or ayBnosg 210% uowrom asoyp uoy m\ “Aamiuso yauaanauTy amp UT own qeBuog pozrueqan 4pssou Jo opr] 24p ur 2jdurexo poyjesed © spury osje Busuoseas jo pury sty, “Antuno> ayp yo suzed wiayznos uur sarisead yepand jo aau89p paonpos ax 01 paxeduroa se aonivead ‘ayn ‘uodn poruaunuos aze yepand jo2ouvasasqo ay ursaouas9yy1p : “yin 9joyis aq wuasoidas #8 JO 100] r nqusaujna yp o1 painqunie oq Aeus yepund jo sonsesd aya ‘ured ur ‘ogg "192109 10u 3 sued se poweai st pue ureys] jo awaape: ya uy “A8o]Oapr Zopusd jo siseq ays soamansuOD pu pur Apruney sauyjap osyeat‘sanaioos yeyosemrted 1 neuIpioqns ayeusa} Jo eap! atp seozoymas yepang -uraisAs je1o0s a]o\jat & Jo BAROIpUT s13Ng “WOIsND 10 ss9xp JO WIO} v Appiow jou st saununos ueisy Aureus ut yepsnd jo aonzesd oy] anf argo yepmg Suruonsang) rsursivy oy3 Sursery vo “6861 “UeyMeyY ‘seapeyy “ueUTERI2G ‘S'A "pa Mus tog Ceruoduiaquoc *sone0g iran, €spIEAO],, FUT PLBOYS “.6} “uuewoUrsH Plow Aye MON “HC FpPUPY “esPUIAAC "THOM “661 saW0D yoog jeme|> AUT (PCE aN “Kusoog 5s0q MpPuny uo sBasnedstog “pO “eqby ‘ney 166 “ads Ssxoystyqn ype MOY “(4z6t paysgnd asia) “Loong Ky “epewey ‘seq sooUDs9j>y juewom jeuon -uoauooun ue 10} advoso euonuaauos y “(9g1) sadeys peisdur UL say 02 awod |[eYS OY pos J9y ‘eUYsLEY, O2 pauam ays eyPEY pure ex ax] 2u0 Jorjaq-axeus ¥ Yates PFOA [eos ay pamanisqns WPT sary mur 7 THT244 / Jasbir Jain Caleutta to keep home for their menfolk, they led extremely restricted social lives on account of the hostile and strange environment, Patterns of behaviour of immigrant families, the increased ghettoism are all examples of similar situations where even if purdah is not manifest in the matter of clothing, it is perceptible in the unequal relationship which exists between different groups, no matter what the basis of the group formation, ismoney, political power, colour or gender. Purdah has many subtle forms and dressisthe most superficial and the most visible of these. Ideologically, purdah is the oldest form of colonization, of domination and of control. Here itisthe female body which acquires the metaphor of land, and itis thi body which needs to be controlled. Female bodies become w1 Foucault calls “docile bodies”. Susan Bordo, while commenting on the concept of femininity, points out that itis the female body “whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, improvement, Through the exacting and normalizing disciplines of diet, make-up, and dress—central organizing principles of time and space in the days of many ‘women—we are rendered less socially oriented and more centrip- etally focused on self-modification."* Purdah is based on the principle of inequality (not necessarily difference), and establishes itself on the dual strategy of control and exclusion. It defines space, action and relationships. Several varied systems of thought converge into this practice. The myths of creation which project women as secondary,} the projections of an after life in some religions where woman is viewed as an attendant upon male sexual appetite,* other mythologies which project woman as a source of temptation and a seduction,> the linguistic bias against women,‘ and the actual kinship patterns which treat women as objects of exchange and hence equivalent to property, requiring ownership and protection, are all indica- tors of female subordination. These patterns are not limited to India orto Asian countries but can be found in many societies and underlie other forms of inequality. A daughter in India cannot ask for hershare of the paternal property ifitis not being divided; Erasing the Margins / 245 and a victim of a rape could not ask for redress in nineteenth ‘century England, while her father could sue her seducer for the loss of her services and a husband could claim damages from his ‘wife’s lover? It is in this context—the subordination of the Ancient Hindu scriptures, law texts, conduct books demar- cate the division between women as wives and women as prosti- tutes. Women are respected provided they conform to the normative patterns defined by men. Buddhist literature and the Puranas have references to courtesans and sacred prostitutes. There is also the stillexistent practice of “devadasis” in Hi temples.* Sudhir Kaka i the prevalent idea that it social status on women, what is required is a faithful adherence to the codeof behaviour prescribed for herin the law texts. Kakar writes, “To be a good wife isto be a good woman” (56) and goes, on to explain by quoting Manu: “Though destitute seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good ‘qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife”, and “by violating her duty towards her husband, a wife is disgraced inthis world, after death she entersthe womb of ajackal and is tormented by the punishment of her sin” (62). Prostitution in the Puranas (Matsya Purana) is seen as a punishment for wayward behaviour.’ And while mistresses and concubines are viewed asthe property of one man, prostitutesare jewed as public women. These relationships, like that of the wife, are defined by the relationship to man. And implicit in this isthe idea of respectability being synonymous with male control and female submission, The centrality of man in this kind of framework can be seen in the legend of Ambapali (or Amrapali) born of a plantain tree in the mango grove of the Mahanama. ‘When she grew up to be a beautiful girl and her adoptive fatherone 246 / Jasbir Jarn began to look for a suitable match for her, the guna was sum moned. The guna informed him that an independent beautiful girl was for the pleasure of the entire guna and not for one man, hence ruling out the possibility of marriage for her (Chandra 25 26). This defines space which is available to women and the rewards and punishments associated with obedience and defi- ance. Purdah often talked about as modesty, ‘izzat ‘sharam, is symbolic of conformity, while the concept pendence, freedom and self are all relegated to a world o Related to this is the chasm in the cultural and educati avenues available to women in the two worlds. Wives are given 4 name, protection, respectability and children and deprived of access to education; prostitutes and devdasis in the traditional world had access to learning both of language and of dance and music but none to family life. Manusmriti deals with the different roles of women and the overall picture it presents of woman is as a person naturally soft and docile, irrational and vulnerable, easily distracted from the path of “virtue” and hence greatly in need of male conti i is necessitated by the need to protect her chastity as ‘ensure the purity of lineage. Thus it is the sexual role of woman which is to define her freedom, because for her the separation of sex for pleasure and sex for procreation cannot exist in one body as it does for the male who divides it between two women—the courtesan and the wife, The origin of purdah amongst the Muslims has had somewhat similar reasons like the safeguarding of female honour and fear of ‘male seduction. Shahida Lateef in Muslim Women in India traces the sanction of purdah to the verse from the Quran enjoining modesty: “Say to the believers, that they cast down their eyes... And say to believing women, that they cast down their eyes... 77)”. But there have been other accounts for it. Sir William Muir in his Lifeof Mabomet (London, 1877) referred to the story about Mohammed's one day surprising Zainab, the wife of his adopted son Zaid, in her house and being startled by her beauty, ex: claimed, “Gracious Lord! Good Heavens! How thou dost turn Erasing the Margins / 247 hearts of men!” When Zaid heard of this from his wife, he ptly offered to divorce her for Mohammed's sake." But iq Zakaria in Mubammad and the Quran refutes this version is of the view that Zainab, who was to become the Prophet’s fh wife, was unhappy in her marriage to Zaid, who was a elevated to the rank of an adopted son. The reason for her ippiness was the difference in status, and divorce was an stcome of this unhappiness (Zakaria 49-50). /hatever the origins, the truth of the situation is that purdah Bred on dacintnation ead hana long tradition in India belief. The varieties of degree are more on-based than religion-based and the differences on grounds black colour, but can be white or green, can use different res and materials, laces, embroidery, shapes and designs. ‘burqa, though used to hide beauty, can in itself be athing of uty, or can be baggy and shabby. As it can conveniently isguise the female body, it confers anonymity on it; it also ilitates mobility. It makes it possible for an area of privacy, swever limited this may be, and it also makes it possible for a stain position as an observer without being observed. Contrasted with this, the Hindu way of observing purdah is ither the ghunghat or the chaddar. The ghunghat does not confer jonymity to the degree that the burqa does; it also limits the role an observer and does not disguise the body. The chaddar can drab and unromantic, and specially when associated with idowhood, it can be particularly unaesthetic. Purdah in the se of being confined to domestic space can also be different in two cultures, The interaction between men and women ide a Muslim household may not be severely limited. Partly is is so because of the les restrictive kinship laws as martiage pween cousins is permitted. Shahida Lateef points out that purdah in a Muslim family is observed vis-a-vis outsiders (134). Zarina Bhatty in “Socialising of the Female Muslim Child” adds that when marriages ook place between cousins, “the girl hadthe248 / Jasbir Jain advantage of knowing her inlaws but not her husband since parda was observed between male and female first cousins also, a ‘male first cousin being a potential husband” (237). ‘The same may not be true in a Hindu household, specially an upper-caste one, where the observance of purdah falls to the portion of daughters-in-law. In several parts of he country it was and even now is “severe form of cloistering women”, in the interests of regulating “social interaction, the maintenance of traditional authority, and the solidarity of the extended family” (Minturn 73). Leigh Minturn in Sita’s Daughters has analyzed the tradition of purdah in Rajput families and the manner in which it restricts “interaction of wives with their husbands and other members of their husband’s household. These restrictions are designed to ensure that the alliance between husband and wi subordinated to the alliance of men with their consanguineous kkinsmen” (45-46). Resorted to within the family itis not only a segregation between men and women, but also symbolic of the hierarchical positions within the family amongst the women. As such the observance of purdah becomes a powerful instrument of controlling the “disruptive intrusions of brides into the extended family” which may undermine the position of the older women, like the mother-in-law or the aunt-in-law, and also prevents interaction with other male members like the father-in brother-in-law. In fact itisa double seclusion for the daughter law, fornot only is she disassociated from her parental family an childhood associations but also restrained from forming any new associations—except with the women of her own generation—in her husband’s family. Sudhir Kakar analyzing this situation comments: Communication with the older men is minimal it exists at all) personifies can perhaps best be suggested by questions such a8 the young wife cause her husband to neglect his duties as a son: brother? A nephew? An uncle? Will social tradition and family Evasing the Margins / 249 ssure be sufficient to keep the husband-wife bond from develop- ing to a point where it threatens the interests of the other family ‘members? (Gakar 63) Historically speaking various social conditions and living styles have been modified and changed to accommodate purdah ‘or to alter its practice marginally, to provide some extra space to the female sex. Architecturally traditional houses often have separate living quarters for women referred to as the ‘zenanas’, ‘with men spending most of their time in the front portion of the hhouse. In Bengal there has been the practice of antahpuras, literally meaning the interior of the house. This symbolized domestic space. Partha Chatterjee in his work The Nation and les ints out how the primary dichotomy between al reform move- ‘ments and with nationalist concerns. The British, Indian reform- ers submitted, had conquered the external world, but not the inner spiritual world. Chatterjee writes “The world isa treacher- us terrain of the pursuit of material interests, where practical conditions reign supreme. Itis also typically the domain of the male. The home in its essence must remain unaffected by the profane activities of the material world—and woman is its repre- sentation” (Chatterjee 120). “The freedom struggle led to the formation of purdah clubs enabling women to get together; there were purdah hospitals and even purdah parks. The Baptist Zenana missionaries were en- gaged in educational activities in purdah households and then various attempts were made to understand, accommodate or ‘even transcend purdah, Not that all these efforts were successful Purdah remains a reality in India to this day when the question of issuing identity cards to women with or without photographs hhas once again come to the forefront. Ironically enough nineteenth century reform movements worked in two different directions—one where the desire was to liberate women from the injustices and inequalities surrounding them and the other treating them as custodians of traditional250 / Jasbir Jain values. It is really questionable how successful these reform movements were. For one, they addressed themselves primarily to Hindu society. Widow remarriage and early marriages were specific to it as was the purdah in the extended family. Move- ments like the Arya Samaj and the Singh Sabha were fairly traditional in their value structures. And these reform move- ‘ments were in the main spearheaded by men. It was, as Partha Chatterjee points out, in its core “a male discourse” (Chatterjee 136) andthe dentsit made were within the hegemonic framework confirming the subordination of women with all the parapherna- lia of conformity and respectability. While the enforcement of purdah, and the stress on conven- tionality of dress and segregation of women or asceticism on their part wherein they acquire asexual virtues have been motivated by ideological reasons, the fallout of the purdah-mentality has been damaging to the development of both men and women. It is a denial of adulthood to women and shows “an appalling lack of faith in the higher and purer nature of menand women. The men seem tothink that the sight and companionship of women would tempt them beyond control. ..” (Cousins 46). Within the family, Jaiths and Susurs are viewed as potential seducers (Minturn 76). The practice of purdah and their extreme repression seemed to result in “a heightened consciousness of sex among Hindu ‘women, rather than the culturally approved sexless opposite” (Borthwick 19). A body which was desired to be made invisible actually acquired a certain visibility simply because it was being thought of as a body. It focused attention on it and consequently a heightened romantic and sexual awareness followed this self focusing on awareness which is reflected in literature and art. An early example of this romanticisation can be seen in the Urdu ghazal. Ghazal is an Arabic world which literally means talking to women. In societies where free interaction is not possible between young peopl and expressed through indirections, in *hushed tones, often with the aid of indirection and innuendo” (Kanda 4). Ghazals are ordinarily addressed to a male lover even when the actual Evasing the Margins / 251 addressee is a woman, And its navural sadness owesit origin to the frustrations of unrequited love. Films have helped further romanticise this tradition where young love is nurtured on _ghazals and mushairas and the young lover sings “dil alta hai to jalne de/ ansoo na baha, faryaad na kar/ Tun purdaimashin ka ‘aashig heb, yun namae wafa badnaam na kar.” & parallel trend can be seen in the Hindi bhajans specially Meera Bu’s like “ghunghat ka pat khol twjbe piya mile gain”. Muslim socials use purdah sivuations to create romance, mystery, and present unrequited Tove and fidelity for the inaccessible beloved, And because of the mystery of theunknown or the distantly watched beloveda great dealis made of the wedding night, with the eroticism of the suhaag raat bordering on the obscene in Hindi films. In language literatures purdah has had its own centrality so much so that in Krishna Sobti’s Miero Marja cover her head threatens masculine conti threat which is fel is from female sexuality which is acceptable in its maternal aspeets but notin the sexual ones. Again and again ‘writers address themselves to this problem in different ways and using different narrative strategies, in different kinds of narra- tives, defining space in their own terms and locating women in different situations. Purdah and the resistance to/violation of purdah are present in novels like Bankim Chander’s Rajmohan’s Wife and Indira, Tagore’s Home and Abroad, Sharat Chander’s Parineeta and a host of others. It is a major issue of controversy in Tagore’s Gora. The romance of the purdah is exploited even by the non-Asian writer and it lingers on in the bridge party in E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, and in Aziz’s relationship with his dead wife’s memory. MM. Kaye in Far Pavilions makes extensive use of purdah in the romance between Ash and the princess and later on uses it for the princess's disguise as an ‘Afghan woman. The plot is hinged on the purdah situation and more visibly on the burqa. Behind the romance of the purdah is its extreme restrictive and self-denying, and the hidden aspect ative nature of the attitude to sex. It hides behind the double moral standards as applicable to men and252 / Jasbir Jain ‘women, rape, incest and dependence. The movement away from purdah is a movement towards self-identity and freedom which, though highly desirable and worthy aims in themselves, are equally traumatic in their effects on women. They may often isolate them, lead to social ostracisation, may expose them . Doing away with purdah ideas of socializing, in family relationships and in the manner in ‘which women view themselves. These are required to enable the concepts of personhood and responsibility to grow, and for supportive systems to develop so that the joy of growing up, female can be truly felt. Notes ‘on the origins of the custom of seclusion of women in India. This discussion has varied from those who ascribe it entirely to the india (Menon, 1944: 4; Ward, 2, Susan R. Bordo, “The Body and the Reproduction of Feminini ‘A Feminist Appropriation of Foucault”, Gender/Body/Knot , . 1d Susan R. Bordo. New Brunswick: Erasing the Margins / 253 dismemberment: creates a second with whom he unites asa pai Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Pe mythology. Robert Graves in Penguin (1950) 1960, Vol. I writes: “Ancient Europe had no gods. ‘The great goddess was regarded as immortal, changeless, and id the concept of fatherhood had not been intro- fts to Zeus the Father of Heaven. |. Refer the idea of Zannat, the Mohammedan paradise which is projectedasa place inhabited by houris, celestial nymphs, beautiful and voluptuous. 5. Refer Menaka’s seduction of Vishwamitra. The meditation and asceticism of sages was often disrupted by this onslaught on their sexual natures. of History: Men’s Power, Women’s Resistance, London: Pluto Press, 1983. 8, Nareus B Fle, Te Wrong of Indian Womanhood (90) op ‘Quoted in Marcus B. Fuller, op.cit, p.79. 12, See Sunday Express, 23 January 1994, an Express News Service item “Thumb imprint will do for burqa-clad; EC” which expresses that254 / Jasbir Jain as “certain sections may be against getting themselves photo- sraphed! the Election Commission has taken care to “show relax ation in the case of burqa-lad Muslim women. .. Ina recent the commission said: In any area where—due to sentimental or ‘other reasons—electors are averse to being photographed, the thumb impression may be affixed to the card instead of the photograph. A similar exception may be made in the case of paradanashin women.” References Bhatty, Zarina. “Socialisation of the Female Child in Uttar Pradesh”, Socialization, Education and Women: Explorations in Gender Iden. tity, ed. Karuna Chanana, New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1988, R. "The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity: A Appropriation of Foucault”, Gender/ Body/Knowledge: Reconstructions of Being and Knowing, ed., Alison M. Susan R. Bordo, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Chandra, Moti. The World of Courtesans. Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1973. Chatterjee, Partha. The Nation and Its Fragments, Colonial and Postcolonial Histories. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994. Clark, Anna K. “Rape or Seduction? A Controversy over Sexual Violence in the Nineteenth Century”, The Sexual Dynamics of History: Men's Power, Women’s Resistance. London: Pluto Press, 1983. (Cousins, Margaret E. Indian Womanhood Today. Allahabad: Kitabistan (1941) Rev. 1947. Das, R.M. Women in Manu’s Philosophy. Jalandhar: ABS Publications, 1993. Erasing the Margins / 255 Faller, Marcus B. The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood (F.P. 1900), reprint, New Delhi: Inter-India Publications 1984. Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth: Penguin (1955) 1960, 2 volumes. Kakar, Sudhir. “Feminine Ider ia", Women in Indian Society: few Delhi: Sage Publications, pieces ofthe Urdu Ghazal: From 17th to 20th Century. ling Publishers Pvt, Ltd., 1992. (O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Hindu Myths. Harmondsworth: Penguin, (1975) 1978.