2 - Patriarchy, Inequality, and the Political Lives of Rural Indian Women

Summary

Chapter 2 defines and describes the manifestations of patriarchy and inequality in India. It describes the system of patriarchy in rural India and how widespread and entrenched patriarchal norms generate a patriarchal social order that centers on women in the household. It demonstrates how patriarchal norms have enabled the use of violence to control and dominate women, including by internalizing the acceptability of this means of coercion. It further highlights the role of legal and political institutions in perpetuating this social order. Finally, it documents the state of women’s and men’s political participation in rural India, revealing substantial disparities in political participation between men and women and, even more strikingly, between different forms of participation within women.