A price tag on emotions, anyone?

It seems to be a rather amusing year for womankind in India; Khaps in Haryana are determined to prove that chowmein and pizzas will lead men to rape women, a village near Delhi has banned women from using cellphones in fear of straying young men and small-time right-wing parties have taken it into their hands to ‘beat’ tradition into young girls in cities. Amidst all the furore created by traditionalists and women’s activists about rights and empowerment, came another strange suggestion from the Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Krishna Tirath — that the centre must pass a bill that a man’s salary must mandatorily be transferred to his wife’s bank account as a ‘domestic salary’ if she is unemployed and a ‘homemaker’.

Interestingly, this is merely one of the minister’s many suggestions to improve the livelihood of women in the country. Over the past months, she has been vocal about banning lavish Indian weddings, abolishing child marriages and encouraging children’s education. In all fairness, I’m sure everyone will agree with her in slamming remarks from khaps over child marriage and urging women empowerment. But her suggestion that housewives must obtain an income from their husbands has brought to light a darker side of the patriarchy — the nature of women themselves. Digging deeper into the complex web of women’s issues, there are glaring differences about what men and women both have to say about this.

Anita, who works as a maid in Shantinagar, Bangalore, told me passionately. “In my household, both my husband and I share the maintenance costs. Of course, this is a rare thing. Some women I know don’t tell their husbands that they work because their husbands are alcoholics. While this law won’t make a difference to me, I think it is a good thing for women who are in my locality and others like them who have no education and have to be at home. At least, they are ensured of some security because otherwise they have no way of earning money at all.” Anita’s case probably echoes the feelings of thousands of low-income earners who are working their way out of poverty. In cities, many have more or less accepted the reality of double income households to maintain the demands of city living. Young, middle-class, working women are caught in the middle with some feeling that this would benefit them, while others felt that the very nature of this bill was derogatory. “I think it’s a good thing for housewives in low-income households,” a PR professional I talked to told me, “Given the scenario that most women in high-income households are working and hence financially independent, if the law said women should share half of their income with husbands I’m sure they would not have agreed. Then why should the men?”

Men, on the other hand, seem to see the minister’s suggestion as ineffective and biased. Paul, who lives with his wife in Bangalore, says “I think the minister’s comments were targeted at women belonging to a certain section of society. There are a cohort of women who are exposed to the media and climbing the career ladder to top positions. Of course, there are certain women who face problems. But if the husband is worried that he has to part with a fixed amount of his salary to pay his wife, instances of harassment are highly possible. Therefore, we must weigh the pros and cons. A marriage needs to be a relationship and not a business setup.” Arun Kumaravel, a young activist in Sivakasi, doesn’t pause for thought when talking of his frustration about the possibility of such a bill being passed. “A marriage governed by law is stupid. What about if a man does a bit of domestic work? Will he have to pay a lesser amount to his wife then?”

Taking a step back, it is easy to be led away with taking sides in the battle of the sexes. But it isn’t this that is worrisome about Minister Tirath’s proposal. Rather, it is the regressive nature of her suggestion. By putting a price tag on housework, she seems to assume, that a woman’s contribution to a household can be monetarily valued. As one friend put it crudely, “Oh, so I suppose wives will just become glorified maids?” This bill, if ever passed, will only create generation of young women who grow up to believe that ‘housework’ is a ‘job’ and possibly the only skill they have. If there’s anything that we can learn from this suggestion, it is that the bigger threat today isn’t that the patriarchy will work against women, but rather that women will work against their own progress. If empowerment is what ministers like Krishna Tirath are after, they must probably begin with changing the way they think first, and then try to fix larger societal problems.