What Lies Beneath: Mapping Repressive Practices Against Women In Meitei Society
- Part 1 -

Shreema Ningombam *

'...women constitute half of the world's population;
perform nearly two-third of its working hour;
receive one-tenth of the world's income;
and own less than one-hundredth of world's property.'

- (U.N. Declaration of the Decade of Women, 1976-1985)

2004 July 15 nude protest by women in Manipur had made many impressions about our society on those 'outsiders' especially the mainland Indians. The fairy [infact ghostly] land that existed only in others' imagination suddenly broke free of its cocoon and came out crawling and roaring arresting others' attentions like never before. The watchers were awe-struck by the faces as well as the flames.

But no other incident bewildered them than the twelve nude women protesting in front of the historic Kangla fort then occupied by the Indian Army. The amount of burnings, demolitions and demonstrations turned pale in comparison to the level of attention that our state got after the nude-women protest. The images of Meira Paibies marches, rallies conducted predominantly by women, peaceful demonstrations by nurses and all these culminating into the nude-women protests made the mainstream media label our society as matrilineal.

The protesting image of the 'Imas' (mothers) or the Meira Paibis became the 'signifier' of a society in which women took a leading role in all spheres of life. Any documentary on Meitei society is incomplete without some moments' capture of the Ema market [Mother's market/ all women's market]. These images conjured up the sense of women being truly powerful in our society. Do these images reflect the reality about women in our society?

The very well chronicled social upheavals in Manipur are testimonies to how we as women have mobilized ourselves or responded to actions in the 'public spheres' (read as streets, 'leikai' gatherings and the numerous 'keithels' in the valley). The response and the participation of women in these circumscribed public sphere is not so much due to the fact women in Manipur are more powerful, skilled or educated or there are new opportunities opening up. Rather, it is the breakdown of modern as well as traditional institutions and the responsibilities these institutions entail coupled with the subsequent diminishing impact of governance that have contributed much to the construction of this very image.

In such circumstances, women are forced to take the responsibility of offsetting the fallout of the political turmoil and economic hardships. These attempts to counterbalance a society caught in turmoil in effect have also created a mismatch. The reality and the projected images of the women in our society are not congruent. There are certain universal understandings that have helped us understand women.

Besides these understandings, there are also various customs and practices that have systematically subordinated/repressed women to certain conditions which are not as visible as the numerous protests/marches/demonstrations on the valley streets by women or as real as women selling various products at the Ima Keithel (mothers' market) in the heart of Imphal. This systematic subordination/repression is even made worse by the whirling political conflicts and subsequent militarization. This does not, however, stop us from probing into how women have been marginalized through acquired customs and practices like in any other patriarchal societies all over the world.

THE 'NATURALNESS' OF WOMEN'S SUBJUGATION

There is a pervasive dominant belief that women are naturally subordinate/inferior to men. They are not only by nature physically weaker to men but also mentally inferior. This belief is very well entrenched in our age-old social customs, practices and laws. But we are so blinded and conditioned by these very understanding that we do not even dare question if these ideas of the 'inferior' are natural or not. Prominent social scientists, anthropologists and sociologsts around the world have contended that there is nothing natural in this world in terms of human behavior or customs.

Every minute act is socially, historically and linguistically constructed and even that the so called 'instincts' are learned and taught. Every social norm or act is legitimised through conventions made and enforced by men for perpetuating a power structure most suited to them. Most of these anthropologists and sociologists have also argued that even the legitimization of heterosexuality (male-female sexual relation) and stigmatization of homosexuality (same sex relation) have developed through a historically charted contour. What made this developments possible is the historical process of the status quoists (men) to perpetuate their power at the cost of the less powerful (women). The contention put forth here will become clearer as we go from the universal to the local specificities.

Another oft repeated age old stereotype is that women are born to care and nurture children, adults and even animals and plants. The work of nurses, attendants, helpers, therapists, maids etc. or any activity related to burst the stress of man or women or children in even today's supposedly modern world are the domain allotted predominantly to women. The attribution given to the 'ordained' duty of women as natural is one of the major factors that have contributed to gender subordination and repression besides stereotyping.

The everyday acts of belittling women's activity goes to such an extent that it has become normal to believe – all unproductive contributions by women consequently makes them domesticated and remain unrecognized and devalued. Given these trends of thought, the best we as women can do is to unveil the fact that the productivity of men in the public domain is made possible only because of women's share of the responsibilities in the private domain.

This responsibility gives men the much needed time and space to pursue paid or unpaid labour in the public domain. Here, I, as a woman, am not denying that the emotional and sentimental tie between a mother and her child has no substitute. The issue here is not a demand for the payment of the labour of nurturing or caring by a mother but a demand for recognition of the value and productivity of the very work done by women in the private sphere (family).

MEITEI SOCIETY: REINFORCING PATRIACHY

Meitei society is undoubtedly patriarchal in character. Patriarchy cannot be understood as discrete individual behavior of a patriarch or the male head of the family. Rather we find in our society a system of social relations that perpetuate the exploitation of women by men. The exploitation of a person or an object is preconditioned by its control in some form or the other.

In Meitei society, the repression/oppression of women is executed by controlling their sexuality, access to meaningful participation in decision making and means of earning a livelihood. The moral baggage that is put upon the women's shoulders under which she is expected to abstain from pre-marital sex and confine to sex with her husband only after marriage is overtly 'honoured' and termed as the 'prestige' of the society as a whole.

But on a closer scrutiny of the so called 'honour and prestige', we discover that it is just one of the many ways of controlling the female sexuality. On the contrary, a man's exhibition of his sexual prowess and gratification is legitimized through cultural and social legitimization of polygamy despite the contemporary legal disdain to such practice. Thus, a Meitei man is, in most cases, exempt from carrying the burden of 'idealized' sexual morality.

Although patriarchy existed in our society from its pre-modern era, it is with the development of complex agricultural (semi-feudal) economy and the advent of Hinduism and that it has taken such stringent form and content. As the society became more complex in terms of means and relations of production, the division of labour too became more differentiated resulting in a more hierarchized social structure.

The valley developed a more complex agricultural economy comparing to the surrounding highlands. Certain traits of semi-feudalism had existed in our society. Perhaps, this fact coupled with new Brahmanical ethos that relegated women to the domestic sphere and gave an impetus to the rise of entrenched patriarchal system in Meitei society.

THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF HINDUISM AND CRYSTALIZATION OF PATRIACHY

The advent of Hinduism and the mode of its arrival in our society could be another factor that had exacerbated the already existing patriarchal system. Unlike the initial phase of Bhakti or the Gaudiya Vaishnava movement elsewhere in India, the strand that reached Manipur was not grown out of a social movement as understood in its historical sense. The Bhakti movement began from the grassroots led by figures mainly drawn from the lower strata of the society. The basic tenet of the Bhakti movement was the elimination of the concept of the "intermediary" between a devotee and God.

The movement emphasized that just by chanting the Lord's name, anyone from the lowest or the highest caste can reach him directly. But Hinduism and its variants reached Manipur via the political route and it was imposed on its people by subsequent royal decrees assisted by migrant Brahmins. This was followed a process of prosyletization and resultant fusion of a worldview by the subjects. It is to be noted that in Manipur, had the coming of Hinduism been not politically contrived, it would have taken a different route.

Perhaps, the pre-existent and more egalitarian social order would have absorbed it in many other possible ways without offsetting the social equilibrium. It was a different situation elsewhere in India. It was the highly inequitable social structure that was a precondition for the rise of Bhakti movements in the rest of India. When Vaishnavism reached Manipur, it also brought along with it certain practices which went against the prevailing gender equations hardly known to this land earlier.

The idea and practice of sati, association of women with pollution and purity, certain practice of ostracisation of women, exclusion of women in rituals, the division between those embracing Hinduism and those who refused to accept the new faith, banning of eating meat, consumption of liquor, the practice of burial substituted by cremation are some practices that had seeped into the social polity of Manipur.

It is interesting to note that the Varuni Ching, Koubru and the temple at Mahabali became the symbols of the new faith that have gradually been internalized in the minds of the Meiteis. This process was actively assisted by those who could appropriate the most in the new social order constructed with sanctions from the palace. This does not however mean that the Meiteis have failed to interpret the new worldview according to their own understanding.

THE NATURE OF POLITICAL DECAY

One of the main reasons that have perpetuated deep rooted patriarchal practices in the current context is the nature of political decay in Manipur over the years. The pace of institutional development lagged behind the level of expectation, demands and needs of the people. This is further compounded by political conflicts and armed violence. The complete dysfunctional state of governance and the resultant scarcity in resources makes the people feel helpless and insecure.

The situation has led to the subsequent erosion of mutual trust and desire of a collectivity among the people. Over the years, common men have been seeking security in a crisis ridden economy and in turn women have been seeking security by marrying financially and materially sound men. A woman is forced to take recourse to the patriarchal and conventional definition of what is 'attractiveness', 'beauty' and 'chastity' which enable her to enhances her unique selling points or USP in the marriage market.

Though, highly enviable, her education and the potential to become an economically independent 'being' remain secondary. The rise of 'exhibitionism' of 'Ayunpot' (conventionally, these used to be gifts given to the bride by her family) in our society in the last few decades speaks for itself. The conflictual nature of our social polity in the age of globalization has further lowered the already subordinates position of the women. The structure of political violence and state repression add another layer of complexities to the gender equation in Manipur.

Hence, we have a situation where women are now advised not to venture out in public space after dark for fear of being raped or molested by the armed forces or armed thugs. No wonder, women are gradually made to withdraw from taking a full fledged participation in public affairs and most importantly in political negotiations and decision making process.

to be continued....

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* Shreema Ningombam (M.Phil, DU, Department of Political Science, Currently a lecturer in Nambol L. Sanoi College) writes to e-pao.net for the first time. This article was first published in The Sangai Express.
The writer can be contacted at shree(dot)ningombam(at)gmail(dot)com and also blogs at http://shreemaningombam.blogspot.com/
This article was webcasted on August 30th, 2009.

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