Gender, Caste and Labour-Ideological and Material Structure of Widowhood

Abstract

Widowhood in India among the uppercastes is a state of social death.' The widow's social death stems from her alienation from reproduction and sexuality. following the loss of her husband and her cxclusion from the functioning social unit of the family. Oncc a woman ceases to be wife (especially a childless wife) she ceases to be a 'person' - she is neither daughter nor daughter-in-law. The problem posed by brahmanical patriarchy thercfrerc is: since the wifc has no social existence outside of her husband, then as a widow who, or what, is she? The texts and the rituals attempt to work the problem out. The problem itself was simply that although the widow is socially dead. she remains an element in society: the question then was how to Incorporate her. One way could have been to constitute a separate community of widows, a non-sexual cominunity such as that of the female ascetics.