Culture in Action : Family Life, Emotion, and Male Dominance in Banaras, India

By examining how Hindu men talk about marriage and family, this book shows how culture reinforces male dominance in Hindu society.In Culture in Action Derne explores the interconnections between male dominance, joint-family living, Indian emotional life, and a cultural focus on group pressures. Derne emphasizes the Hindu focus on the social group, but shows that men often distance themselves from group culture by marrying for love, separating from their parents, or embracing closeness with their wives.Derne's suggestion that Indian men's cultural focus on the group limits men's and women's strategies for breaking cultural norms offers a new approach to understanding how culture constrains. He shows how the child-rearing practices and emotional tensions associated with joint-family living shape Indians'group emphasis. This approach suggests that the Hindu focus on the group is intimately connected with male dominance.Steve Derne is Assistant Professor of Sociology at State University of New York, College at Geneseo. He received the Society for Psychological Anthropology's 1991 Stirling Award for his work on family structure and self-conceptions. Culture in Action Contents Preface Cultural Constraint and Innovation Comparative Sociology India Gender Inequality Hindu Gender Culture Acknowledgments A Note Transliteration and Pronunciations 1 Studying Gender Culture in a North Indian City: Beyond the Image of Culture as Shared and Constrai... The Place The People Class Occupation Wives' Work Education Caste Men's Positions in Joint Families The Interviews Finding Variation Shared Meanings Studying Culture Cultural Components Commonsense Cultural Understandings Methodology: Interviewing 49 Men A Focus on Men Reliance on Interviews Questions of Representativeness Outline 2 Making Gender Culture: Men Talk About Controlling Women Joint-Family Living and Arranged Marriages as a Way Men Control Wives Limiting Interactions Between Husband and Wife Norms That Limit Young Wives' Influence in Their Husbands' Families Restricting Women Outside the Home Marketing as an Example Restrictions on Women's Demeanor Bolstering Men's Power Men's Perception that Restricting Women Advances Their Own Interests Honor and Women's Subordination Everyday Micro-Interactions that Bolster Men's Power Women's Strategies and the Construction of Gender 3 The Collectivist Framework for Understanding Action: Hindu Men's Focus on Social Pressures Joint-Family Living: Being Guided By Elders Emotional Attachment Mutual Support The Preference for Being Directed by Elders Group Contro in Joint Families Uneasiness About Acting on One's Own Arranging Marriages: The Distrust of Individual Choice The Prospect of Losing Parental Support Relying On One's Social Group as a Guide Moral Vocabularies: Honor and Tradition Tradition, Honor, and Joint-Family Living Tradition, Honor, and Arranged Marriages Honor, Tradition, and Restrictions on Women Outside the Home Common Nightmares of People Outside Group Control Evaluating Others: A Focus on the Group Social Frameworks for Understanding Action Individualist and Collectivist Frameworks for Understanding Action A Commonsense Understanding Merely Ways of Understanding Action Practices and the Social Framework for Understanding Action Second Languages: The Complexity of Ethnopsychology "Languages" of Dominated Groups Dominant Groups' Second Languages Other Accounts of Indian Commonsense Thinking Marriott's Focus on Physical Substances Shweder's Focus on Objective Laws of Dharma Method and Finding 4 Culture and Psyche: Emotions, Conscience, and Self-Conceptions Self-Conceptions3 Conscience4 Emotions Social Fear as an Exemplary Emotion Conceptions of Love Love as a Dangerously Individualistic Emotion Hindu Men's Use of Emotional Paradigms 5 Second Languages and Individual Desires Individualism in Political and Religious Life Equality Between Brothers in Joint Families4 Recognizing Individual Desires Within Joint Families Individual Sensual Desires Breaking From Joint Families Cultural Arenas that Celebrate the Individual Conclusions 6 True Believers, Cowed Conformers, Innovative Mimetists, and Unapologetic Rebels: Women and Men Res... Women's Stances True Believers Cowed Conformers Innovative Mimetists Unapologetic Rebels Real Consequences of Dishonor Men's Responses to the Threat of Dishonor True Believers Cowed Conformers Conclusions 7 Culture Work and Strategies of Action: How Hindu Men Buck Social Pressures Obtaining Parental Consent Manipulating Existing Cultural Stories and Vocabularies Using the Traditional Wedding Ritual Culture Work: What People Use Cultural Components For Strategies of Action The Direction of Hindu Men's Culture Work Vocabulary of Culture Work Use of Traditional Public Forms Ramesh Mishra's Personal Orientation to Action A Comparative Note: Strategies of Action in the United States Frameworks for Understanding Action and Cultural Constraint Limitations on the Ability to Successfully Use Strategies of Action 8 Who Rejects Social Roles? Innovators and Cultural Dopes Experience as a Resource Unsettled Times: Embracing Cultual Norms When First Facing Marriage Younger Sons and the Norm of Husband-Wife Avoidance Experience and the Rejection of Social Roles College Education as a Referential Resource Public Constraint, Private Freedom: Beyond Watchful Eyes Conclusions 9 Family Structure, Ethnopsychology, and Emotion Culture: How Do They Make Each Other Up? Joint-Family Living and the Collectivist Framework For Understanding Action2 The Durkheimian Explanation Physical Closeness Between Infants and Caretakers in Indian Joint Families Children's Experience with Many Adults in Indian Families Joint-Family-Living and Hindu Men's Emotions Conclusions 10 Conclusion Cultural Ideas as a Tool of the Powerful The Complexity of Indian Men's Ethnopsychology Culture in Action Shaping Social Institutions and Collective Strategies for Change Appendix: Fieldwork in Urban India Settling In Research Assistants Presentation of Self Selecting Respondents Conducting Interviews Language Respondents' Impression of the Interviews Focusing on Variation Ethical Concerns Notes Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y In Culture In Action Derne Explores The Interconnections Between Male Dominance, Joint-family Living, Indian Emotional Life, And A Cultural Focus On Group Pressures. Derne Emphasizes The Hindu Focus On The Social Group, But Shows That Men Often Distance Themselves From Group Culture By Marrying For Love, Separating From Their Parents, Or Embracing Closeness With Their Wives. Derne's Suggestion That Indian Men's Cultural Focus On The Group Limits Men's And Women's Strategies For Breaking Cultural Norms Offers A New Approach To Understanding How Culture Constrains. He Shows How The Child-rearing Practices And Emotional Tensions Associated With Joint-family Living Shape Indians' Group Emphasis. This Approach Suggests That The Hindu Focus On The Group Is Intimately Connected With Male Dominance. Studying Gender Culture In The North Indian City : Beyond The Image Of Culture As Shared And Constraining -- Making Gender Culture : Men Talk About Controlling Women -- The Collectivist Framework For Understanding Action : Hindu Men's Focus On Social Pressures -- Culture And Psyche : Emotions, Conscience, And Self-conceptions -- Second Languages And Individual Desires -- True Believers, Cowed Conformers, Innovative Mimetists, And Unapologetic Rebels : Women And Men Respond To The Threat Of Dishonor -- Culture Work And Strategies Of Action: Women And Men Respond To The Threat Of Dishonor -- Culture Work And Strategies Of Action : How Hindu Men Buck Social Pressure -- Who Rejects Social Roles? : Innovators And Cultural Dopes -- Family Structure, Ethnopsychology, And Emotion Culture : How Do They Make Each Other Up? -- Conclusion. Steve Derné. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 199-220) And Index.