Fertility and Familial Power Relations by Minna Saavala

Author:Minna Saavala [Saavala, Minna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136856631
Google: -kciiez1FiEC
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 5468591
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2001-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

EVERYDAY FORMS OF RESISTANCE

When speaking about gender asymmetry we need to be analytical and make a difference between relative prestige, i.e. status; domination, i.e. legitimate control over women’s behaviour; and feminine de facto power, i.e. the capacity to exert influence which may not be openly acknowledged (Ortner 1996: 140). Even when cultural representations of women clearly state women to be of lesser value than men, and even when domination by men is regarded as legitimate (as the above examples show), women may still use their wit to manoeuvre situations to their advantage rather than remaining helpless victims. The stress in current research on the ‘weapons of the weak’ should not reduce the analytical importance of structural power asymmetries – gender relations can only be understood by looking exactly into the interaction between actualized power and legitimate domination and prestige.

In practice most women, after becoming mothers, gain in position and strength vis-à-vis their husbands in the familial sphere, and even the women who are at times beaten by their husbands can be said to have the upper hand in the sphere of the kin group and familial everyday life. This is why it is not accurate to speak about women as less ‘powerful’ than men in South India; despite the constraining dominance by men, or even because of it, they manage to have a decisive say in some matters (cf. Ortner 1996: 140). It is usually women who shoulder the main responsibility for keeping up kinship bonds, who negotiate marriages, prepare rituals, handle household budgets, take charge of their children’s schooling, look after domestic animals, take the sick to a doctor, and keep the household members clean, clothed, and fed. Most husbands are simply asked to confirm choices concerning marriages, household budgets, children’s schooling, etc., although there are also men who take an active part in negotiations of this nature. Women are restricted in their participation in political decision-making and markets, and their movements outside the familial sphere are limited, especially among caste Hindus. However, they use whatever means they have at hand to dominate men in familial relations in order to secure authority, respect, food, and money.

This does not mean that rural mothers are all-powerful heroines who sneer at the ideology of feminine inferiority. The idea of inferiority and lower value of women in general is part of their self-understanding and identity, but it does not prevent them from exerting their influence in the familial sphere and becoming at times important figures in the village scene. The use of ‘weapons of the weak’ – gossiping, pouting, denying proper food or sex, slowing down actions, not passing on information, quarrelling, etc. – are not geared to building up a dissident mentality among women (cf. Scott 1990), but simply to maximize their space for manoeuvre in a situation where gender relations per se are unchallenged and where they want to be regarded with respect as fulfilling the ideals of womanly life. Ravindran (1999) found in 15 Tamil villages that women were far from challenging gender ideology in interviews, despite disapproving systematic male violence.

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