Contents & Foreword, Characterizing And ... - IRRI books

Table 1. Village characteristics of the research sites, 1995.Descriptors Chandpur Mungeshpur SariyawanDistance to Faizabad City (km) 3 km (near) 28 km (far) 28 km (far)Agroecology Shallow lowland and Shallow lowland Upland andsubmergence-prone and drought-prone drought-proneTotal cultivated area (ha) 54 62 70Land types (%)Upland 27 34 50Medium land 15 14 17Lowland 50 52 33Total number of households 200 150 120Total population 1,244 802 700Male 643 429 364Female 601 373 336Male/female ratio 107/100 115/100 108/100Population/land (persons ha –1 ) 23 13 10No. of primary schools 1 1 1No. of preparatory schools 1 – 0No. of tube wells 7 15 12No. of shops 20 10 5mine the roles of men and women (Mukhopadhyay 1984). Patriarchal ideology, dowryduring marriage, caste structure, and combined families are the social and culturalpractices that influence gender roles and gender relations, which in turn affect theintrahousehold resource allocation.Patriarchal ideology. The predominant force in the social organization of Indiansociety is patriarchy. Until 40 years ago, the legal status of Hindu women inIndia was based on laws dictated by the ancient Hindu lawgiver, Manu (first andsecond centuries AD). Briefly, the essence of Manu’s thesis was that women are supposedto continuously remain under some male authority, first under that of the father,then of the husband, and finally of the son. He prohibited widow remarriage, institutedchildhood marriage for girls, established the concept of dowry, and disinheritedwomen from their husband’s and father’s property. Though the Hindu Civil code of1956 has tried to eliminate many of these disabilities, the women’s movement inIndia still has a long way to go to rid the society of its oppressive customs (Ghosh1987).Land ownership. In India, the acquisition, ownership, and transfer of propertyare through the male members of the family. Women have little access to ownershipof land or other productive assets because of Hindu Inheritance Law, which entailspatrilineal transmission of property. Although the right to inherit property inpostindependence India had been assured to female members by law, the law itself isa compromise with the traditional position, which does not recognize a female’s rightto ownership of property. Furthermore, the socialization of girls within the partrilinealform of social organization ensures that women will not be in a position to claim theirlegal rights. A woman’s lack of education, lack of legal knowledge, and dependenceUsing gender analysis in characterizing and understanding . . . 345