SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

ASSIGNMENT

NAME- KRITIKA PATHAK ROLL NO-2024/52 SEM-2

What is the sociological relevance of feminist insights in the understanding of

“Everything that has been written by men about women should be viewed with suspicion,
because they’re both judge and party”

-Poulain De La Barre

Patriarchal understanding of family and marriage in the Indian context has been widespread
and dominant, and it serves like a twisted reality against all the problematic norms- it
strengthens the misogynist ideals by romanticising sacrificial and suffering female members
of the household. Divorce, singlehood, or childlessness often attracts stigma for her only. On
the other hand, it is relatively new to come across feminist insights on the same- which
unravel the problem in a very elaborate way by linking patriarchy with other social structures.
They underpin how the system altogether functions to serve ‘privilege’ to man, while
‘responsibility’ to the women by assigning roles and expectations in a way that benefits men
while making women accountable for sustaining the system.

So, beginning with the feminist insight of Renate Bridenthal in ‘The Family: The View from
a Room of Her Own’, she goes on to describe family as a deeply personal and emotional
institution for everyone, as it is where we first experience all the emotions that make us a
social animal. People typically expect families to provide a sense of security and togetherness
and it has been hence called as “a haven in a heartless world”. However, feminism has
questioned and definitely toppled this convention.

By the early 20th century, feminists began to focus on the role of women within the family,
particularly in relation to their legal and customary rights. This became central to feminist
discourse, and many argued that the position of women in the family was a key issue in large
transformations happening at that time.

Feminist scholars have significantly shifted our understanding of the family by focusing on
women's roles, asking new questions that were previously ignored, and acknowledging the
family's complex social and political dynamics.

The new perspective leads to asking, "What does the family do for women?" rather than just
"What do women do for the family?" Feminists also question the concept of "motherhood"
which is seen as a natural role, and how a woman will be deemed as an incompetent mother if
she doesn’t love the children unconditionally. Feminists have also analysed the economic
value of unpaid housework, and how it is normative to undervalue that work and be
inconsiderate about the double burden on women. Family is also shown as a Political Arena,
where there are fights over resources, control, and decision-making. They have demonstrated
that the personal is political, meaning that personal experiences within the family are deeply
influenced by larger social, economic and political forces.

Next, we see how Leela Dube provides insight on Indian kinship systems through her work
‘Women and kinship: perspectives on gender in South and South East Asia’. She begins with
telling how a woman’s womb is seen as earth and the semen of man as seed and most
patrilineal societies (such as Indian societies) identify such relations. Male folks regulate the
sexuality of women by marrying them off in appropriate groups. Marriage is associated with
destiny. The Woman has to move into a family of complete strangers. The mother-in-law
takes up the responsibility of making the newlywed girl unlearn everything and learn new
rituals of her new home within a short period, which demarcates a struggle for the girl. But
these things become easier as the girl marries in the household of her mother’s brother
(matrilineal system followed in south India).

The marriage arranged by father/brother is considered to be the most apt. Property is

She further showed that women’s economically valuable work often remains invisible and is
taken for granted. In agriculture, women contribute significantly but are rarely recognised or
allowed their own incomes. Even today in the presence of legal measures granting daughters
equal rights to inheritance, it is not considered morally appropriate if a daughter ever asks out
her share, and she can face turmoil in her relationship with family members if she does so.

Moving on to Roger and Patricia Jeffery’s ‘Women’s Agency and fertility’, they break down
this system further by taking up case studies. In rural areas, it is not necessary for the girl to
know who their husband is going to be. This raises the question of autonomy, that how she’s
not even allowed to exercise her own choice. North Indian societies are patriarchal, patrilocal
and patrilineal.

Marriage is often used here as a tool to preserve social hierarchies and community identities.
Families, kinship networks, and even the state closely regulate marriage practices to ensure
social continuity. Studies from regions like Bijnor reveal how communities such as Jats and
Sheikhs continue to arrange marriages within strict community norms, often favouring
patterns like early marriage, large age gaps between spouses, and strong expectations of joint
family living. If the woman speaks up, it is associated with shamelessness, while her silence
is considered as faith in the decision making of elders. These arrangements, while seen as
normal, deeply affect women’s agency.

Feminist scholars have also brought attention to how marriage systems place economic
pressures on women’s families, particularly through practices like dowry. Among Jats, the
burden falls heavily on the bride's family to seek out a groom and meet his family's demands,
reinforcing gendered economic inequalities. Cash dowries are rare among Sheikhs, though
dowry-related anxieties are growing across communities. Moreover, differences in marriage
distances affect women’s support networks: Jat women often move far away from their natal
families, while Sheikh women tend to stay closer to home. These dynamics impact woman
post marriage. Even in fertility decisions, women’s agency is limited. Jat Women rarely used
contraception without at least the approval or involvement of their husbands. The role of
mothers-in-law was often oppositional, especially in joint households where elders hoped for
more children, ideally more sons. Still, many couples went ahead with contraception. While
the Sheikhs believe that having children is totally up to Allah, so they believe interfering with
his will (supporting sterilization) is a sin which could even deny them entry into Paradise.
Hence, a woman's ability to exercise her agency is deeply limited by cultural norms, and
dominant patriarchal ideology.
Finally, we consider the views of Rajni Palriwala and Ravinder Kaur in ‘Marriage in South
Asia: Continuities and Transformations’. They deepen our understanding of family and
marriage in India through the fact that even today caste endogamy and gender roles are
strongly practiced, even in lavish weddings. In South Asia, marriage becomes a mere medium
to gain legitimate male heirs for inheritance and reinforce patriarchal order. Daughters are
compensated through dowries.

Social norms discourage daughters from asserting inheritance claims from fear of damaging
familial relationships. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 granted daughters the right to
inherit property. Despite many such legal reforms related to inheritance, dowry, and marital
violence, marriage still continues to haunt women by dowry pressures, bride burning, lack of
autonomy and economic dependence. Women’s organisations and feminist groups continue to
advocate for not just legal reforms but also reforms in the system of marriage to make it more
inclusive and love centric, in contrast of the dominant arrange marriage system.

Summing up, these were the few feminist works that gave us a nuanced understanding and a
mind-boggling dimension to look towards marriage and family in the Indian context.