot. Rowman & Littlefield, 1983. 114.
Kristeva, Julia and Arthur Goldhammer. “Stabat Mater.” Poetics Today 6.1/2
(1985): 133-152.
Pande, Amrita. “Commercial Surrogacy in India: Manufacturing a Perfect Mother
Worker”. Signs. Summer 2010. 969-992.
Sawicki, Jana. Disciplining Foucault: Feminism, Power and the Body. New
York: Routledge. 1991.
http://tcw.nic.in/Acts/MTP-Act-1971.pdf (Medical Termination of Pregnancy
Act of 1971)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/28/india-bans-foreigners-from-
hiring-surrogate-mothers

7.12 SUGGESTED READINGS

Aneja, Anu and Shubhangi Vaidya. Embodying Motherhood. New Delhi: Sage-
Yoda Press. (Forthcoming)

Krishnaraj, Maithreyi, Ed. Motherhood in India. New York: Routledge, 2010.

23.

Polatnick, M. Rivka “Why Men Don’t Rear Children: A Power Analysis,” in

Mothering: Essays in Feminist Theory. Ed. Joyce Trebilcot. Rowman &
Littlefield, 1983. 37.

Ramaswamy, Sumathi. “Maps and Mother Goddesses in Modern India” Imago

Mundi, 53 (2001): 97-114.

7.13 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) What impact do stereotypical gender roles have on motherhood practices in
India? Discuss with the help of suitable examples from day to day life.
2) Do you think that caste and class differences matter in terms of motherhood?
Explain with the help of examples that you may have come across.
3) Discuss some obvious links between patriarchy, capitalism and surrogacy
in your own words.
4) What do you understand by the notion of the mother-nation as ‘maternal
metaphor’? Explain in your own words.

37