Impact of Patriarchy on the Mental Health of Women in India | Deepti Acharya

Suggested Citation: Acharya, D. (2021, October 14). Impact of Patriarchy on the Mental Health of Women in India. Queer Academia. URL

India is a land interwoven with its culture and tradition. The mindsets, schemas, personalities, and core beliefs of the population are influenced by the native customs almost to the point that identity and ethnicity become inseparable and interchangeable entities. (Ramani, 2015). Patriarchy, i.e., a system of society where men hold the majority of the power, is prominent in India. The consequence of this arrangement is the subjugation of women and inhibition from responsibilities and positions that they are more than capable of handling. A pressing norm like patriarchy seeps into various aspects of a woman’s life such as identity formation, self-esteem, autonomy, familial roles, moral obligations, self-improvement, career, independence, etc. Since patriarchy has a strong influence on a woman’s life, especially in the Indian collective community, the issue must be addressed.

To understand the intensity of patriarchy ingrained in Indian sociodynamics,  historical beliefs documented in the ancient scriptures need to be looked at. Yes, the Vedas and Puranas portray women in light of respect and greatness, but at what cost? As Virginia Woolf (1967) mentions in her essay, “A Room of one’s own”, romanticizing and glorifying women in history books but not addressing the reality of domestic issues of women isn’t authentic empowerment. On one hand, women are portrayed as goddesses, and on the other, they are docile objects meant to serve their husbands dutifully. Whether they are a deity or a wife, virtue is their central feature, and anything straying away from what is conventionally "virtuous" is considered an abomination.

 Instances of Brahmanical patriarchy (Chakravarti, 1993) are evident in the Manusmriti, which preaches that a man is of supreme authority, while a woman must confine herself to household chores and motherhood. 79.8% of the population practices Hinduism (Census, 2011), and most Hindu texts adhere to neither liberation feminism nor equality feminism. This shows that though the origin of patriarchy is historical, yet it has a dominant part in psychology and healthcare even in the 21st century. A WHO report (World Health Organization, 1993) marks a clear association between growing up in a patriarchal society and a higher risk of mental health issues. This strong interrelation between culture and patriarchy is now known as cultural patriarchy, which refers to any culturally defined social organization overruled by men, most often causing oppression and exploitation of women in the name of male domination. 

Cultural patriarchy dictates gender identities as a rigid dichotomy. Man is the head, provider for the family, while women must live in his shadow and respect his authority. It is problematic as women are often restricted from stepping out of cultural expectations forced upon them. It manifests in different spheres. In the family setup, women must be obedient, submissive, and soft-spoken. Workplace politics often pay women less for the same or greater quantity of work or potential, leading to the Glass Ceiling effect (Cotter, Hermsen, Ovadia, S & Vanneman; 2001). It is the prevalent defiance to the efforts of women and minorities to reach the topmost ranks in management in companies. The underlying perception is that women would take extensive time off or leave the workforce completely post child birth.

In the context of marriage, a woman must obey the institution of arranged marriage and marry the one her parents see fit. Women who do not marry or wish to be independent are frowned upon. In other words, self-reliance in women is considered pathological (Schaumberg and Flynn, 2017). Childbirth and ageism double the expectations and responsibilities of women. (Chrisler, Barney, & Palatino, 2016). Biological traits like menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy are held against them to validate weakness (E.g.: “She is being cranky because she is on her period”) (Chrisler, Gorman, Marván, & Johnston-Robledo, 2014). Female sexuality is painted in a negative light too. Sexual behaviors like premarital sex that are acceptable in men are rejected as abnormality and promiscuousness in women.  It extends to sexual equations, as female pleasure is often neglected in heterosexual relationships. Female masturbation is still considered a taboo as well. The lack of sex education in schools is one of the  a reasons for the association of stigma to female sexual pleasure. 

While society has evolved from such orthodox beliefs yet, patriarchy is still pervasive and women are the endless victims of it. The last century has seen quantum leaps in psychology, and people are now addressing how patriarchy is affecting the mental health of Indian women. Misogyny is prevalent in every walk of life and often makes women dysphoric and vulnerable in all spheres. On the superficial level, the noticeable ill effects are lack of equal opportunities and unjust oppression of women but deep-down internalized patriarchy takes a toll on the mental well-being of women. Sometimes patriarchy is undemonized in the name of harmless/casual sexism. Irrespective of the label, this entrenched disparity causes serious mental health issues. 

According to a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies (Reddy, 2019) across various parts of the country, Indian women show a mental disorder prevalence rate of 64.8 per 1000. They display a higher frequency of neuroses, organic psychoses, and affective disarrays too. Misogyny may be the causative factor of mild to major mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and so on. Sigmund Freud himself propagated patriarchy in the sense that he construed femininity as a deficiency disease (Olfman, 1994). Elaine Showalter (1985), a famous feminist writer, in her book, “Female Malady”, while tracing the history of psychiatry in England, discusses how sequential generations of medical researchers implemented theories of gender that vindicated unfair standards for women from the Victorian age till now. In an effort to conform to such oppressive norms, many women lost their sanity. Meanwhile, in the name of science, many psychiatrists were permitted to diagnose and incarcerate completely stable women who would not obey. 

The majority of the population is unaware of the mental adversities faced by women and often dismiss it as the biological and anatomical side of being a woman. Whenever women’s health is discussed in India, the discussions circle problems like reproduction and family planning. But the correlation between physical and mental health, and how mental complications may be more distressing than physiological factors is often blindsided (Inman & Rao, 2018). We conducted a survey on around 120 young women from urban zones of southern India on their perception of the influence of patriarchy in their lives. 71% of the women under study claimed that their mental health has been affected negatively by the overriding patriarchal norms in Indian society. 97.5% responded that in India, the social order generally favors men over women. 76.9% of the women do not agree with the preferred role of a woman in the context of a typical Indian family. 76% of the women answered that women face more pressure to meet ideal body image standards. 84.3% of the women avoided going to certain places because they feared for their safety. 

Self-esteem issues are one of the most common consequences of persisting patriarchy. Consistent low self-esteem issues leads to a condition known as, “learned helplessness” (Maier, & Seligman, 1976), a state that an individual stagnates in after going through stressful triggers over and over again. The trauma becomes internalized and intermingled with their personality. One of the participants quoted,

“Patriarchy has affected me most in my family and at work. In both places, men have been given more favorable circumstances/ treatment only because of their gender. My hard work and effort get overshadowed by this, and I am unable to get away from this. It is not overtly obvious, but since I experience it, it is very evident to me. And it has impacted my self-image and confidence in negative ways.”

The tendency of women to internalize pain and stress, and their lower status with less power over their environment, render them more vulnerable to depression when under stress. It is in agreement with the diathesis-stress model (Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein & Mosher, 1995) or the vulnerability stress model, a psychological concept that defines the course of a mental condition as a consequence of the interaction between a predisposed weakness, the diathesis, and stressors in life. Due to this, women may feel like they cannot “get away” or may see no escape route from the mental impact caused by societal ruling like patriarchy. Thus, many women find it extremely difficult to flee unhappy marriages or abusive work environments. 

Another female respondent of the survey expressed the following concerns.

“I come from a relatively open-minded family and a privileged socio-economic class where women's voices are heard and respected. However, I think there is a possibility of improvement in some subtler areas, at least in my class. On the whole, though, I think women face a lot of pressure to obey conventions at the cost of their own free will. In fact, women's mental and physical health remains ignored largely, so we need to include them while working on access to mental health care."

It is an interesting observation that patriarchy interferes even with the lives of women belonging to higher social classes and superior education backgrounds. It proves how deep the seeds of patriarchy sown by the Indian culture are, and education and class do not affect it to a satisfactory degree. 

It is important to point out how medical attention concerning women’s physiological health like pregnancy, menstruation, etc., has evolved in the country, yet awareness about women’s mental health is bleak. For instance, in India, the maternal mortality rate (MMR), i.e., the number of mothers dying from 100,000 live births – has reduced from 130 to 122 in just a year, from 2015 to 2016 (WHO, 2015), which means that India may beat the UN deadline by 2024. Yet, most citizens are unaware of “postpartum depression” (PPD) which is very common among most women following pregnancy. Indian culture perceives motherhood as the purest form of joy and any behavior that disagrees with this notion is invalidated and condemned.

Women who suffer from PPD are labeled as “unloving”, “psycho”, “uncaring”, “crazy” etc, instead of being provided humanistic mental support and treatment (Pinto-Foltz & Logsdon, 2008). Women may also be forced to quit their jobs during pregnancy due to poor maternal work laws that are not entirely women-friendly. At times, schools/organizations often make it difficult to work by increasing pressure to an extent that they consider leaving the job voluntarily, so that the institution does not have to pay for the maternity leave. Due to this women find it challenging to go back to the workforce post-childbirth. They find it difficult to juggle between work and motherly duties and may not receive optimum support from their spouse or family, abiding by the stereotypical idea that it is a woman’s primary duty to prioritize the child’s needs over her career or mental and physical health. Unemployment leads to loss of autonomy, and unless voluntary, women feel powerless and unable to find their voice again. 

One of the participants of the survey also said, “It definitely affects our mental health quite deeply. It happens in our own families, women aren't allowed to speak up when something isn't right, women aren't allowed to argue, could go on and on. It takes a toll on our mental health. This needs to change.” This lack of free will for women adversely affects their mental well-being beyond measure. Women who are not consciously aware of such deprivation may repress most of their thoughts and feelings which are deemed as socially unacceptable. In the long run, the lack of independence may take the form of a personality disorder such as a dependent personality disorder (Disney, 2013). It is an anxious personality disorder where one feels inferior, helpless, incompetent, incapable of self-care, and simple decision making. This is the reason many women find it difficult to leave unhappy marriages and relationships as they feel dependent and incapable of surviving alone.

One-third of the women in the world face or have faced some form of eating disorder or body image issues characterized by maladaptive eating patterns and cognitive biases about self and body perception (Galmiche, Déchelotte, Lambert & Tavolacci, 2019). Social media is mainly responsible for creating absurd beauty standards that are often too unrealistic. Yet, most women succumb to such illogical norms, feel inadequate in their body and skin, and indulge in obsessive behaviors to change the way they look. Social media may be the propagator but the misconception that a woman’s worth is defined by her looks stems from misogynistic depictions of women since ancient times.(Walker, Krumhuber, Dayan, & Furnham, 2021). Right from historical texts to present-day mass media, the female protagonist is always the epitome of beauty and is objectified to the point that beauty becomes her only virtue. This leads to body dysmorphia, a  condition where one cannot stop obsessing over one or more perceived defects in their appearance. It is often comorbid with social anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies[1]  (Vashi, 2016)

 

Some of the other female respondents made the following comments in the survey:

“The focus on the physical appearance of women has made me so socially anxious. I have started hating things about myself that I previously didn't even know were "ugly". Hating certain body parts makes me want to hide myself, which further makes it hard for me to look into people's eyes, so I laugh while facing them, or hiding behind a facemask. This obnoxious standard makes me spend a fortune on make-up and skincare, laser hair treatments, and waxing appointments. 20 bras for 20 outfits. I don't want to think for every moment of my existence. I just want to be free.”, reported another respondent.

“I grew up with the feeling that whatever it be, my voice is never going to be heard in my family, so I stopped putting out my opinions in public places. I am thankful that I could grow out of those feelings but that might not be the case with everyone.”

“The way the patriarchy works has just got modern. It has not gotten any better. I honestly do not have hope for it to change. I just ignore it at the time I have no energy to give a thought about it.”

Another mental health concern that occurs in a patriarchal society is high functioning anxiety (Vohnoutka & Silvestro, 2021). It is a form of anxiety where superficially a person seems calm, put together, successful, but deep down the feelings are quite the opposite.  A woman is not only emotionally affected by patriarchal rules, but due to a lack of sufficient support from her peers or parents, she also employs repression. It is a defense mechanism to cope with upsetting emotions by blocking them from conscious thought, and instead, the girl/woman masks an image of perfection to convince people that she is happy with her life. Bottling up feelings and not addressing them worsens anxiety and depression. 

However, in alternative cases, when women rebel against their unhappiness with institutions like marriage and an uncomfortable/unsafe workplace, they are labeled as paranoid, attention-seeking, psychotic, hysteric, and so on. It only instigates more fear to fight against injustice, which often forces women to instead employ avoidance and unsolicited acceptance. Thus, it is no surprise that women avoid going out late at night, fearing for their safety, and in some cases, this may lead to the development of social anxiety disorder (Feerick & Snow, 2005).. They may become averse to social situations or public places due to the dread of falling prey to catcalling, groping, or other forms of sexual assault. 

The cumbersome issue at stake here is the miseducation, misdiagnosis, and mistreatment of women’s mental health conditions. Especially in a country like India, the Indianization of psychiatry (Avasthi, 2011) should happen to embark on a more gender-sensitive approach. The first step to finding a solution to the issue is to psycho-educate women about their mental health and the triggers that may be responsible for distress. The next step would involve empowering women through various behavioral techniques, enabling them to acknowledge and modify their dysfunctional beliefs developed due to cultural stereotypes. The bigger picture would be to create a country where everyone shares egalitarian views free of any prejudice and preferences. However, this is not entirely in our control. So the immediate goal, as stated by cognitive behavioural therapy’s proponent Dr. Aaron Beck (1997), is to help women tackle situations that are in their control.

One of the most effective courses of treatment is feminist therapy (Brown, 2018), that has already been successful in the West. It is a person-centered politically informed model that positions treatment within a cultural context. It acknowledges the concerns of sidelined women in a patriarchal society, instead of discarding the significance of societal roles and expectations on the mental health of women. It can be Indianized as it considers the connection between societal coercion and the conditions of marginalized women. Teaching women skills to be resilient to patriarchal morals is the ideal way to assist them towards a wholesome life.  

 

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