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Examine ‘patriarchal bargain’ as gendered division of work in contemporary India. (UPSC CSE Mains 2017 - Sociology, Paper 1)
- A word coined by Deniz Kandiyoti, Turkish author and academic researcher in gender relations. Her definition explains patriarchal bargain as “The tactics women use to gain a greater degree of safety and sanctuary along with a limited sense of autonomy within the sex based oppressive structure of patriarchy”. Moral policing of daughters by mothers and mother-like figures is one of the many examples of patriarchal bargain.
- Women agree to the patriarchal system since they feel that the benefits which they get by complying surpass the benefits which comes from changing or challenging the system. Many women add to this system due to the biased placement they are given in the society.
- One reason women utilise this system because of the prejudicial stereotypes in the labour force. Most women in the labour force are often viewed or perceived as stereotypes such as a mother, sex objects, an iron maiden, or a child. Most women cannot get away from these perceived labels and thus fall behind in the labour force, having merely access to stereotypical womanly jobs because of the glass ceiling and glass walls.
- This system permits women to gain some movement in society by abiding to the gender norms and sexism imposed upon them since time immemorial.
- The concept of the patriarchal bargain challenges notions of biological determinism, as posited by scholars like G.P. Murdock, who argued that women’s physical weakness compared to men’s physical strength justified the gender-based division of labor seen worldwide. However, Deniz Kandiyoti’s work, as well as that of British feminist sociologist Ann Oakley, challenges this view.
- According to Ann Oakley, the sexual division of labor observed in various societies is not primarily rooted in the physical differences between men and women. Instead, it’s deeply embedded in the culture and beliefs of the society in question. The roles assigned to men and women are largely shaped by societal norms and expectations, rather than innate biological distinctions.
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