In early 90’s When chemical engineer Vipin Gopal coined the catchphrase ‘God’s Own Country’ to describe Kerala’s natural beauty and promote its tourism, little did he think that the place will essentially become a ‘devil’ for its women.
From extreme moral policing to lack of safety and basic amenities like toilets there are many things that bother women voters in Kerala. With very little participation from women in politics in the state, these issues are neither discussed nor represented.
You find women in every sphere, thanks to Kerala’s highest rate of literacy – managing the shops, running hospitals, working in tech firms and as teaching professionals – but not without men guarding them all along.
You won’t find women eating alone, traveling late hours or speaking to the journalists without parental permission. With a few exceptions, education does not bring freedom, empowerment and confidence to the women of Kerala by default.Stephy, youngest woman councillor at Thiruvananthapuram
Moral Policing on the Rise in Kerala
Men in Kerala like to keep a check on how women behave in public, whom they accompany and where they go. Any instance of ‘abnormality’ can lead to trouble.
A few years ago my friend decided to drop me to work since I work on late night shifts. We stopped for tea at one place. Soon, an auto rickshaw driver approached us, asking we were out so late. Overhearing the conversation, a few men joined him and threatened to call police and get us arrested for immoral activity. They said they will not let the IT culture corrupt their cities. They slapped me, beat my friend took our photos. Things settled down only after I called my friends and they called the police. Till date I have received no update on my complaint.Thasni Banu, software professional from Kochi
Women’s Marginal Role in Kerala Politics
In 2011 Kerala assembly elections, 888 male candidates contested, while the number of female candidates was 83. This, when the number of female voters is higher than the number of male voters.
What followed is even more disturbing. Sixty-three women candidates out of these 83 lost because they contested from seats with no realistic chances of winning.
Women in Kerala are socially conditioned to be domesticated. They are educated, working and earning but only to get better placed in the marriage market. The ones who want decision-making freedom and a life of their own opt to work outside the state.Asha, entrepreneur based at Thiruvananthapuram
Where Men Represent Women
In 2011 a Facebook group called ‘Sexually Frustrated Mallu’, was up in arms when the election posters at Mallapuram district in Kerala showcased not the women candidates, but their husbands.
It’s a Muslim dominated area and due to religious reasons women cannot be photographed, so they sought votes in the name of their husbands. From election campaigning to meeting the voters, husbands represented their wives.Admin of the Facebook page
From Matriarchy to Patriarchy
Historically Kerala was a matrilineal society. The warrior community of Nairs believed men were purely instruments of war and they never married. They could visit any woman at her natal home for sexual gratification but household responsibilities lay with women.
Matriliny continued to offer an identity and security to women in Kerala till Christian missionaries and the British brought with them the idea of morality. With time, as interaction with other parts of India grew, the idea of patriarchy gradually became entrenched in Kerala. Men became the breadwinners and thus the decision-makers. Now women were in need of protection.
In almost all colleges across Kerala, there is a literal curfew for women after 6:30 pm. In the name of security and protecting women they don’t allow us to even go to the libraries. In 2015 we started a ‘Break the Curfew’ campaign. Women are thought to have default roles and they are expected to be within those limits.Aiswaraya, engineering graduate from CET
With the least representation of women in politics and female electorate largely following their husbands in voter lines, the story of women in Kerala is of perceived empowerment but actual disempowerment.
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