WOMEN IN FAMILY

AND MARRIAGE: GENDER ROLE

DIVISIONS, INVISIBILITY OF
WOMEN’S ROLE
In every society there are certain basic social needs, and it is
a must for that society to meet these needs for the survival
and satisfaction of its members. In each society, therefore,
people create social institutions to meet these needs. What is
an institution? The sociological concept of the term is different
from its common usage. An institution is not a building; it is
not a group of people; it is not an organization. Institutions are
structured processes through which people carry on their
activities.
According to Horton and Hunt (1980), An institution is an
organized system of social relationships which embodies
certain common values and procedures and meets certain
basic needs of the society.‘ Five important basic institutions in
complex societies are the family, religion, political order,
economic, and education. In this unit the focus is on women
in family and marriage, gender role divisions and invisibility of
women‘s role
 WOMEN IN FAMILY AND MARRIAGE
The family is the most basic of all social institutions. It existed among our
ancestors long before the human species evolved to its present physical form, and
it remains the basic social unit in every society. The family institution is universal,
but its composition and structure differs from society to society and from time to
time. The family is an intimate primary group, a socially approved organization for
meeting specific human needs. It is a social group characterized by common
residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes at least two adults
of different sexes (these days it can be the same sex also) who maintain a socially
approved sexual relationship and have children-their own or adopted.
 WOMEN IN FAMILY AND MARRIAGE
Characteristics of the Family First, family consists of a group of people who are in
some way related to one another. Second, its members live together for long
periods. Third, the adults in the group assume responsibility for any offspring.
Fourth, the members of the family form an economic unit – often for the production
of foods and services (when the members share agricultural tasks) and always for
the consumption of goods and services. We may say that the family is a relatively
permanent group of people related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption, who live
together and form an economic unit and whose adult members assume
responsibility for the young
We lead our lives in two kinds of families. One is the
family of orientation, into which we are born(where he/she
has a father, a mother and siblings) and the other is the
family of procreation(where he/she has spouse and
children), which we later create ourselves.
In every society marriage is the foundation of the family.
Marriage is a socially approved sexual union of some
permanence between two or more people. The rules and
regulations which deal with the regularization of sex life of
the human beings come under the purview of the
marriage institution
Social anthropologists and sociologists have tried their
hand to work out a universally acceptable definition of
Marriage, but have failed in this exercise .Marriage is
culture specific The rules and regulations relating to
marriage differ from one culture to another. We can
identify certain basic features of this institution.
1. A heterosexual union including at least one male and
one female.
2. The legitimizing or granting of approval to sexual
relationship.
3. A public affair rather than private matter.
4. Rules which determine who can marry whom.
5. A binding relationship that assumes some
permanence.
These feature show that boundaries of marriage are not
always precise and clearly defined. It is, however, a very
important institution for society as it helps in the
replacement of an old and dying population. Marriage is
an institutionalized relationship within the family system. It
fulfils many functions attributed to the family in general.
The birth of a new child in any society inevitably affects
the rights and privileges of other members. Some assume
new obligations, others may gain new rights. The
prospects of others are altered with respect to such
matters as inheritance, succession and marriage.
Patriliny Patriliny means tracing the descent exclusively
through the male members of a family. It is also called
Patrilineal. Under the patrilineal descent, the child is
affiliated to the consanguine kins of the father. In such a
case, the child is known by the name of the father. As a
result, patrilineal groups have at their core a set of men
linked by male descent to a common ancestor.
This does not mean that a person has no interaction with
his mother‘s relatives, but these relationships are distinct
from and subordinate to his ties with his patrilineal
kinsmen. The eldest male member is the owner and
administrator of the family property, all persons living
under his roof are subordinate to him. He presides over
the religious ceremonies of the family and he is the
guardian of the family Gods
Unmarried women belong to their father‘s kinship group in
a patrilineal system,but the status of wives varies from
society to society. Sometimes they retain membership in
the kin groups of their father‘s and sometimes they join
their husband‘s groups
Matriliny - Matrilineal system reckons kinship through the
female line. The core of these groups is a line of females
descending from common ancestress. In a matrilineal
society, women generally have greater autonomy than
their counterparts in male dominated societies. The
woman in a matrilineal society represents the clan and
her children carry on the name of her clan.
Males generally belong to the lineage of the mother, as do
all the females. The children are known by mother‘s
name. In this form of family, authority vests in the eldest
female and the rules of descent work through her. She is
the owner of the property.
The main characteristics of this form of family are:
1. Descent is traced through the mother and not the father.
2. In most cases, though not always, descent is associated with
matrilocal residence.The husband sometimes is merely a privileged
visitor and, in this respect, has a secondary position in the home
where his own children live.
3. Authority within the family belongs to the husband and to some
representatives of the wife‘s kin, often the mother‘s elder brother.
4. Such families are predominantly agricultural and have a division of
labour in which women perform many of the key tasks.
Gender roles are a specific set of social and
behavioural actions which are considered to be
appropriate for the given gender. The concept of
gender roles has been developed from the work
of Caroline Moser.
Reproductive Role
Childbearing/rearing responsibilities, and domestic
tasks done by women, required to guarantee the
maintenance and reproduction of the labour force. It
includes not only biological reproduction but also the
care and maintenance of the work force (male
partner and working children) and the future work
force (infants and schoolgoing children).
Productive Role
Work done by both men and women for pay in cash
or kind. It includes both market production with an
exchange-value, and subsistence/home production
with actual use-value, and also potential
exchangevalue. For women in agricultural
production, this includes work as independent
farmers, peasant wives and wage workers.
Community Managing Role
Activities undertaken primarily by women at the
community level, as an extension of their
reproductive role, to ensure the provision and
maintenance of scarce resources of collective
consumption, such as water, health care and
education. This is voluntary unpaid work, undertaken
in 'free' time
Community Politics Role
Activities undertaken primarily by men at the
community level, organising at the formal political
level, often within the framework of national politics.
This is usually paid work, either directly or indirectly,
through status or power
Multiple Roles
Both men and women play multiple roles. The major
difference, however, is that Men: typically play their
roles sequentially, focusing on a single productive
role Women: usually play their roles simultaneously,
balancing the demands of each within their limited
time constraints
In this socialization process, children are introduced to certain
roles that are typically linked to their biological sex. The term
gender role refers to society‘s concept of how men and women
are expected to act and how they should behave. These roles
are based on norms, or standards, created by society. In Indian
culture, masculine roles are usually associated with strength,
aggression, and dominance, while feminine roles are usually
associated with passivity, nurturing, and subordination. Role
learning starts with socialization at birth.
In most of the societies the family systems are based on the gender
roles and it is the predesigned gender roles that help members of the
family to run the family with bound responsibilities. Even when parents
set gender equality as a goal, there may be underlying indications of
inequality. For example, when dividing up household chores, boys may
be asked to take out the garbage or perform other tasks that require
strength or toughness, while girls may be asked to fold laundry or
perform duties that require neatness and care. It has been found that
fathers are firmer in their expectations for gender conformity than are
mothers, and their expectations are stronger for sons than they are for
daughters.
Gender socialization occurs through four major agents of
socialization: family, education, peer groups, and mass media.
Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining
normative expectations for gender-specific behaviour. Exposure
also occurs through secondary agents such as religion and the
workplace. Repeated exposure to these agents over time leads
men and women into a false sense that they are acting naturally
rather than following a socially constructed role.
Check Your Progress –
(i) What do you mean by Gender Role?
(ii) List out the various types of Gender Role