ii) The Institution of Family

Family is the most important social unit in which members live in a network of mutual ties, roles and obligations, that it is a unit of procreation, it nurtures the young and socializes them (i.e. transmits tradition, culture, religious and social values) to enable them to perform various roles in the society. Family performs the function of continuity of generations and the transmission of private property. The role of the family in procreation is closely intertwined with the pattern of descent and religious prescriptions/priorities. Descents are of two types: patrilineal and matrilineal. In the patrilineal descent system the property of the family is transmitted through the male offspring for example, father to son. In the matrilineal system the property is transmitted through the women, for example, mother to daughter.

At present, barring the Nair community of Kerala, the Khasis of the north-east, the Garos of the North-eastern India, and certain tribes in the Lakshdweep, all the other communities practice patrilineal descent system. The worship of mother goddesses is prevalent in all parts of India.

Closely connected to the patrilineality is the practice of patrilocality, i.e., the transfer of residence of women to the village/residence/family of the husband, after marriage. The sons stay with the father. The property laws, therefore, forbade daughters from inheriting

immovable property, since such property would pass to their husband’s family on marriage. Instead women were given a portion of movable property (like jewellery) to take with them, known as dowry.

This provides material reason for anxiety over the birth of daughters. Moreover, the religious scriptures, especially the Hindu religion place a high preference for sons. According to the code of Manu, a man could achieve merit only by protecting the purity of his wife and through her, of his sons. A son is necessary for lighting the funeral pyre of the father, propitiating the souls of agnatic ascendants through ‘shradha’ and thereby enabling the father and agnatic ascendants to attain moksha (to be relieved from rebirth). The role of the women is to beget sons, perpetuate the male descent and facilitate the performance of rituals. This hierarchy of male and female roles create differential evaluation of children with a strong son preference on the one hand and daughter neglect on the other, in terms of access to food, health care, education, freedom, rights and justice.