From feudal to colonial patriarchy

There have always been didactic books for the general edification of all and sundry like Daniel Defoe's, The Family Instructor, but these were mostly on how to live the religious life.

But in the mid-19th century there was a spate of books of a secular nature targeted at women. Interestingly, this was a worldwide trend.

Two related questions arise as a result: why and where. The answer to the first question was that more women were becoming literate and the social order was changing in England and America.

This social order was changing in England due to the fruits of the Industrial Revolution as well as the colonial super-profit spin-offs; in America it was due to the effects of increasing industrialisation, after independence, the Monroe Doctrine, and the ensuing "splendid isolation".

The spoils of colonialism filtered down, so some of the lower orders were able to rise in the social hierarchy and have more money too. Coupled with this was the increasing knowledge of hygiene.

This energised some people to write "how-to" books dealing with, nay, professing, the one right way to keep clean and beautiful kitchens, for one, what fork to use for which dish, as well as on general etiquette. In England and America the two most popular books were authored by, were about and for, women.

Not so in India, where social change was due to our being colonised and the resultant migration from rural to urban by mostly the young man and, some time later, of his wife. The wife was then required to set up home in strange surroundings and venture out at times to the nearby market of the newly bustling cities.

In India these books were written by men for their womenfolk. Once again it is indicative of the increasing literacy of women, although these books were written in simple and less sankritised regional languages to be easily understood by neo-literate women.

These books attacked and sought to break the hold of the elder womenfolk of the traditional household. The point was drilled into the female readers that they may only take their lead from their pati parmeshwars.

So instead of the hordes of biddies that always had a say, and negatively at that, against the young brides, now it was only their husbands who were to be their masters.

Not surprisingly, since the books were authored by people-like-their-husbands the writers were often of Brahmo and always of bhadralok extraction.

There were some such works penned by women too and they were a tad less coy than those by men. The male writers never openly criticised the mother-in- law of the female reader and certainly left her father-in-law completely out of their ambit.

The one work of this genre written by a woman, referred to in this book, was quite candid on the traditionally reactionary and hostile role played by the mother of the husband.

The works were quite popular. After all, they released the tedium of young wives of having to obey the full contingent of harpies that were to be found in every Indian home, and so, they now had only a single focus, their husbands.

The shift for the wives was, if we may so put it, from feudal patriarchy to a colonial one. And yes, it did bring some semblance of rationality and this-worldliness into the bahus' lives, which were earlier based often on meaningless rituals and star-struck spiritual mumbo jumbo.

There were colonial works meant for the British women in India, too. They revealed the secret arts of dealing with Indian servants. These works became the bases for similar works back home in England.

This reminds one of what Gauri Viswanathan writes in her "Masks of Conquest" of how the school system in British India became the forerunner and basis of the school system in England.

The books were reformist at best. On facing traditional resistance by the ancien regime the brides were instructed to only ignore it. They were not required to reason out with tradition. Thus, the empowerment that should have come with the new life was conspicuous by its absence.

There must have been a lot of barbs against the new fangled ways of the times. In this too, neither the books nor the older women ever confronted the men and the poor hapless bride was left to her own devices.

The resistance was high because it was a full-fledged power struggle on the territory in the shape of the young man who was the bone of contention, for it was only through him that the reins of the house were to be secured.

While the book is interesting in that it highlights an aspect of our and specially our women's history, it could have been more comprehensive. It emphasises Bengal and a bit of Maharashtra, with barely a single mention of Muslim India.

Thanawi's "Bahishti Zevar", with its emphasis on literacy for Muslim women and their rights conferred by Islam vis-à-vis their husbands, such as they were, was very important and should not have been relegated only to the Bibliography

The book could have done with some more editing in terms of proof reading in the earlier pages and also the repetitions throughout. Also, either the font size or the spacing between the words is not quite right. You get the sense that the publisher has squeezed more words on each page than is normal.

DOMESTICITY IN COLONIAL INDIA
Judith E Walsh
Oxford University Press
Price: Rs 525