WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

IS SON PREFERENCE EMERGING AMONG THE NAYARS OF KERALA …?
lifelong security and shelter. They had considerable rights to terminate
unsatisfactory marital relationships and divorcees and widows could
remarry. Female seclusion was rare, enabling girls’ easier access to
schooling. Dowry was absent. Descent and inheritance along the
female line defined daughters as key members of the family. The birth
of a girl was a welcomed event. There was no structural basis to view
daughters as liabilities. According to Eapen and Kodoth (2003),
positive attitudes toward daughters emerged from matriliny.
This is further seen in the absence of any historical record of
female infanticide or abandonment in Kerala, in contrast to British
observers’ accounts of such practices in North-West India. There is
also an absence of rituals, customs, or proverbs reflecting greater value
of a male versus a female child (again in contrast to regions with son
preference). Instances to the contrary are found, as in a traditional
Theyyam (folk theatre) song, where a mother of ten sons yearns for a
daughter who will inherit the vast family wealth and provide her
spiritual liberation (Kodoth, 1998). The historical picture thus indicates
that son preference did not exist in late 19 th -early 20 th century Kerala.
Wider society in 19 th century Kerala reflected patriarchy as most
formal power structures were vested in males (though there were
instances of female royalty or heads of landed households). Though
lack of female seclusion facilitated girls’ access to formal education,
their professional work participation was not wide. Women’s societal
position in Kerala was differentiated by caste and class. Poorer women
worked as labourers, while more prosperous women focused on the
household. Higher caste Namboodiri (Brahmin) women in patrilineal
families practiced strict seclusion, while women and men in the lowest
castes were in slave-like arrangements with upper caste landowner
groups.
One of the most fundamental changes in Kerala was the legal
abolition of matriliny in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, arising
from a joint impetus from British administrators and Nayar men. The
former aimed to standardize legal and administrative procedures across
India, and also viewed matrilineal arrangements as irregular. The latter
perceived advantages to gaining direct control over property and
inheritance through stronger father-son and conjugal bonds, as
traditional military occupations declined and modern political and
social conditions emerged. Reducing the conjugal ties of Nayar women
and Namboodiri men also appeared relevant for the emerging Nayar
caste identity. Matriliny seemed to them out of step with these
modernizing realities. While some Nayar women supported continuing
matriliny, most remained silent on this issue in the public arena
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