Obedience to men forms an important aspect of
female socialization, and is expressed through
women being respectful and obedient to men. This
requires total submission to the will of men and eld-
ers, especially male elders. The message given to
every girl is that she should not answer back or
argue with her father or husband and should accept
her situation ungrudgingly. Avoiding the use of a
person’s first name is regarded as a sign of respect
and girls are taught not to address their husbands
by their first name, and to use the pronoun “aap,”
rather than “tum,” which signifies familiarity and
disrespect. Girls learn about the higher value of
men compared to women by observing and partic-
ipating in rituals and superstitions signifying male
superiority. Two goats are sacrificed at the≠aqìqa
(naming ceremony) of a baby boy but only one at
the naming of a baby girl. Married women try to
conceive during moonlit nights and sleep on their
right side to give birth to baby boys in order to
enhance their position in the family. Girls are for-
bidden from eating a twin growth of any fruit or
vegetable to avoid having a co-wife. Because poly-
gamy is permitted on the subcontinent, Muslim
women live in constant fear of their husband taking
another wife.
Formal education was traditionally not considered
necessary for girls. However, with the introduction
of British rule in the subcontinent, liberal-minded
men felt that girls could be given some elementary
education in order to bring up their sons to better
adjust to the changing society. In the early twenti-
eth century, separate girls’ schools were started
where girls woreburqa≠and traveled in covered
vehicles. The curriculum for girls’ schools was de-
signed to enhance only their role as mothers and
housewives. Textbooks were written exclusively
for girl students emphasizing female virtues of
chastity, sacrifice, submission, and obedience. In
recent years in urban areas co-educational schools
and colleges are becoming more common, although
separate girls’ schools and colleges also continue
and Muslims prefer to send their daughters to
them. Those girls who go to co-educational insti-
tutions follow the common curriculum, which
includessciences and computer training.
The mass media also reflect the social condition-
ing of males and females. Songs, dramas, and films
depict women’s helplessness, their dependence on
men, and their preoccupation with domestic chores
and the enhancement of their physical assets to
keep their husband’s attention. Television programs,
advertising bites, and exclusive women’s magazines
are full of fairness creams, slimming devices, and
beauty tips, in addition to recipes and home-making204 gender socialization
suggestions. These indirectly socialize girls and boys
into being different along conventional lines.Bibliography
Z. Bhatty, Socialisation of Muslim female child in India,
in K. Karuna (ed.),Socialisation, education and women.
Explorations in gender identity, New Delhi 1988,
231–9.
——, Fundamentalism, symbolism, and women, in S. M.
Naseem and K. Nadvi (eds.),The post-colonial state
and social transformation in India and Pakistan,
Karachi 2002.
A. A. Engineer, Islam,women and gender justice, New
Delhi 2001.
Government of India, Hindu women’s marriage act, 1955.
——,Hindu inheritance and adoption act, rev. version
1956.
R. Hasan, Feminism in Islam, in A. Sharma and K. Young
(eds.), Feminism and world religions, Albany, N.Y.
1999, 248–78.
Z. Hasan (ed.), Forging identities. Gender, communities
and the state, New Delhi 1994.Zarina BhattySub-Saharan Africa: Swahili SocietiesUnyagois an initiation ritual performed as part
of the socialization process in Swahili societies.
These societies along the coast of East Africa and on
the nearby islands have absorbed many different
cultural traits through close ties within Africa and
across the Indian Ocean. Girls’ initiation rituals
were introduced in Swahili societies by female slaves
from Tanganyika, Zaire, Mozambique, Malawi,
and Zambia who continued to perform their rituals
after they arrived on the coast. The rituals contin-
ued after slavery was abolished and women who
were previously freeborn joined the various ritual
groups, bringing their daughters for initiation
(Strobel 1979). Over the years, the rituals have been
modified according to social and religious customs
as well as to notions that were prevalent in the var-
ious Swahili societies (Caplan 1976, Larsen 1990,
Middleton 1992), together with the widespread
Muslim faith that constitutes a basis for a shared
moral code and cultural practices. Although several
virtues such as assiduity in religious devotion, for-
mal and religious education, generosity to the poor,
and hospitality are endorsed as important for both
genders, girls and boys from an early age are
assigned different activities and positions. While
girls are expected to be involved in domestic tasks
and the care of younger children, boys are sent out-
side to play with friends of their own age. In con-
trast to boys, girls are continuously reminded about
the significance of virginity and chastity (Caplan
1976, Larsen 1990, Topan 1995). When puberty