Patriarchy and Intersectionality

Many theorists and feminists also are of the opinion that patriarchy does not mean every man has power over a woman in every context (Lim 1997). On the contrary, ‘patriarchal interests overlap with system[s] that also reinforce class and race privilege as well as other valences of social stratification’ (Chesney-Lind 2006, p. 9). Therefore, patriarchy is not only a component, but is the intersection of multiple factors relevant at all levels of the social ecology (Dekeseredy and Dragiewicz 2007 and Heise 1998) - for instance; religion, class, caste, ethnicity, family structures, rural/urban divide, and gender system etc.

Pakistani society is Muslim-dominated, and studies in Europe and the USA (Fetzer and Soper 2005; Laurence 2007; Pfaff 2007) argue that Muslim migrants support patriarchal values more strongly even if they are second-or third-generation migrants. Religiosity is an important factor in promoting patriarchal values, and religious Muslims might be more patriarchal than non-religious Muslims (Burn and Basu 2005; Hood, Hill and Williamson 2005). There is also an argument that Muslim society might exhibit higher

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base levels of patriarchal values because they lack a democratic tradition, not because of Muslim social domination (Alexander and Welzel 2011, p. 252).

Similarly, family structure is one of the key factors- along with patriarchy- for determining the social status and position of women in Pakistan. Pakistan is a predominantly rural society, and there is a common practice of endogamy: ‘consanguineous marriages that lead to virtual village endogamy’ (Sathar and Kazi 2000, p.105). Thus, such types of organised but very complex systems of social control (village endogamy or extended family) have a potential influence on women, as well younger men, and the relationship between household members are determined by the social structure of the family. The system of gender or gender relations is also a key factor in assessing the social position of women. Two understandings on the household model that can be employed by sociologists to understand gender relations within the household and family are: Unitary Household Model (Becker 1960), and Bargaining Household Model (Agarwal 1994). The first model, focusing on the integration of the production and consumption activities, treats the household as a unit of altruistic decision-making (i.e. extended family or kinship) and the welfare of each family member is normally integrated into the unified family welfare (Kabeer 1994 cited in Isran and Isran 2012). According to Becker’s Unitary Household Model, the head of the family is male, and has greater control not only over resources, but also over the lives of the family members in general, and women in particular.

By contrast, the bargaining household model- which emerged in the literature of gender studies in the late 1980s (Sen 1990) - focuses on a ‘complex matrix of relationship, in which there is ongoing negotiation subject to the constraints set by gender, age, type of relationship and outdated undisputed traditions’(Agarwal 1994, p. 45). Sen (1990) suggests a person’s bargaining position stems from the person’s ‘perceived interest response’ and ‘perceived contribution response’ (cited in Isran and Isran 2012, p. 847). Thus, those persons would have less say or be treated unfavourably, who do not attach, or attach less value to personal welfare (perceived interest) and do not contribute, or contribute less to the household (perceived contribution). However, Agarwal (1994) suggests that the essence of this model is the ‘bargaining position’ of each family member and the better or stronger fall-back position (access to resources, e.g. employment, ownership of land etc.) of a person, the more their favourable outcomes. Thus, according to this model, there is no ultimate authority (as in the unitary household

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model), but there is a continuous process of cooperation and conflict; compromises/negotiation and accommodation.

In Pakistani society, like in other Muslims societies, women are not primarily responsible for the family’s economic needs, and the man is considered the ‘breadwinner’ (Bari 2000; Fedoos 2005). As Kabeer’s (2000) study in the context of Bangladesh suggests, women’s access to waged work outside the home –forms of work that take women into the public domain matters, in terms of change—appear to constitute a greater threat to male authority in the context of conjugal relations than in other family relations. Therefore, resistance has also been seen from men whose wives’ access to work ‘will’ make them insubordinate or unfaithful, or undermine their own role as family breadwinner (Kabeer 2001, p. 44). She further suggested that:

Generalisation about [the] impact of work on women’s personal choices and relationships are difficult to make with any confidence because these impacts vary so much by women’s life course and upbringing, by the nature of the work in question, by the acceptability of different kinds of work in different contexts, by the reaction of men within their households, by the concessions women have to make to take up paid work and by the room or manoeuver by the wider community. (Kabeer 2001, p. 51)

The forms of waged work that take women into the public sphere with respectability may offer a greater likelihood of change associated with their autonomy and empowerment. Better professional jobs in the public or private sectors promote women’s voices in the household, and their capacity to negotiate the terms of their relationship with husbands and other dominant members within the family. Such types of work are also more likely to give rise to new kinds of identities for women beyond those ascribed on the basis of their gender, as they can offer women a greater sense of their own agency and, in many cases, a greater awareness of their own individuality. (p. 51). Similarly, Agarwal (2003) suggests women’s accessibility to outside earnings, employment, enhanced social capital, and better career development opportunities can further enhance her bargaining position within the family and outside.