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ABSTRACT
From an interpretation of gender relations in the Chhattisgarhi plains of central India, this paper contributes to theoretical debates on the regional geography of female autonomy and its economic or cultural underpinnings. It seeks to unpack the multi-layered dynamic of gender relations in Chhattisgarh that defy easy generalisation. Kinship systems for non-adivasi groups follow important ‘northern’ or exogamous principals, which are argued, by Dyson and Moore’s thesis, to be unfavourable to female power or autonomy. Counter-intuitively, gender relations are relatively egalitarian when judged by indicators such as sex ratio, and attitudes towards female sexuality or remarriage, while son-preference in the family composition finds a sharp expression. Whereas Chhattisgarh displays unique cultural characteristics, the dependence on women’s labour in the state’s rice-based agrarian economy may make women’s position less susceptible to subordination, and conceivably mitigate the predicted unfavourable-to-women effects of exogamous marriage.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Devanshi Chanchani is a social anthropologist with 12 years experience in international development research, programme management and teaching. Her research fields include global health and nutrition; early childhood development; environmental health and air pollution; gender studies; and politics of social welfare implementation. She is a visiting research fellow with the University of East Anglia. Devanshi is a Co-Investigator on new research funded by the Swedish Research Council titled – ‘Citizen science, environmental health and air pollution mitigation in India’ (2018-21).
Notes
1 Chhattisgarh was formerly part of Madhya Pradesh, and became an independent state in the year 2000. The village of the monograph lies in Chhattisgarh’s central plain, also the region of the field research presented in this paper.
2 Analysts agree that gender inequality finds a sharp expression in South Asia, and that Indian women are commonly subordinated. On the measurement of gender equality, see for instance, Kabeer (Citation1999); Mason (Citation1986); Smith et al. (Citation2003).
3 See for instance Harriss and Watson (Citation1987); Agnihorti (Citation2000); Murthi, Guio, and Dreze (Citation1995); Malhotra, Vanneman, and Kishor (Citation1995). Given the lack of region-specific data on kinship systems, the criteria used is often suboptimal. For instance, Agnihorti (Citation2000) places all districts that do not fall into the core Indo-Aryan exogamy model of kinship as ‘other’. Rahman and Rao (Citation2004, 243) argue that such indicators, based on limited data gathered by the census, often do not capture the complexity of kinship structures, social organisation or women’s empowerment, and often do not represent all the variables of importance, such as dowry, kinship and purdah that are relevant to the analysis as suggested by Dyson and Moore (Citation1983). Harriss and Watson (Citation1987) scrutinise the cultural and materialist explanations for north-south differentials in sex-ratio in light of available data, and conclude that neither materialist explanations based on women’s roles in agricultural production, nor cultural explanations linking female autonomy to forms of property control and transfer are fully supported by empirical material (114).
4 Most intensive engagement in Nariar and its region was between November 2011 and May 2012. The author has visited Nariar and its region every year between 2010 and 2016, and has between 2015 and 2016 conducted research across blocks and villages in rural Raipur district, and in Dhamtari district (also in the central plains). The wider research contact spans 8 villages in the region.
5 Source: Census of India 1931, Reproduced from Jaffrelot (Citation1999, 133). While the Socio Economic and Caste Census was conducted in the year 2011-12, data from this survey has not been released.
6 The Satnami movement, led by Guru Ghasidas in the nineteenth century, rebelled against the caste order and rejected Hindu deities, temples and the authority of the Brahmins (Dube Citation1998, 1). Many members of the Satnami sect were originally from the untouchable chamar or leather-worker caste.
7 Between 5 and 24 percent in the plains compared to the 50–75 percent in regions outside the central plains, and over 75 percent in Dantewada (Bastar). By the 2011 census Chhattisgarh had an ST population of 30.6 percent.
8 Under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1924. As the act was repealed in 1952 the tribes were ‘de-notified’. Household numbers do not readily map population of groups however, as the Pardhi typically live in nuclear households of smaller size than of caste households.
9 In Chhattisgarh the Pardhi have a marginal presence and villages in the block/district typically have no Pardhi population. By the 1991 census the Pardhi population was 13,045 in the state of Madhya Pradesh of which Chhattisgarh was part (Gautam Citation2011, 23). They have a larger concentration in neighbouring Maharashtra.
10 Kinship rules amongst adivasi communities in Chhattisgarh, as in many parts of India, are by consanguineous norms – preference of marriage partnerships between children of the mama-phuphu (‘mothers brother’ and ‘fathers sister’, i.e., cross cousins). As noted, the adivasi have a greater concentration in the northern and southern regions of Chhattisgarh. The Pardhi of Nariar prefer cross-cousin marriage.
11 It is reported that many of the upper caste communities are migrants into Chhattisgarh from the north, and hence have been outsiders to the culture.
12 For instance, while the Satnami are invited to a Yadav wedding and could be served dry snacks that may be bought from the store, they usually do not partake in the main meal cooked at home, or consume the primary staple rice (khana). Reservations in government jobs for Scheduled Castes have visibly worked to enhance social mobility in the region. It appears from observation however that in comparison to many other parts of India, inter-caste relations in the region are perhaps, historically, less unequal. Amongst other factors, reformist movements such as of Guru Ghasidas and of the Kabir pant may have contributed to relatively less unequal caste relations.
13 The author observes that while the Satnami and OBC differ in their absorption within the Hindu fold, they by and large share many gender characteristics.
14 The term sex ratio is used as commonly understood in India – number of females per 1000 males.
15 While NFHS 4 (2015–2016) summary statistics are now released, data disaggregated by sex is not yet available.
16 The natural SRB is known to have more males to females in environments where survival chances are more equal, such as in industrialized countries of the west. SRB in England and Wales is, for instance, 950 females per 1000 males between 2008 and 2012 (Dept. of Health. UK, May Citation2014). SRB figures are unfortunately unavailable for India.
17 The child sex ratio (not overall sex-ratio) is the most favourable to females among large states.
18 Apart from allocation biases, other factors that may influence sex ratios and health or nutrition indicators include migration and changes in the health environment.
19 Over interactions in Nariar and its larger region, the author came across only one case where a woman yet to bear a son underwent sterilisation. The decision was from medical compulsion - pressure from the biomedical health system to undergo it, as the mother was critically ill on the birth of a fifth daughter.
20 See for instance Williamson (Citation1983). Even the state of Kerala, which has an overall sex ratio with the most females to males (across states in India), displays a faint son-preference ().
21 A preference for sons going along with relative neglect of daughters is the widely observed and expected relationship, sharpest in northern India (Miller Citation1981, 83–106; Pande and Malhotra Citation2006; Dyson and Moore Citation1983; Jeffery, Jeffery, and Lyon Citation1989; Arnold, Choe, and Roy Citation1998).
22 See for instance Miller (Citation1981, 85) and Jeffery, Jeffery, and Lyon (Citation1989).
23 Literally meaning the ‘6th day’, this celebration of childbirth is held around or after the nerva (umbilical cord) drops (usually within 1 month of childbirth).
24 See for instance the ICRW report by Pande and Malhotra (Citation2006) for a discussion.
25 Three states in North East India – Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya – have more females to males in their child sex ratio than does Chhattisgarh. However these states are not comparable for the reason that they have very small populations (the three states put together have a population that is about 15% of Chhattisgarh). Moreover, they have predominantly Scheduled Tribe populations (and are hence more comparable to pockets with high ST population). Chhattisgarh is a large state, from the Hindi-speaking belt, and has a significant non-adivasi population. The near neutral overall sex ratio and the most females to males in the child sex ratios (among large states) are hence noteworthy.
26 Although the 2011 child sex ratio (0–6 years) has fallen 11 points to 964 from 975 in 2001, this shift may reflect survival improvements for boys with gains in the health environment given otherwise unchanging or even unequal nurturing inputs, as suggested by Agnihorti (Citation2000) and Agnihotri, Palmer-Jones, and Parikh (Citation2002). NFHS 2005–2006 figures also point to marginally greater male over female mortality. It is plausible that the weaker male infant is making survival gains in an improved health environment.
27 Other principles of northern kinship include cooperation among male kin through descent and that women generally do not inherit or carry property. For southern kinship, principles include male cooperation between kin related by marriage as well as decent, and women sometimes inheriting and transferring property (Dyson and Moore Citation1983, 43–45).
28 Adivasi groups, across Chhattisgarh prefer marriage between cross cousins (by consanguineous rules).
29 While in the region of Nariar, neither the Sahu, Yadav or Satnami communities reported preference for cross-cousin marriage partnerships for their communities, it was reported that the Devangan caste allowed cross cousin marriage. The author did not come across any cases of cross-cousin marriage amongst caste groups in the region. It is possible that other castes may have allowed cross-cousin marriage in the past, as there was recognition of the practice for the wider region. For the Pardhi, and other Chhattisgarh tribes including the numerically prominent Gond, kinship principles are ‘southern’. While maintaining clan exogamy, tribes display a strong preference for cross-cousin marriage.
30 Malhotra, Vanneman, and Kishor (Citation1995) compute ‘excess female migration’ as difference between the proportion of married females who are migrants and the proportion of married males who are migrants. They assume higher excess female migration to indicate greater village exogamy.
31 As noted, upper castes are in a minority (3.2 per cent across Chhattisgarh in 1931). They are, furthermore seen as migrants from the north. Mishra and Tiwari are prominent upper castes (Brahmins). The Kurmi, although officially OBC, have moved to dominant positions and are commonly considered equivalent to forward castes. These castes place greater value on the son and expect some dowry/payments from wife-givers as ‘tika’, or blessing.
32 In Nariar, families usually gave their daughters a TV, wardrobe, fan and bed on marriage, adding to this list a fridge, water-cooler and sofa-set if they have the resources. This transition to dowry-like gifts is noteworthy as it indicates some shift in the balance of marriage expenses that are borne by wife-givers.
33 See for instance Goody and Tambiah (Citation1973); Tambiah et al. (Citation1989); and Jeffery (Citation2014).
34 The idea of sukh and the rejection of kanyadaan is also discussed by Parry (Citation2001).
35 Suhaag implies that a woman is married and is sexually active.
36 There are differences between castes and sub-castes within the OBC (i.e., within sub groups of the Sahu and Yadav in Nariar and the wider region). Some among the Sahu reflect understanding of and practice some Brahmanical notions than do other groups. However, the adherence to the ideas kanyadaan represents – of donation, of one way gift-giving, and of renouncing parental claims over daughters - is absent for all communities.
37 In the region of Bhilai, about 75 km from Nariar, Parry (Citation2001) found that almost half the primary marriages amongst the Satnami had ended in divorce, and that majority of ex-spouses had remarried.
38 While rules allow remarriage, and marital breakdown is common, practical considerations such as fear of abandonment by husbands and difficulty in finding a future partner; financial considerations; and childcare responsibility often deter women from terminating a marriage. Although not statistically examined in this study, from a generational perspective, it may be that pressures on women to maintain a difficult marriage are greater in contemporary times.
39 See Parry (Citation2001) for discussion on how an increase in age at marriage has gone alongside an increased burden of protecting the virginity of daughters.
40 This appears to be connected to income or class status, as well as to individual household circumstances – such as gendered breadwinning roles and notions about honour and female position.
41 A process particular to the region called biasi.
42 In Chhattisgarh, sowing involves scattering rice seeds into fields (dry seeding) rather than transplanting.
43 See for instance Malhotra, Vanneman, and Kishor (Citation1995).
44 For instance, Raju (Citation1993, 12) cites the work of Barbara Miller, on West Bengal, where men perform the role of transplanting rice, an operation traditionally associated with female labour. Further she cites the case of Orissa, a rice producing state with relatively low rates of female labour force participation relative to other southern states (from the work of Bina Agarwal).