Entertainment to Power

After holding the position of entertaining men, perhaps from time immemorial or millenniums ago, women have begun to take the role of authority.

The earlier structure towards power was through the ideology of bewitching men to rule them. The men got very alert about this deviation in social structure, that they defined it and gave it a name 'Maya.'  A man who is caught in 'Maya' would have to lose his power, the puranas explained in detail. The enchanting women living in Deiva Lokams bewitched powerful men and brought disaster.  The conflict between the male search for permanent authority and the female search to   rule these males has been a continuous process.

The family system also has this inner structure where the Mother used her biological power over her sons to rule over the system itself. The men recognised this 'real' power and created the concept of 'great motherhood' and appeased the female search for power. The mother became a recognised symbol of authority that the men were not publicly ashamed to bend their will to the will of the mother. It was termed as 'obedience and nobility.'

From this arrives the concept of  respecting only the mother and not the wife. The male ideologies created a framework of shame for any one who dared to respect his wife. The construction of 'Dasan' was based on this mental norm. If a man shows  affection to his wife, he was termed as Dasan or servant. The Tamil term is 'Penndati Dasan - the servant of his wife. 

This is the platform for the Mother - in-Law to dominate the Daughter -in - Law. The male saw the two attitudes search for power. It was an ideal situation for him to escape from the female's contention with him for power. He dropped hints and encouraged this war between women in the family system. For an ambitious young female such a system is very frustrating and she uses the female weapons of 'charm, tears, narration, drama and cooking' to bring the male under her control. Families become war fields where each species fights for survival.

All these structures are colliding now. 

The women have found other avenues for power. Educated women working in formal systems have platforms to exhibit their talents. Society has opened up doors where the female search for power is fulfilled.  How will this affect the family system? Can the family system tackle the equal distribution of power in the male and female? What will be the new model?

These are contemporary questions.