Q: Discuss the material basis of patriarchy as an ideological system.

Model Answer:

Patriarchy is not merely a cultural belief system but is deeply anchored in structural realities. Friedrich Engels historically linked women’s subordination to the emergence of private property. In the Indian context, feminist sociologist Kamla Bhasin defines patriarchy as an ideology of male superiority fundamentally sustained by a material system where men control property, resources, and women’s labor.

Material Foundations of Patriarchal Ideology in India

• Land and Property Ownership: Bina Agarwal, in A Field of One’s Own, argues that the systematic exclusion of women from arable land ownership is the strongest material basis of South Asian patriarchy, fostering ideologies of female dependency and male superiority.
• Kinship, Patriliny, and Patrilocality: Leela Dube highlights the “Seed and Earth” metaphor in Indian kinship. The ideology positions men as the “seed” (owners of lineage) and women as the “earth” (mere vessels), legitimizing the material reality of passing property only to sons. Furthermore, the material reality of village exogamy (loss of female labor) births the ideology of daughters as “Paraya Dhan” (another’s wealth).
• Caste-Property Nexus: Uma Chakravarti’s concept of “Brahmanical Patriarchy” explains that strict ideological control over women’s sexuality is materially driven by the need to maintain caste purity and keep property within the endogamous caste group.
• Control over Labor: Maria Mies, studying the Lacemakers of Narsapur, demonstrates how capitalist patriarchy extracts cheap female labor through the ideology of “housewifization”, treating their economic output as mere leisure.

Debates on Kinship and Materiality

• The Matrilineal Paradox: Contrasting North Indian kinship, Khasi matrilineal societies pass property through women. Yet, Tiplut Nongbri notes that ideological and political control remains with men (maternal uncles), proving patriarchal ideology’s complex entrenchment despite material variances.

• Unpaid Labor: The NSSO’s Time Use Survey (TUS) reveals Indian women perform nearly 10 times more unpaid care labor than men, forming the hidden material base of the patriarchal economy.
• Legal vs. Ideological Reality: Despite the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 granting equal coparcenary rights, patriarchal ideology (dowry as substitute inheritance, fear of severing sibling ties) prevents women from claiming these material rights.

Conclusion

The material and ideological bases of patriarchy are dialectically linked. Dismantling it requires a dual approach: securing the material base through actualized property rights and financial inclusion, alongside ideological transformation through intersectional feminist movements, as advocated by Sharmila Rege.