Heinz-Murray 2E.book

Chapter 5 India 181

India has greatly improved the status of women, who may now be seen every-

where in public and in almost all careers, this section attempts to explain the

logic and workings of patriarchy in the traditional order.

Patriarchy

It is always culture that determines (i.e., constructs) what it sees as the

“nature” of men and women. Are men and women more or less equal, capable

of doing pretty much the same things and participating equally in society? Or

are men and women so different from each other that on every imaginable

scale—emotion, intelligence, capability, strength, shrewdness—they are oppo-

sites and must be assigned totally distinct and nonoverlapping roles in society?

Anthropologist Sherry Ortner has argued (1996) that it was the rise of the state

that produced the greatest extremes between men and women. In state societ-

ies, the patriarchal extended family emerged as the state’s lowest-level unit;

male heads of household were responsible for “their” women (and also junior

males). In many ways this was the first true emergence of patriarchy, or at least

its highest degree of institutionalization.

Daughters were useful for their potential in forming kinship alliances.

Among elites, the practice of marrying daughters upward in rank (hypergamy)

became a common ideal in marriage; you could raise your family’s status by

marrying your daughter to someone superior in status, thus forming alliances

with higher ranking families. The king set the pattern, accumulating wives partly

as one kind of treasure of the realm and partly as a way of making bonds of kin-

ship with subordinate chiefs whose loyalties were politically necessary. The

Mughal Emperor Akbar had 5,000 wives, obviously more than he could ever get

around to for erotic purposes. According to the A’in-i Akbari, “His Majesty forms

matrimonial alliances with princes of Hindustan, and of other countries: and

secures by these ties of harmony the peace of the world.” The account goes on to

describe the good order in the emperor’s enormous household; despite the assis-

tance of chaste women, writers, cash keepers, porters, and guards, “His Majesty

does not dispense with his own vigilance, but keeps the whole in proper order,”

a model for simpler patriarchal households throughout his realm.

This pattern generalized among elite classes. Along with the girl went addi-

tional inducements, gifts of dowry like land and jewels (and these days, con-

sumer goods). In this environment where brides are seen as a kind of gift, the

castes have numerous members who are also impoverished and could use help.
Brahmans across India, for instance, are frequently among the poorest villagers, even
though their status in the caste hierarchy is high.
This background explains why Hardik Patel wants his caste to be declared “Back-
ward” in order to have access to all jobs.

Source: Iyengar 2015.