A fellow Malayali once remarked “Kerala is like the Barbie movie, where the women once held power and then the men discovered patriarchy. Now, we’re all just confused.” It is this thought that has led me to write this piece about the state of women’s rights in Kerala.
If I’m being honest, I’ve always found people’s reactions towards Malayalis strange. From stereotypes about coconut oil, and thick ‘mallu’ accents while speaking in English to all nurses in hospitals being Malayali. But what I’ve always found strangest is when people say “You’re from Kerala? Wow! Women have so much power in your community.”
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Sure. I take my mother’s family name forward and whenever I have kids, they’ll take the same. Yet on paper, I’m still taking my father’s last name and so did my mother before marriage. After marriage? She took her husband’s name. Are you confused? Join the club.
Let’s take a quick history lesson here. Back in the day – around the 17th century – Kerala followed a matrilineal system of succession where wealth and the family name were passed down through female family members. However, the wealth would be managed by the brother/father of the eldest female member of the family. This man was referred to as the Karnavar or the male head of the family. So, even though women were the figureheads, men were still pretty much in control. It’s kind of like how some countries have Presidents but the Prime Ministers run the show.
The matrilineal system is known to have predominantly been followed by the Nair caste of Hindus in Kerala. However, other castes and religions also adopted and followed this system for a while. Over time with modernisation, this system started fading. In 1976, the Kerala Legislature passed a law abolishing matriliny. Today, many families including mine still take the maternal family name and line forward in theory. More out of keeping a tradition alive. But practically, everyone takes the paternal last name since that’s the norm in most social and legal settings.
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There also used to be the concept of Sambandham where a woman could get into polyandrous relationships, that is she could have more than one partner. Basically, live-in relationships were normal at the time. The concept of a woman being chaste and pure did not really exist until the British Raj came into the picture.
The British saw the system of Sambandham as uncivilised and proceeded to dismantle it as they gained power. Thus, leading the way to institutionalising marriage in Kerala. In fact, one of the reasons for the decreasing popularity of matriliny were sons born from these relationships. These young men would go out of the state to study and the like. Since matriliny didn’t exist in most other places there came an existential crisis. After all, how do you explain who your father is and the nature of his relationship with your mother? Especially, when everyone else had these clear societal rules. The Ivory Throne by Manu Pillai gives an excellent account of the evolution of societal and cultural norms in the state.
| Fun fact: When a woman wanted to end her relationship with a partner, she would leave his sandals and umbrella out the door. This was an indicator to the man that their time together was over. Saved both people from the awkwardness of a break-up, I suppose. |
Fast-forward to present times, Kerala had the second-highest crime rate in the country for assault on women in 2022. The Malabar region also has a rising trend of dowry harassment cases and suicides. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 192 cases of dowry-related deaths alone have been reported in the state in the past decade. Whereas dowry harassment cases are a separate issue altogether, and I wonder how many of them actually get reported.
Funnily enough, Kerala also has a 96% charge-sheeting rate which is the highest in India according to NCRB in 2022. Kochi City Police Commissioner – Nagaraju Chakilam IPS stated in an interview that the city has one of the highest numbers of FIRs reported in Kerala. But more than a matter of concern, these numbers are an indication of police efficiency. How? Complaints are actually registered. (I’m not sure which part of this fact is more concerning.)
However, credit has to be given where due, Kerala has several initiatives that have been implemented to help and support women. One of them is Aprajitha, an online portal and helpline where women can report harassment and cyber-crimes committed against them. The Kudumbashree programme, established in 1997, is one of Asia’s largest women’s support groups aimed at eradicating poverty and enabling destitute women to become breadwinners of their families.
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Another interesting paradox to note: Kerala has one of the highest literacy rates in India, with female literacy at 92.07%. However, unemployment of women in the state remained at 15% in 2019-2020 whereas the rest of the country was at 4% in this aspect. Most of these women accounted for educated unemployment and were between the ages of 18 to 30 years.
This particular fact reminds me of an incident that happened with my maternal grandmother. She was a brilliant student and studied up to a Master’s degree in History. And this was just about when India became independent. She got married at the age of 22 which again was unusual for women in her time and moved to Bombay with my grandfather (Some of her sisters were married by age 14!). When she was in Bombay, she got an offer to teach at a college. However, she couldn’t take it up since she wasn’t allowed to. And stories like these of women I know make me wonder, were we as a community ever into equality as a culture?
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Yes, women had power back in the day. But like in the Barbie movie, was that also a power and gender imbalance? And if so, patriarchy has clearly achieved the reverse of that scenario, which is still an imbalance. So, we are clearly confused.
But the question now worth asking is if we know there’s an imbalance (and we’ve all known for a while), how do we reach an equal playing field? I’m still figuring it out. What are your views about the state of women’s rights in Kerala? Let your fellow Malayalis and the world know in the comments section.
