Sharanya Vairam

WRITING SAMPLE (FROM RESEARCH DISSERTATION CHAPTER 2 AND CHAPTER 7) EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 2 The Role Women within the Caste System As has been mentioned earlier, women play an important role within the caste system and its continuity. Caste is reproduced through control over marriage, sexuality and reproduction especially of women. Women and their bodies become the platform for the operation of caste. They play the role of gatekeepers and reproducers of the caste system. In the sense, women due to their reproductive function, reproduce the population of their caste community. Additionally, due to their care giving role and role as primary socialisers of young members of the community, they pass on the norms, values and rules. These norms may not be fixed by them and may be fixed purely by the patriarchs of their community but they are responsible in their role as mothers to teach these to the next generation. Hence, the need to control women, their bodies and sexuality becomes important. The norm of endogamy is enforced very strictly on women especially women of the upper castes as has been pointed out by various scholars like Prem Chowdhry (1998), Uma Chakravarti (2003), Leela Dube (2005) and so on. While men are allowed to marry (even if it is to a limited extent) women from other castes especially those lower than their own, women are strictly prohibited from marrying men from lower castes. This is because upper caste women are seen as more vulnerable to self-pollution than lower caste women. Women are also seen as the carriers of honour or izzat of the community and are required to maintain high morality, and emphasis is placed on controlling and protecting their sexuality (Chowdhry 1998). This is also a reason why lower caste women are seen as less vulnerable to self-pollution because their caste communities have limited or no public honour, which is why women of lower castes are required to provide sexual services to men of upper castes (Dube 2005). In a setup such as this, arranged marriages become an important tool for maintaining the ritual purity of caste and this also explains why despite urbanisation and access to westernisation, the system of arranged marriage remains intact although with modifications overtime in its operation. This entire system of caste patriarchy rests on the foundation of materiality as much as on ideology. As Gail Omveldt notes (Chakravarthi 2002: 12), ‘caste is a material reality with a material base’ as is patriarchy. Caste system is rooted in ‘unequal distribution of resources and exploitative relations of production’ (Dube 2005: 224) and so is patriarchy which explains the inequitable nature of inheritance rights and distribution of entitlements for women. Secondly, the arranged marriage system is seen as a ground to augment one’s social status, so women are married into families which are better off than their own and this is a rich ground for dowry exploitation of the women’s families. Another important point to be noted is that while men, through their educational access, want to move out of their traditional/caste occupation, women are required to continue it like has happened with farming in Kerala where men are migrating to the Gulf to earn more money and women are taking over farming despite the decreasing returns in farming. On the other hand, when the family is facing financial distress women are expected to make ends meet by taking up menial jobs. Women are also required in many caste communities to build networks for the men of their family to carry on their occupation or to maintain their social status. Women are socialised with these values and norms from a very early age. They are prepared for their life after marriage of being the ideal wife and mother from their childhood through systems of disciplining and through the norms that they internalise. The way women are supposed to walk, talk, behave, eat, etc. are taught and indoctrinated from a young age. We are taught about mythological ideal women like Sita, Sati, Savitri, Kannagi and so on who are but creations of patriarchy. There festivals and rituals like Savitri Puja, Varalakshmi Viradham, etc. which celebrate these ideals as well as the greatness of women who can sit on the funeral pyre with their husband, wives who can fight tyrant kings and even death for the sake of their husbands, wives who can go through any hardship with their husband like to the forest for a prolonged period or pass the fire test to prove their chastity and faithfulness towards their husbands and so on. (Wadley 1977; Dube 1988, 2005) One does understand that caste patriarchy is a system that is based in hierarchies, inequalities and inequities but that women are subordinated in these systems but still neither system is completely broken and women are complicit within these despite all the struggles and movements that have been launched to contest these systems. On such movement is the SelfRespect Movement in Tamil Nadu which will be discussed in the last section of this chapter. This movement had its successes but could not completely break away from any of these systems and one of the main reasons for this was that women are complicit within these systems and structures that dictate their lives. Then, one needs to raise the ‘why’ question. This is because for any system of power and control to sustain itself, the power cannot be entirely vested in a few hands and the rest are completely powerless so to say, there is a uneven distribution of power but almost everyone will have some power. So is the case with caste and patriarchy. Women get some power and economic benefits especially when they follow norms and are in general compliant whether it be staying in complete seclusion throughout their lives like the Kottai Pillaimar women (Ganesh 1989) or remaining partially secluded during menstruation and birthing or giving up one’s share of inheritance in favour of one’s brothers. This aspect shall be dealt with in greater detail in Chapter IV. EXCERPT FROM CONCLUSION CHAPTER As has been discussed above and in chapters V & VI, there are ideological and material transactions that are taking place. But what one needs to note here is that ideology and materiality cannot be separated and seen as different categories; they are inseparable. Figure 7.2 depicts this relationship between ideology and materiality. For example, the transactions that happen in the Nagarathar marriage market, as discussed in Chapter V, at the outset are ideological transactions wherein the patriarchally embedded ideology about the marriageability of women and men get transacted and the transactions that happen in during the marriage in the form of Seerdhanam is seen as a material transaction wherein commodities are exchanged. But one cannot separate these are purely ideological and material transactions because in defining marriageability, one is looking at the materiality of the body itself while spelling out the beauty ideals or physical appearance of an eligible individual. At another level, the absence of desirable qualities in a bride is made up with a larger amount of Seerdhanam and vice-versa. Additionally, the economic status of the family seeking alliance plays a major role in the marriage market. Figure 7.1: Materiality and Ideology