Fathering in India: Images and Realities PDF
Preview Fathering in India: Images and Realities
Rajalakshmi Sriram Editor Fathering in India Images and Realities Fathering in India Rajalakshmi Sriram Editor Fathering in India Images and Realities Editor Rajalakshmi Sriram Department of Human Development and Family Studies M.S. University of Baroda Vadodara, Gujarat, India ISBN 978-981-13-1714-9 ISBN 978-981-13-1715-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1715-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957986 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore I dedicate this work to following families: The family that brought me into this world and reared me My parents and siblings for helping me learn that family is a seat of love, support and a cooperative enterprise and remain rooted in it. The family that I created and lived with My husband, daughter, son and mother-in- law, who have provided unconditional support in all my endeavours, enabled me to find meaning in work, maintain a balanced life and enriched my process of learning from life. The extended family networks Their faith in me and regard for me as a professional has kept me motivated and inspired. The professional family My mentors who have inspired and guided me, colleagues, students and all others who I have worked with for opening gateways through critical feedback, naïve questions and opposing views that have enriched me. The families who have been participants in my endeavours of research and action All families that I have reached out to or vice versa have been active partners in opening my blinders, helping me learn new ways of thinking and understanding and adding to my insights that are rooted in experience. Foreword Over the last two decades, a significant body of work has emerged out of diverse academic disciplines (e.g. developmental psychology, human development and family science, sociology, anthropology, demography, early childhood education, paediatrics and psychiatry) on the levels and quality of father involvement and engagement and their meaning for childhood development, partner/couple relation- ship, family well-being, and for fathers themselves. Despite general consensus that fathering is culturally situated, much of the existing research on fathers is largely confined to families in western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) countries. Far less is known about fatherhood and fathering in some of the most populous regions of the world such as India. Admittedly, our understand- ing of fathering in India is in its neonatal stages. But as witnessed by the material covered in this volume, the topic of fathering has gained increasing attention in dif- ferent regions of India. As such, research on fathering in India sits squarely within the push internationally to determine pancultural patterns from within and between culture variations in father-child relationships. That is, indigenous perspectives on fathering in India can inform larger discourses in the social and health sciences on men’s involvement and engagement in families and their implications for improving human capital, advancing gender equality, fighting poverty and upholding the rights of women and children. With a long history of religious beliefs and traditions, linguistic diversity, verti- cal and horizontal family social ties and gendered parental roles and responsibili- ties, India presents a cultural tapestry that is rather unique but simultaneously complex. Often, India’s family organisation and socialisation patterns are discussed in homogeneous terms, masking local and regional variations in maternal and pater- nal roles and responsibilities. This ambitious attempt by Professor Rajalakshmi Sriram and her colleagues to describe the cultural tenets of men as providers and caregivers unmasks some of the heterogeneity that exists in fathering in India. It marks one of the first systematic attempts to assemble scientific information on the vii viii Foreword diverse ways in which men pursue their caregiving roles in different family systems. More importantly, the conceptualisation of research discussed herein moves away from the power and control dimensions so commonly used to describe Indian men. Instead, fathers are cast in a more resilient, adaptive light – that being, the many faces of fathering, positive involvement and the developmental trajectories of men. Basically, this approach to chronicling what Indian men do in families acknowl- edges that mental scripts about gendered roles and the context of childrearing are in a constant state of flux, all of this occurring in an Indian economy that is being transformed measurably. An appealing aspect of this volume is its broad coverage of fathers: from those in privileged economic situations to those in difficult home and family circum- stances, single-parent fathers, fathers and children with disabilities, fathers in the military, shared parenting, maternal work status and fathering and depictions of fathering in Hindi films, the media and children’s books. After laying bare some of the conceptual challenges to defining fathering, the different sections of the volume draw on both qualitative and quantitative data from studies conducted on fathers in rural and urban areas and in different regions of India (e.g. Mumbai, Pune, Baroda, Kashmir, Orissa, Rajasthan and Delhi). Make no mistake, the cultural aspects of fathering are richly woven into various chapters. For instance, a few chapters speak explicitly to the existential aspects of fathering as embedded in the Vedas and spiri- tuality. Throughout the volume, one gets a sense that fathering is changing in India with men becoming more cognisant of the need to provide opportunities for chil- dren and to nurture and guide them as they navigate their way through childhood and beyond. This is especially true among urban, educated families, but the tension between monitoring/protecting daughters and achieving gender equality remains palpable. In the context of the larger fathering literature, Fathers in India: Images and Realities joins other scientific efforts to chart the shared aspirations of men every- where to care for and nurture their children in sensitively attuned ways. Having said that, how men achieve the responsibilities of engaged fathering varies within and across cultural communities. India is no exception in this regard. Its cultural sociali- sation patterns behoove us to think carefully before indulging in general characteri- sations about fathering in India. This book aptly demonstrates the contextual aspects of fathering and the economic and social challenges that men confront in meeting the needs of children within varied social settings in the world’s largest democracy. Equally compelling is that this book provides a much needed emic look at fathering in India while soliciting the voices of children in efforts to catalogue paternal involvement and engagement. The latter is in keeping with the child rights perspec- tive to empower children to advocate for optimal approaches to childrearing. These Foreword ix culturally rich and timely accounts of fathering in India will not only serve as a platform for guiding future work in this line of inquiry, they will in all likelihood enliven international discussions about what is local and particular from the univer- sal on different dimensions of fathering and possible pathways to childhood development. Pearl S. Falk Professor of Human Development Jaipaul L. Roopnarine and Family Science Syracuse University Syracuse, NY, USA Professor Extraordinary of Developmental Psychology Anton de Kom University of Suriname Paramaribo, Suriname 25 May 2018 Preface ‘Work’ in ‘social science research’ is a part of one’s life and hence always inter- twines with it shaping the themes and approaches, whether articulated or not. I take this opportunity to share how my personal and professional life and various ongoing engagements have shaped this work on fathers and fathering. I was born into a middle-class ‘South Indian family’ which was ‘rooted in tradition’ but ‘embraced change’ with open arms and one foot on each track; this was evident in issues of gender and hierarchy, where my parents engaged in family roles cooperatively (despite their roles being gendered with father as the earner and mother as the home maker) with us children pitching in where ever we could. Respect set the tone rather than authority or fear, thus giving space to everyone’s voices; emerging conflicts/ dualities were always resolved through negotiation and consensus to find an ami- cable solution. This focus on interrelatedness, seeing things in perspective and bal- ance has stayed with me through life. As a professional in human development studies, I studied the dominant ‘western view’ but, like others of that time, focussed more on adapting it to the Indian context rather than questioning the basic premise. In the 1980s and 1990s, the focus on indigenisation of curriculum and the need to develop culturally rooted methodolo- gies in research and outreach triggered new explorations. I got the opportunity to listen to other professionals in the field of women’s studies and cross-cultural psy- chology and to engage in dialogues with them. This gave me new insights and con- victions. Further exposure to multiple realities of family life and women in rural, urban, and tribal locales, as part of projects, thrust me towards qualitative methods with a focus on the ‘emic’ and participatory methods. My broad research interests have been in the Indian family, particularly women’s empowerment. I began by exploring ‘women’s parenting roles, reproductive health and childcare support systems’, engaging simultaneously in research, action and advocacy. Similar was the path in understanding the issue of family violence against women. These journeys brought to the forefront many contradictions between my personal experiences with my own family, as a parent and as a daughter, where I saw that both my husband and father were caring father figures to their children and many men who were regarded as feared authority figures in the family had a caring xi
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