Women as a watchguard in a patriarchal society

 

After watching this video, I found myself deeply intrigued by the issues it raises, which prompted me to explore this topic further in writing. The video presents a perspective that challenges conventional ideas and invites reflection on how societal norms continue to shape human behaviour. Its thought provoking content not only captured my attention but also encouraged me to examine the broader implications of the theme it portrays. This initial spark of curiosity evolved into a deeper inquiry, motivating me to critically engage with the subject and articulate my own understanding through this piece.

 

Women as a watchguard in a patriarchal society

 

At its core, patriarchy refers to a system of social relations in where men hold more power authority, privilege, and dominance over women and other gender identities. It describes as “a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women.”

 

It’s not only in structured institutions such as family, religion, politics, and economy but also linger in culture, shaping the values and norms that regulate everyday life. In patriarchal settings, women often appear as passive victims of oppression. Yet a closer examination reveals that women themselves may serve as active agents in reinforcing patriarchal structures. They become the “watchguards” of patriarchy, maintaining and transmitting its norms to younger generations.

 

The Indian context provides a particularly rich case study to examine this phenomenon. With the long and complex history, since 1500 BCE in our ancient scriptures, medieval traditions, colonial period, and modern legal reforms, has produced a unique blend of patriarchal practices.

 

Indian feminist historian Uma Chakravarti introduces the concept of “Brahmanical Patriarchy" explains how caste and gender oppression are interwoven.
Patriarchy in India is not a standalone system but intersects with caste to control women’s sexuality and labour in the service of caste purity. This makes Indian patriarchy particularly complex, as women themselves are recruited to uphold both gender and caste hierarchies.

 

The Evolution of Patriarchy in India

Patriarchy in India has evolved through multiple stages, shaped by religious texts, cultural practices, political instability, and colonial rule. Its foundations were laid in ancient texts and traditions that defined gender roles and social hierarchies. Over time, cultural customs and political shifts reinforced male dominance, while the colonial period further institutionalised these inequalities through legal and administrative systems.

 

1. Vedic Period (c. 1500–500 BCE)

 

The Vedic period marks the formative stage of Indian civilization, when religious, social, and philosophical ideas that would shape millennia of cultural life were first articulated. It was during this era that the earliest forms of patriarchy began to emerge, initially less restrictive in the early Vedic age, but gradually solidifying into a rigid, male dominated order by the later Vedic period.

 

In the early Vedic period, women appear to have enjoyed a relatively high status and autonomy. The Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, contains hymns composed by or dedicated to women scholars such as Gargi, Maitreyi, and Lopamudra. These women were celebrated for their intellect and philosophical insight, participating in public debates on metaphysics and ethics. Marriage was seen as a partnership rather than domination, and widow remarriage and education for women were not forbidden. Both men and women took part in religious rituals, and property inheritance, though limited, was not entirely closed to women. This early phase, therefore, represented a period of relative gender balance.

 

However, by the later Vedic period (c. 1000–500 BCE), as society transitioned from animal husbandry to agriculture and settled kingdoms, patriarchy began to consolidate. With the rise of private property and surplus production, the social structure became hierarchical and caste based. This new economic and political order necessitated the control of women’s sexuality and labour to ensure the purity of lineage and inheritance. Consequently, women’s autonomy declined, and their social position became increasingly confined to the household. The Dharmashastra texts and rituals of the time redefined the woman’s role as one of obedience, fertility, and service to her father, husband, and son.

 

Religious thought began to mirror and reinforce these changes. The performance of yajnas (sacrificial rituals), which initially included women, became the exclusive domain of male priests (Brahmins). The spiritual equality of the early Vedic hymns gave way to theological hierarchies where the male was equated with divinity and authority, and the female became secondary or dependent.

 

The concept of stridharma the idealised duty of women as devoted wives and mothers took root during this phase, establishing a moral framework that bound women’s virtue to their submission and chastity.

 

Texts like the Atharvaveda also began to include hymns that portrayed women as sources of temptation and disorder if left uncontrolled, indicating a growing anxiety about female independence. Marriage was now seen as essential to a woman’s social identity, and widow remarriage began to decline. Education for women became rare, and religious life increasingly excluded them. Thus, the later Vedic period laid the ideological foundation for the patriarchal norms that would dominate subsequent centuries.

 

Atharvaveda 6.45.1–2 — The “Subduing” of Women

 

प॒रोऽपे॑हि मनस्पाप॒ किमश॑स्तानि शंससि। परे॑हि॒ न त्वा॑ कामये वृ॒क्षां वना॑नि॒ सं च॑र गृ॒हेषु॒ गोषु॑ मे॒ मनः॑ ॥

This hymn was used in marriage rituals to ensure a wife’s devotion and fidelity. While poetic, it subtly assumes that a woman’s mind and will be bound to her husband’s, symbolizing control over her independence.

 

In summary, the Vedic period reveals a gradual evolution from gender complementarity to male dominance. The early era’s spiritual and intellectual openness for women was slowly replaced by rigid hierarchies grounded in property, ritual authority, and caste. This transition established the roots of patriarchy in India where religion, economy, and social morality converged to define women’s subordination as both natural and sacred.

 

 

2. Post-Vedic Era and Manusmriti (c. 200 BCE – 200 CE)

 

As the later Vedic and post-Vedic eras witnessed a systematic erosion of women’s status. The emergence of Dharmashastra literature, especially the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu), codified patriarchal norms into a religious and moral framework that would shape Indian society for centuries.

 

The Manusmriti, composed between 200 BCE and 200 CE, became the most influential legal and moral text of Brahmanical Hinduism. It was presented as a divine code prescribing ideal conduct for men and women, describing social duties, purity, and hierarchy. However, beneath this religious legitimacy lay a deeply gendered order designed to consolidate male authority within the household and society.

 

The text portrays women as inherently dependent, emotionally unstable, and intellectually inferior. Manu asserts that women must be perpetually under male guardianship first of the father, then of the husband, and later of the son (Manusmriti 5.148). This injunction formalised the notion that women were incapable of self governance and required constant control. Such injunctions institutionalised the patriarchal family as the core unit of society, with male dominance justified through divine sanction.

 

Manusmriti 5.148– Denial of Autonomy

बाल्ये पितुर्वशे तिष्ठेत् पाणिग्राहस्य यौवने

पुत्राणां भर्तरि प्रेते न भजेत् स्त्री स्वतन्त्रताम् ॥ १४८ ॥

As a girl, she is under her father’s authority, As a wife, under her husband’s and as a widow, under her sons’.

 

Further, the Manusmriti restricted women’s participation in education and religious life. By excluding them from Vedic study and priestly roles (9.18), the text removed women from the intellectual and ritual domains that had once offered them status in early Vedic society. Their moral worth was now tied to chastity, obedience, and fidelity.

 

Manusmriti 9.18 - Restriction on Education and Freedom

नास्ति स्त्रीणां क्रिया मन्त्रैरिति धर्मे व्यवस्थितिः ।
निरिन्द्रिया ह्यमन्त्राश्च स्त्रीभ्यो अनृतमिति स्थितिः ॥ १८ ॥

Women have no business with the text of the Veda; hence their (ceremonial) law is settled by tradition and the authority of the sacred texts.

This excludes women from education, spiritual knowledge, and religious authority, this was a tool of disempowerment.

 

Even in widowhood, women were expected to practice austerity, renounce pleasure, and avoid remarriage (5.157), reinforcing the ideal of female subservience and self sacrifice.

Manusmriti 5.157 - Widow Restrictions

कामं तु क्षपयेद् देहं पुष्पमूलफलैः शुभैः

न तु नामापि गृह्णीयात् पत्यौ प्रेते परस्य तु ॥ १५७ ॥

A virtuous wife should constantly serve her husband like a god, and even after his death, she must never think of another man.”

This denies widows the right to remarry, trapping them in lifelong dependency and suffering, one of the roots of oppressive practices against widows in India.

 

The Manusmriti also moralised women’s sexuality. It treated female desire as a source of social disorder that needed to be controlled through surveillance and restriction. This notion justified early marriage, control over mobility, and the emphasis on virginity. Through such prescriptions, the female body became a symbol of honour for the family and community, placing women’s behaviour under continuous patriarchal scrutiny.

 

In the broader social context, these codes coincided with the rise of agricultural settlements, private property, and caste stratification. As inheritance and lineage became central to maintaining purity of descent, patriarchal control over women’s sexuality and labour intensified. Manu’s laws, therefore, were not merely religious prescriptions but tools of social control that linked gender hierarchy to caste and property relations.

 

While women continued to appear in literary and mythological texts of the time as devoted wives, mothers, and occasionally saints their social agency was largely curtailed. The female ideal became that of pativrata the woman wholly devoted to her husband, even at the cost of her own autonomy. This ideal, glorified in epics like the Ramayana through characters such as Sita, echoed the Manusmriti’s injunctions and further naturalised patriarchal expectations.

 

This text and similar Dharmashastras laid the groundwork for systemic male authority, influencing centuries of practice in Hindu society.

 

One of the highly debated 3 dohas in Sundar Kand by Goswami Tulsidas in Ramcharitra Manas

 

ढोल गँवार शूद्र पशु नारी ।

सकल ताड़ना के अधिकारी ॥

This means "A drum, an illiterate, a Shudra, an animal, and a woman all these are worthy of beatings”

 

"महावृष्टि चलि फूटि क्यारि"

"जिमि सुतंत्र भएँ बिगरहिं नारीं"

Great rain falls and the borders of the fields burst, unchecked freedom, according to him, leads women to lose discipline.

 

भ्राता पिता पुत्र उरगारी। पुरुष मनोहर निरखत नारी॥
होइ बिकल सक मनहि न रोकी। जिमि रबिमनि द्रव रबिहि बिलोकी॥3॥

Whether it is a brother, father, son, or even an enemy, when a women looks upon a beautiful man, women mind becomes restless and hard to restrain, just as a snowcjewel begins to melt when exposed to the rays of the sun.

 

3. Medieval Period (c. 8th – 18th century)

 

The medieval period in India witnessed the consolidation and deepening of patriarchy, transforming women’s lives across social, cultural, and religious dimensions. This was a time marked by invasions from Turkish to British rule, shifting political powers, and rigid caste hierarchies, which collectively produced an environment of anxiety over lineage, honour, and purity. In response, patriarchal controls over women’s sexuality, mobility, and education became more systematic and socially sanctioned.

 

Practices such as pardah, sati, and child marriage emerged as defining symbols of this era. The purdah system, initially confined to elite Muslim households, soon extended to upper caste Hindu families as a way to signify status and preserve chastity. By restricting women’s visibility and freedom, purdah converted the female body into a site of male honour and community identity. Similarly, the practice of sati glorified widow self immolation as the ultimate act of wifely devotion, while child marriage denied women education and autonomy, ensuring that control over them passed seamlessly from father to husband.

 

These practices were reinforced by religious texts and social norms that defined a woman’s worth through her obedience and chastity. The Manusmriti and other Smritis shaped the ideological foundation for viewing women as dependents, whose moral conduct determined the purity of the family and caste. As feminist historian Uma Chakravarti observes, this period reflects the merging of Brahmanical patriarchy and political insecurity, where women’s control was essential for maintaining both caste purity and social stability.

 

Within families and communities, women were also turned into guardians of patriarchy themselves. By the end of the medieval period, these deep patriarchal values had created a society where women’s individuality and agency were largely erased.

 

4. Colonial Period (18th – 20th century)

 

The colonial period in India (18th–20th century) was a time of political domination, economic change, and social transformation. This period highlights how women were positioned as both moral agents and objects of surveillance, reflecting the persistence and adaptation of patriarchal norms.

 

In traditional Indian society, a family’s honour was closely tied to women’s behaviour, particularly their sexuality, modesty, and adherence to ritual norms. The arrival of British colonial rule introduced new laws, administrative structures, and social reforms, which, rather than liberating women, often reinforced patriarchal control. Women’s conduct was increasingly scrutinised, both legally and socially, positioning them as central to maintaining moral and cultural order. Laws concerning marriage, inheritance, widowhood, and property underscored women’s dual role as vulnerable and responsible for upholding family honour.

 

Education and reform movements during this period illustrate the moral watchguard role of women. Reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule and Pandita Ramabai (first woman to be awarded the titles of Pandita) promoted women’s education and welfare, this mission was further advanced  by Maharshi Karve by building the first Women's university in India, the SNDT Womens's University in 1916. Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve, was also a staunch advocate for widow remarriage and married a widow himself after his first wife's death in 1891. He founded the Widow Marriage Association in 1893.

Education was frequently framed as a means to strengthen women’s ability to cultivate virtue, devotion, and propriety within the household, rather than purely for personal empowerment. Women were thus expected to transmit moral and social values, reinforcing their role as guardians of familial and cultural continuity.

Within households, women exercised authority in regulating domestic life. Mothers, elder daughters-in-law, and women elders monitored younger women, ensuring adherence to norms around chastity, modesty, and ritual conduct. This internal policing created layers of surveillance, where women were simultaneously controlled and controllers, safeguarding family honour in both private and community spheres.

 

Even as nationalist movements opened spaces for women’s public engagement, patriarchal expectations persisted. Women’s political participation, from the Swadeshi movement to Gandhi’s campaigns, was often framed as an extension of domestic moral duty, emphasizing sacrifice, self discipline, and service to the nation. Literary and reformist narratives reinforced this symbolism, depicting women as essential to moral and social stability.

 

During the colonial period, Indian women remained central to patriarchal notions of morality and social order. Through education, domestic authority, and political engagement, they were positioned as watchguards of family honour and cultural continuity. Colonial reforms and nationalist discourses, while introducing new roles for women, often reinforced the expectation that their primary responsibility was to safeguard morality. The colonial era thus symbolises how women’s agency and societal control were intertwined, Emphasizing the persistent significance of the watchguard role within India’s patriarchal society

 

5. Post-Independence and Modern Era

 

Even after India gained independence in 1947, patriarchal norms continued to shape social structures. Women often carried the dual responsibility of upholding moral and social codes within families and communities, functioning as “watchguards” to preserve societal order, honour, and cultural values. This role was both symbolic and practical, reflecting societal expectations for women to regulate behaviour, particularly that of men, in line with patriarchal norms.

 

In the post-Independence era, women’s watchguard role was evident in both domestic and community settings. Within families, mothers and elder sisters monitored household conduct, ensuring adherence to cultural and moral expectations.

 

In rural and traditional communities, women acted as custodians of rituals and social discipline, reinforcing gendered norms through participation in ceremonies and public gatherings. While these roles were deeply rooted in patriarchy, they also provided women with limited but significant influence in social regulation.

 

At the same time, India’s newly framed Constitution, guided by reformers like Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, sought to redefine women’s position in society. Legal provisions guaranteed equality under the law, prohibited discrimination, and secured rights to education and inheritance. These measures gradually shifted the framework within which women could exercise their influence, allowing them to act as agents of social oversight while gaining formal legal recognition and protection.

 

Post-Independence social reformers further supported women’s empowerment, navigating the watchguard role while advocating for broader societal change. Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay and others encouraged women’s participation in governance, education, and labour rights, expanding public roles while negotiating traditional moral responsibilities. Legal reforms also reduced burdens associated with patriarchal expectations.

 

The Hindu Code Bills (1955–56) this  bills, driven by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's government and influenced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, aimed to promote women's rights by introducing monogamy, equal inheritance rights, and rights to adoption and maintenance.

 

This reformed marriage and inheritance laws, granting women autonomy and property rights. The Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) sought to limit social pressures on women to enforce family honour through marriage arrangements. Later measures, including the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (2013), provided formal avenues to challenge oppressive norms.

 

In the modern era, women continue to influence cultural and moral domains, but their role has shifted significantly. Legal reforms and social movements have enabled women to move beyond passive enforcement of patriarchal values toward active participation in shaping social norms, governance, and equality initiatives. While traces of the watchguard expectation remain, women now exercise agency in redefining societal morality, blending traditional oversight with contemporary empowerment.

 

Patriarchy’s Relevance in Contemporary India

 

Today’s India presents a paradox. On one hand, women are rising in politics, education, business, and the armed forces. On the other hand, they continue to face systemic barriers, many reinforced by women themselves.

 

Despite legal reforms, education, and increasing female participation in public life, traditional notions of morality, honour, and cultural propriety persist, often positioning women as custodians of these values. In this context, women continue to function as “watchguards,” responsible for maintaining social order and upholding patriarchal codes within both family and community settings.

 

Within families, women often regulate domestic behaviour, monitor the upbringing of children, and ensure adherence to societal and cultural norms. Mothers, elder sisters, and wives frequently act as moral overseers, supervising both male and female family members to conform to accepted behaviour.

 

Beyond the domestic sphere, women also play a role in community life participating in rituals, religious ceremonies, and local governance thereby reinforcing social discipline and cultural continuity. Although rooted in traditional patriarchal expectations, these responsibilities grant women social authority and enable them to influence family and community norms.

 

In modern India, the watchguard role of women is evolving rather than disappearing. Women continue to safeguard cultural and moral values, yet increasingly, they balance these traditional responsibilities with professional, political, and social agency. No longer mere enforcers of patriarchal norms, they actively shape social engagement, challenge outdated practices, and redefine family and community dynamics. This dual role underscores both the persistence of patriarchy and the expanding empowerment of women, reflecting a society in transition where tradition and modernity coexist, and women navigate both spheres simultaneously.

 

While patriarchy remains influential in contemporary India, its power is constantly being negotiated. The evolving role of women as watchguards highlights their unique position, preserving cultural continuity while simultaneously driving social change, thereby reshaping the very structure of gendered expectations in Indian society.

 

Patriarchy continues to shape contemporary Indian society, embedding itself in everyday practices and social expectations. Certain continuities are strikingly persistent. Son preference remains widespread, reflected in skewed sex ratios and the prevalence of sex selective abortions. Women’s identities are still often tied to marriage, with unmarried women frequently perceived as incomplete or socially marginalised. Honor based restrictions persist, with women’s clothing, friendships, mobility, and personal choices closely scrutinised under the guise of family or community honour. Additionally, despite their increasing participation in paid work, women continue to bear the overwhelming burden of domestic labour, highlighting the deep rooted gendered division of responsibilities.

 

At the same time, significant contradictions and forms of resistance challenge these patriarchal structures. Women occupy high political and corporate offices India has seen a woman Prime Minister, several Chief Ministers, and numerous corporate leaders demonstrating that traditional barriers can be overcome. Grassroots movements led by women, such as the Shaheen Bagh protests and village level anti-liquor campaigns, actively contest entrenched patriarchal norms. Social media has further amplified feminist voices, bringing discussions on consent, marital rape, and gender equality into the mainstream, fostering awareness and mobilization across diverse communities.

 

As Nivedita Menon (2012) argues in Seeing Like a Feminist, patriarchy persists because it is deeply embedded in everyday life, and women, by internalizing these norms, often become its most steadfast defenders. She emphasizes that “feminist struggles in India are not simply about ‘catching up with the West’ but about questioning the very foundations of social hierarchies that regulate gender.”

 

Thus, while patriarchy remains resilient, its influence is increasingly contested. Women navigate a dual reality upholding cultural and moral values in some spheres while simultaneously challenging and reshaping societal norms in others. This tension highlights both the persistence of patriarchal structures and the growing empowerment of women in contemporary India, illustrating a society in transition where tradition and modernity coexist.

 

 

Women as watchguards of patriarchy

 

This role emerges from intergenerational transmission of values, internalization of gender hierarchies, and the rewards of conformity.

In the classic case in all the Indian households, where mothers-in-law policing daughters-in-law. Mothers-in-law enforce rigid gender roles upon their daughters-in-law, dictating how much freedom they enjoy, what tasks they must perform, and how they should behave within and outside the family. This creates a cycle where oppression is not merely top-down from men but horizontally enforced among women.

 

Women often become the strictest enforcers of moral codes around modesty, purity, and family honour. Mothers and elder women police clothing, restrict interactions with men, and regulate daughters’ mobility, reinforcing the notion that a woman’s virtue defines the family’s respectability.

 

Women sometimes become critics of those who deviate from traditional roles. Working women, unmarried women, or those seeking divorce may face gossip and exclude them not only from men but also from other women, who interpret deviation as a threat.

 

Older women play a central role in promoting the belief that sons are more valuable than daughters. This is evident in phrases like “Beti to paraya dhan hai” (a daughter is someone else’s wealth). Often observed in the north India, when a girl child are not allowed to touch the feet of her parents, as her house in future will be of her husband. Such beliefs justify unequal distribution of resources within families, often with women themselves prioritizing sons over daughters in matters of education and inheritance.

 

Many women oppose legal and social reforms such as equal property rights, inter-caste or inter-faith marriages, or gender neutral laws. Their opposition stems not from ignorance alone but due to concerns about losing traditional safety nets or compromising family honour.

 

Why women became watchguards

 

In patriarchal societies, women often become the enforcers of social norms, policing behaviour within their families and communities. This role is rooted in early socialization from childhood, girls are taught to equate obedience and restraint with virtue, internalizing the values of conformity. Upholding these norms offers women a degree of security and status within the patriarchal system, as conformity is rewarded with respect, protection, and social acceptance.

 

Fear of social exclusion further reinforces this behaviour. Women who deviate from prescribed roles risk stigma, criticism, or collective shame for their families, prompting many to police others behaviour to maintain communal honour. Over time, this dynamic becomes an intergenerational cycle, women replicate the restrictions they once endured, often believing them to be natural or necessary.

 

Although women often lack formal structural power, they employ influence within the household and family, particularly over younger women, by upholding patriarchal norms. In doing so, women themselves become agents of patriarchy, balancing the pressures of survival, social acceptance, and authority within restrictive social frameworks.

 

 

The watchguard paradox today

 

Modern Indian society embodies a tension between tradition and change, where women often navigate contradictory roles. A mother may celebrate her daughter’s academic success yet insist she marry within her caste, while a grandmother might support a granddaughter’s career ambitions but still expect her to perform domestic rituals. These contradictions reflect the complex ways patriarchal norms are both challenged and reinforced.

 

Women negotiate between personal empowerment and social expectations, balancing aspirations for independence with the pressure to maintain family honour and conformity. In this interplay, acts of support for education or careers coexist with the enforcement of conventional roles, showing that progress and tradition often operate side by side. Such dynamics highlight how patriarchal culture persists subtly, with women themselves mediating its endurance even as they embrace certain forms of social change.

 

This tension shows how patriarchy adapts, embedding itself even in progressive environments. Uma Chakravarti (2003) emphasizes that patriarchal control today is most visible in the regulation of women’s sexuality and choice, particularly in cases of inter-caste and inter-faith marriages, where family and community surveillance is intense.

 

Patriarchy in India is not a static or timeless entity, but an evolving system shaped by historical, cultural, and political processes. Its resilience lies in its ability to enlist women as active agents of its perpetuation. Women as watchguards of patriarchy illustrate the paradoxical reality that the oppressed can become the enforcers of their own oppression.

 

Yet this very awareness also opens the door to transformation. As education, law, and feminist activism spread, many women are challenging these inherited roles, refusing to police others, and breaking cycles of subordination. Modern India thus stands at a crossroads, while patriarchy continues to exert a powerful hold, the resistance against it grows stronger each day.

 

The challenge of dismantling patriarchy, therefore, lies not only in changing laws or men’s attitudes but also in addressing the internalised watchguard role that women themselves often play. Only then can India move toward a more egalitarian society where gender equality is not just promised in the Constitution but lived in everyday life.

 

 References

• Chakravarti, Uma. Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens. Stree, 2003.
• Chakravarti, Uma. “Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India: Gender, Caste, Class and State.” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28, No. 14, 1993.
• Menon, Nivedita. Seeing Like a Feminist. Zubaan/Penguin, 2012.
• Rege, Sharmila. Writing Caste, Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women’s Testimonios. Zubaan, 2006.