Professional Documents
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3a. On The Construction of Gender - Leela Dube
3a. On The Construction of Gender - Leela Dube
T H E process of growing up female in the the essencewhile the woman provides the underlying the ideas and behaviour of the
patrilineal, patrivirilocal milieu of Indian field which receives the seed and nourishes people. Their close relationship with religion
society has received inadequate attention it. A child shares the father's blood. Thus, as it is lived and practised by the people does
from social scientists. The many subtleties while the natal group emphasises woman's not need emphasis. The specificity of a kin-
and complexities of the process have been transferability or her non-functional nature ship system is crucial for understanding the
missed out. What docs it mean to be a girl? from the point of view of perpetuation of process of socialisation. This is, of course,
At what age does a girl become conscious the group and continuity of the family, the not to deny the need to examine the various
of the constraints under which she will have husband's group emphasises her instrumen- inter-linkages between the individual
to live, of the differential value accorded to tality, her place as a receptacle, a vehicle for household and the wider structures and pro-
male and female children, and of the justi- the perpetuation of the group. This social cesses of society; the recognition of the im-
fications behind it? When and how does she arrangement in which men and women have portance of the specificity of kinship is
learn the content of roles appropriate to her? unequal rights, positions, and roles, both as crucial for such examination.
What are the mechanisms through which brother and sister and as husband and wife, Finally, family structure and patterns of
women acquire the cultural ideas and values is perceived as corresponding to the arrange- kinship are tied to the institution of caste.
that shape their images of themselves, and ment of nature which assigns unequal roles In the caste system the fact that membership
inform the visions they have of the future? to the two sexes in procreation.' of discrete and distinct groups is defined by
How do they acquire sensitivity towards the (lender roles are conceived, enacted and birth entails a concern with boundary
contradictions in values and norms pre- learnt within a complex of relationships. To maintenance through regulation of marriage
sented to them and towards the limits within understand this process it is necessary to and sexual relations. Although group place-
which they have to function, necessitating keep in mind the implications of the family ment in most of Hindu India is governed by
the adoption of particular strategies? In structure and the wider context of kinship the principle of patrilineal descent, in the
other words, how are women produced as in which it is embedded. There arc two ma- attribution of caste status to the child the
gendered subjects? jor aspects of the implications of family caste of the mother is not irrelevant. The
This paper1 goes a part of the way in structure. A family structure, at a given point onus of boundary maintenance falls on
answering some of these qestions. I do this of time, is not just a function of demo- women because of their role in biological
by focusing on aspects of the process of graphy, it also reflects the rules of recruit- reproduction. Caste, then, imparts a special
socialisation of Hindu girls through rituals ment and marital residence and the nor- character to the process of growing up
and ceremonies, the use of language, and mative and actual patterns of rearrangement female in Indian society.
practices within and in relation to the family. of the family in the process of the replace-
1 have restricted my focus on the socalisa- ment of the old generation by the new. Se- THF MALE CHILD
tion of Hindu girls for two reasons: the first- cond, there is something beyond the actual
hand material on rituals and linguistic ex- composition of a family unit its 'configura- The recognition of the special value ac-
pressions, customs and practices which I tion of role relationships' and 'specific' and corded to male children comes early. While
could gather for the paper came mostly from 'objective' contribution of members to the. surrounded by affectionate and appreciative
Hindu informants or about Hindu girls; and business of livingthat goes into the appor- parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, a
my own upbringing in a Hindu family form- tionment of family resources, gender-based little girl of three or four may hear a
ed a solid base for collecting information and age-based division of work, and the con- maidservant exclaim: "Oh such a sweet
and for understanding and interpreting it. ceptions of, and training for, future roles of child. How wonderful it would have been if
The material used in this paper comes from male and female children. this was a boy?" This incident was narrated
various regions of India. While producing Kinship is not merely a moral code but to me by M K Chander of the University of
instances, I have, in the anthropological provides the organising principles which Mysore. The little girl in question was the
tradition, specified the region to which and govern the recruitment to and placement of second daughter of parents who were hoping
often the group to whom the ritual/custom/ individuals in social groups, formation of for a son. The happiness expressed all
practice relates. However, the spread of these the family and household, residence at mar- around at the birth of a son and the way the
rituals, customs, and practices is wider in riage, resource distribution including in- parents and the close relatives of the new
terms of geographical and social space; the heritance, and obligations and responsi- born are congratulated can hardly escape the
generalisations and inferences drawn from bilities in the business of living of individual attention of little girls. The desirability of
them have much wider applicability. members of the group. The notion of having sons and undesirability of having
It should be kept in mind that gender dif- entitlementto membership in a family, to more daughters is made explicit, often by
ferences that are culturally produced are, food and nutrition, to health care, to educa- outsiders: "Four daughters? Each one will
almost invariably, interpreted as being rooted tion, to authority and decision-making take thousands of rupees and walk out of
in biology, as part of 'the natural order of cannot be understood and a proper analysis the house. Bringing up a daughter is like
things'. To give one relevant example, in of family ideology is impossible unless we pouring water in sand'' Parents who have
patrilineal India the commonly-held idea take note of these aspects. Many of them only daughters are pitied. Their future is
regarding the roles of father and mother in may not be clearly spelt out; it is necessary, bleak for they will have no support or suc-
procreation is that man provides the seed therefore, to examine the assumptions cour in old age. A Telegu expression conveys