The introductory article in this series discussed the economic basis of the origin of patriarchy in society. It was shown how the rise of patriarchy is intertwined with the rise of class division in society. In this part we will try to understand the particularities of patriarchy under feudalism.
A feudal society is characterised by small-scale production, predominantly agricultural where the rights and duties of people are usually defined by their association at birth (e.g.- a child born in a Dalit family would have a certain caste occupation, mostly manual scavenging, fixed for them). In the Indian context, it is very important to understand the forms patriarchy takes under feudalism, since in India the absence of a democratic revolution has continued feudal relations in the society. With the rise in the stranglehold of feudal Manuvadi culture in the society under the Sangh Parivar, we see further degradation of the status of women in the society in the present times.
Looking back, in the subcontinent, the feudal mode of production consolidated around the 4th century CE. Under feudalism, the division of labour in the society in the form of caste system consolidated where Shudras and Dalits could be endlessly exploited by the higher varnas to generate surplus. The ideological justification for this ‘division of labourers’ came through Manusmriti that was drafted around the 1st century CE. Manusmriti formed the backbone of ideological subjugation that established a self-replicating hierarchy in the society for centuries. Manusmriti established the ideas of Dharma and Karma that pushes the responsibility of one’s current status in society to deeds from their previous birth. It also gave women the same status in society as Shudras.
In this context there existed a clear dichotomy in the expressions of patriarchy for the women belonging to the Savarna castes of the society (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya women) and the rest (Shudra and Dalit women). The Savarna women would be confined within the households under the supervision of their father, husband, son, etc. giving unpaid household labour, bearing and rearing the children, and becoming a Sati on being widowed. For the Shudra and Dalit women, the oppression would go beyond the drudgery of household labour as their labour would also contribute to the running of the family occupation, be it farming, artisanry, or cattle rearing. Even if the women were allowed to go out and work in the fields alongside their husbands, the labour put in by them would not be treated independently. Rather, the women would be treated as appendages to the men partaking in the same job. This helped feudal lords extract greater surplus out of the combined labour of the Shudra/Dalit men and women. Only half of the labour provided would be eligible for wages or it would be coerced through extra-economic processes possible due to the higher position of the landlords in the caste ladder. In very crude terms it may be said that women enjoyed the same status in society as cattle. They were treated as property devoid of any independent existence. It can be captured best in this quote from Manusmriti,
“Girls are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, women must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son as widows. In no circumstances is she allowed to assert herself independently.”—(Ch. 5, 154).
Another defining feature of feudal mode of production is the domestic scale of both production and consumption. In other words, the primary aim of production was local consumption, at a household level, or maximally at the village level. Unlike capitalism, there was no large-scale production for a national or international market. In such a situation, the sphere of domestic labour for women was broader. There would be no clear difference between her household labour ending and labour for social production starting. The ways in which feudalism gained from patriarchy were thus multifold. Patriarchal control was exercised both within the household and practised in the society as a whole.
Moreover, Manusmriti strictly prohibits inter-caste marriages, creating the basis for the continuation of feudal property relations among endogamous caste groups. Sexual exploitation of Dalit and Shudra women by men from higher varnas is a common patriarchal exercise under feudalism that continues to this day. Devadasi rituals, the right to exploit newly wed Dalit women by landlords that Naxals had to fight not too long back, etc., carry traces of feudal patriarchy that have continued.
With rising saffron fascist tendencies in India, women have been at the receiving end of rising patriarchal violence in society. Be it caste atrocities, sexualisation of Muslim women, promotion of patriarchal family values in the society, and legalisation of prohibition of inter-religious marriages, ostracisation of minority genders, etc., the RSS is leaving no stones unturned to push India into a dark age.
