Patraiarchy Bangladesh.pdf

Asian Journal of Social Science 37 (2009) 599–622

brill.nl/ajss

Theorising Patriarchy: The Bangladesh Context Farah Deeba Chowdhury University of Rajshahi

Abstract In Bangladesh, men dominate, oppress and exploit women through private and public patriarchy. Private patriarchy is maintained in the family through the misinterpretation of religion and the non-recognition of unpaid work done by women at home. In the family women are considered as passive dependants and property of their husbands. Women are also excluded from economic and political power through public patriarchy. In the public arena women are only considered as sexual objects and patriarchy is maintained through sexual harassment. Capital accumulation further strengthens patriarchy in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, men’s attitudes towards women are shaped by advertisements, films, beauty contests and pornography where women are used as sexual objects to accumulate capital. Increasingly, men have started to use the dowry system for capital accumulation. Thus men in Bangladesh accumulate capital through private and public patriarchy. Keywords religion, unpaid work, sexual harassment, capital accumulation

Introduction I am a Bangladeshi scholar. I have three daughters and I am very proud of having three daughters. My husband also feels the same way, but most people in Bangladesh think that we must be unhappy and disappointed for not having any sons. They console us and say, “Oh, you don’t have sons. What can you do? You have no control over it. It will be good if you raise your daughters as sons.” They mean that if we provide a good education to them, they will be established in life like men. By saying this, they also mean that girls have no right to have a quality education and to join the paid labour force. Why is this so in this modern age? Why are women considered as inferior to men? In fact, this consciousness derives from the continued existence of patriarchal ideology, as well as the misinterpretation of Islam in Bangladesh. How does patriarchy work in the family and public arena in Bangladesh? Does Islam consider women inferior to men? Why are women in Bangladesh considered as passive dependants? How do sexual harassment and capital © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009

DOI: 10.1163/156853109X460200

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accumulation strengthen patriarchy in Bangladesh? I will address these questions in this paper. I will review feminist scholarship on patriarchy to demonstrate its ongoing relevance to gender and familial relations in Bangladesh. I will review Islamic principles on women and family to show how misinterpretation of Islam allows the continuing of patriarchy in Bangladesh. I will also examine the ongoing relevance of patriarchy in Bangladesh in the following three contexts: (1) nonrecognition of unpaid work; (2) sexual harassment; and (3) accumulation of capital. I will use both primary and secondary sources in this paper. The primary source I will use is the Holy Quran; secondary sources include relevant books, journal articles, research reports, dissertations, and internet sites.

Understanding Patriarchy Patriarchy is an ancient Greek term that means: ‘the rule of the father’. Originally this word was used to mean the herding societies of the Old Testament where the father’s authority over family members was absolute.1 Lerner argues that patriarchy is a historic creation by men and women and that the patriarchal family is the basic unit of its organisation.2 Millett used this concept to describe male domination over women in 1970.3 For Millett, the main institution of patriarchy is the family. The family encourages its members to conform to the sexually differentiated roles and maintain women’s inferior position. She also views patriarchy in terms of its public dimension; she writes, “The military, industry, technology, universities, science, political office, and finance — in short, every avenue of power within the society, including the coercive force of the police, is entirely in male hands.”4 Millet identified the family as the major site of oppression, but her observation is not fully applicable to present society as all power is not entirely in male hands. Even in Bangladesh women participate in the economy, politics and society. In Bangladesh, both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition are women. Patriarchy was conceptualised as a system which is parallel, or similar, to capitalism. Delphy sees patriarchy as a system of oppression with a material base in the ‘domestic mode of production’; she points out that production occurs in the household and that husbands appropriate all the work done by 1 LeGates, M. (2001) In Their Time A History of Feminism in Western Society. London: Routledge, pp. 11−12. 2 Lerner, G. (1986) The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216. 3 Millett, K. (1970) Sexual Politics. New York: Doubleday and Co. 4 Ibid.

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their wives there. She further argues that marriage is the institution by which women’s unpaid work is appropriated by their husbands.5 Hartmann states that patriarchal control is mainly maintained through the appropriation of women’s labour. She states that, before capitalism, a patriarchal system prevailed where men controlled the labour of women and children in the family.6 In the capitalist society, men’s superiority is maintained through job segregation by sex, as it enforces women’s lower wages in the labour market. As a result of the lower wages, women remain dependent on men and have to perform domestic responsibilities. According to Hartmann the key elements of patriarchy include: heterosexual marriage; female childbearing and housework; women’s economic dependence on men; the state; and different institutions which are based on social relations among men, such as clubs, sports, unions, professions, universities, churches, corporations and armies. She thinks that dominance and submission are learned from the family. Eisenstein believes that the sex class division is more fundamental to human society than the economic class division that has changed historically with the changes in economic organisations.7 She points out that patriarchy and capitalism depend on each other, claiming that patriarchy and capitalism work within the sexual division of labour. These systems work in society, rather than in the family.8 Eisenstein further points out that women’s domestic work perpetuates patriarchy; women’s role stabilises patriarchal structures (family, housewife, mother, etc.). Women reproduce new workers, they take care of the men and children. They also work in the paid labour force for low wages. Their role as consumers also stabilises the economy. She writes, “If the other side of production is consumption, the other side of capitalism is patriarchy.”9 Mies differs with Eisenstein and argues that, “As capitalism is necessarily patriarchal it would be misleading to talk of two separate systems.”10 Capitalism cannot function without patriarchy because the goal of this system is capital 5 Delphy, C. (1984) Close to Home a Materialistic Analysis of Women’s Oppression. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, p. 95. 6 Hartmann, H. (1979) “Capitalism, Patriarchy, And Job Segregation by Sex”, in Eisenstein, Z. R. (ed.) Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism. London: Monthly Review Press, p. 207. 7 Fox, B. J. (1988) “Conceptualizing Patriarchy”. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 25(2): 175. 8 Eisenstein, Z. R. (1979) “Developing a Theory of Capitalist Patriarchy and Socialist Feminism”, in Eisenstein, Z. R. (ed.) Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism. London: Monthly Review Press, p. 27. 9 Ibid., p. 29. 10 Mies, M. (1986) Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale Women in the International Division of Labour. London: Zed Books, p. 38.

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accumulation and it cannot be achieved if patriarchal relations are not maintained or reconstructed.11 Patriarchy and capitalism are closely connected and capitalism is, therefore, another form of patriarchy. Mies rightly argues that male dominance does not mean only the rule of fathers, but also rule of husbands, male bosses and the ruling men of society, politics and the economy. Mies believes that women are the optimal labour force for the capitalist system, because they are considered as housewives, not workers. By considering women as housewives their labour can be cheapened and it brings political and ideological control over women. Mies also argues that there is a relationship between dowry demands and capital accumulation; in India, the dowry money is used, in many cases, to start a business, lawyer’s office, private practitioner’s clinic, engineering office, etc.12 Mies rightly points out that the institution of dowry can be considered as: ‘a source of wealth which is accumulated not by means of the man’s own work or by investing his own capital, but by extraction, blackmail and direct violence’.13 Walby sees patriarchy from a multi-dimensional approach. She defines patriarchy “. . . as a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women.”14 The main element of patriarchy is: “. . . systematically structured gender inequality.”15 She argues that patriarchy consists of six structures: household work, paid work, the state, male violence, sexuality, and cultural institutions.16 Her first structure is the patriarchal relations in the household. She says that through these patriarchal relations women’s labour is expropriated by their husbands, fathers, or co-habitees. Walby further says that there are two forms of patriarchy: private and public. Private patriarchy is based on household production in which men control women individually. Public patriarchy is a form whereby the expropriation of women is performed collectively. Private patriarchy is maintained by women’s non-participation in public life. Walby argues that changes have occurred in the degree and form of patriarchy in the household. In the household, patriarchal control over women has decreased significantly and the labour of women is not expropriated by their husband to the same extent. She points out, “The individual personal control over women by husbands is reduced, since women can leave any specific hus11

Ibid. Ibid., p. 162. 13 Ibid. 14 Walby, S. (1996) “The ‘Declining Significance’ or the Changing Forms’ of Patriarchy?”, in Moghadam, V. M. (ed.) Patriarchy and Economic Development Women’s Positions at the End of the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 21. 15 Ibid., p. 28. 16 Ibid., p. 24. 12

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band, but they do not escape the wider patriarchal relations by doing this. For instance, they are still responsible for children.”17 The above-mentioned scholars find that the family is the main site of oppression, but their limitation, particularly with the Marxist feminists, is that they analyse the oppression of women in the family mainly in terms of economic aspects. Mies argues that the bourgeoisie declared the family as a private place and created social and sexual division of labour similar to capitalism. Capitalism did not destroy the family; rather, it created the family with the help of the state and police where the housewife is considered as a social category.18 ‘Housewifisation’ increases the lack of women’s political power, as well as bargaining power. Mies points out that, “The extension of bourgeois laws to the working class meant that in the family the propertyless man was also lord and master.”19 Hartmann argues that, “. . . the wage differentials caused by extreme job segregation in the labour market reinforces the family, and, with it, the domestic division of labour, by encouraging women to marry.”20 Here Hartmann thinks that women only marry for economic reasons and she ignores the sexual and emotional needs of women. Mies also thinks that family was created to maintain capitalism. Thus, she also ignores the main function of the family. In Bangladesh, girls are married off so that they can fulfil their sexual and emotional needs legally; marriage is universal in Bangladesh and the main function of the family is to satisfy sexual and emotional needs of men and women. Bangladeshi society actually encourages young divorced women and widows to remarry so that they can fulfil their sexual and emotional needs legally.21 Marriage gives women the opportunity to share their feelings with their husbands and children. Sometimes women are emotionally so attached with their husbands that they do not even leave their violent husbands. Besides, marriage gives security to many women in Bangladesh. The incidence of rape and sexual harassment is increasing in Bangladesh; child marriages take place to protect girls from rape and sexual harassment.22 Thus, the family also provides security to women in Bangladesh. The above-mentioned scholars failed to understand the important role of family in women’s lives and 17

Walby, S. (1990) Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, p. 86. Mies (1986:104−105). 19 Ibid., p. 110. 20 Hartmann, H. (1981) “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union”, in Sargent, L. (ed.) Women and Revolution. The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: A Debate on Class and Patriarchy. London: Pluto Press, p. 108. 21 Based on the author’s observation. 22 Chowdhury, F. D. (2004) “The socio-cultural context of child marriage in a Bangladeshi village”. International Journal of Social Welfare 13: 250. 18

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they have not recognised the complexity and contradictory nature of family relations. In the family there are unequal relations and struggles between husbands and wives but, simultaneously, it has security and emotional sustenance. Those scholars also think that patriarchy is maintained through women’s childbearing and rearing activities. Eisenstein points out that childbearing and rearing are considered as natural and inevitable by patriarchy. She also argues about the system of patriarchy: . . . it is the creation of newborn children and the mothers to rear them. Patriarchy, then, expresses the struggle to control women’s options in order to keep their role as childbearer and rearer primary. Power reflects the activity of trying to limit choices. The priorities of patriarchy are to keep the choices limited for women so that their role as mothers remains primary.23

Again, the situation is considerably more complex than indicated by this feminist. In Bangladesh, motherhood (note: giving birth to many children is neither encouraged by society, nor the state) is not considered as opposed to women’s emancipation, rather motherhood gives women bargaining power with their husbands and families-in-law. It is observed that, sometimes, when children grow up, they support their mothers in bargaining with their fathers. In addition, many women enjoy childbearing and childrearing activities and consider this work to be most important for the existence of this world. Kandiyoti writes about patriarchal bargain in developing countries. She argues that “. . . women strategise within a set of concrete constraints that reveal and define the blueprint . . .” of what she calls ‘patriarchal bargain’ of any given society.24 It may vary according to class, caste and ethnicity. She argues that the operations of the patrilocally-extended household are the main sources of classic patriarchy. Examples of such classic patriarchy may be found in North Africa, the Muslim Middle East, and South and East Asia. Kandiyoti rightly observes that in classic patriarchy parents marry off their girls at a very early age and they are transferred to households where the head of the family is husbands’ father. In their in-laws’ homes, they are under the control of all the men and, at the same time, they are also subordinate to and controlled by senior women, especially by their mothers-in-law.

23 Eisenstein, Z. R. (1993) The Radical Future of Liberal Feminism. Boston: Northeastern Press, p. 16. 24 Kandiyoti, D. (2002) “Bargaining with Patriarchy”, in Holmstrom, N. (ed.) The Socialist Feminist Project: A Contemporary Reader in Theory and Politics. New York: Monthly Review Press, p. 137.

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Sangari views patriarchies as “systems of subordinating women [that] function simultaneously through coercion or the threat and practice of violence, through making a wide social consensus drawn from and dispersed over many areas of social life and through obtaining in various ways, different degrees of consent from women.”25 She rightly argues that the family is not only a place of women’s socialisation and oppression, but also a place of struggle and of the daily recreation of various types of inequality where women participate. She rightly points out that maintaining patriarchy also involves the consent and participation of women. In fact, women are not united to fight against patriarchy and men know this limitation of women and they continue to exploit and oppress women. In Bangladesh, it is observed that women do not want patriarchal control for themselves, but they want patriarchal control for other women. Women oppress their daughters-in-law, but at the same time they want liberation for their own daughters. Thus, they participate in maintaining patriarchy. Cain et al. (1979) wrote about patriarchy in Bangladesh. They define patriarchy “. . . as a set of social relations with a material base that enables men to dominate women. In Bangladesh, patriarchy describes a distribution of power and resources within families such that men maintain power and control of resources, and women are powerless and depended on men. The material base of patriarchy is men’s control of property, income, and women’s labour.”26 They believe that the elements of patriarchal control are the kinship system, political system, and religion. They write, “According to Islam, man is the earner and woman is the server of men.”27 In fact, this is the patriarchal view about Islam. The patriarchal society of Bangladesh misinterprets Islam to control and exploit women. The Quran states that, “The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another” (Quran 9:71). Marriage in Islam is based on mutual peace, love, and compassion, not just the satisfaction of men’s needs. The Quran states that the husband and wife are the garments of each other (Quran 2:187). Following Walby, I will define patriarchy as a system in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women through private and public patriarchy in the context of Bangladesh. Following Mies, I will explore how capital accumulation strengthens patriarchy in Bangladesh. In other words, men accumulate capital through private and public patriarchy. 25 Sangari, K. (2002) Politics of the Possible: Essays on Gender, History, Narratives, Colonial English. Anthem Press, p. 371. 26 Cain, M., Khanam, S. R. and Nahar, S. (1979). “Class, Patriarchy, and Women’s Work in Bangladesh”. Population and Development Review 5(3): 406. 27 Ibid., p. 407.

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Private Patriarchy: Misinterpretation of Religion In this section I will examine how patriarchy is maintained through the misinterpretation of religion. In Bangladesh, more than 85% of the population are Muslims and Islam plays a very important role in society. Huque and Akhter write about the importance of Islam in Bangladeshi society: Generally, the people of Bangladesh have strong attachments to Islam, and no-one among the rulers and the ruled would risk retribution by opposing or criticising religious customs, practices and beliefs. A large number of Bangladeshis do not perform the mandatory religious practices, but most display their devotion to Islam in public. The slightest aspersion on Islam results in hostile public reaction, which is why neither the government, nor the opposition political parties of Bangladesh speak out against Islam.28

The ideology of Islam determines the relations between men and women in Bangladesh. Women are oppressed through misinterpretation of Islam by Bangladeshi men and a section of little-learned religious leaders. Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and the first woman to lead the government of a Muslim country, writes, “We learned at an early age that it was men’s interpretation of our religion that restricted women’s opportunities, not our religion itself.”29 Girls are considered as liabilities and boys are regarded as assets in Bangladeshi patriarchal society. The discrepancy in the treatment between males and females starts at birth when a male child is welcomed to the world by Ajan (call for prayer). On the contrary, the birth of the female child is not greeted this way, although, according to Islamic provision, the female child has the same right to hear Ajan.30 Habiba Zaman, a Bangladeshi woman teaching in a Canadian University, writes, “A son creates joy and optimism for the family, whereas a daughter receives a half-hearted welcome. When my fourth and youngest sister was born (all my siblings are sisters), my paternal grandfather was so upset he refused to see her.”31 When a woman does not have a son, then everybody consoles her, “Allah (God) did not give you, what will you do?” As if God punished that woman by not giving her son. Actually, does Islam consider that women are inferior to men? Does Islam allow the oppressive and 28 Huque, A. S. and Akhter, M. Y. (1987) “The Ubiquity of Islam: Religion and Society in Bangladesh”. Pacific Affairs 60(2): 200. 29 Bhutto, B. (1988) Daughter of the East. London: Hamish Hamilton, p. 31. 30 Thanvi, A. A. (1996) Beheshti Jeor. Vol. 2. Dhaka, Emdadia Library p.169. 31 Zaman, H. (1999) “Violence Against Women in Bangladesh: Issues and Responses”. Women’s Studies International Forum 22(1): 41.

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exploitative behaviours and attitudes towards women? The Quran does not allow the unwelcoming attitudes among some parents upon hearing the news of the birth of a baby girl, instead of a baby boy. It states, When the news is brought to one of them of (the birth of ) a female (child) his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame he hides himself from his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance and) contempt or bury her in the dust? Ah! What an evil (choice) they decide on! (Quran 16:58−59)

Parents must support and show kindness and justice to their daughters. The Prophet Mohammad said, Whosoever has a daughter and he does not bury her alive, does not insult her, and does not favour his son over her, Allah will enter him into paradise . . . Whosoever supports two daughters till they mature, he and I will come in the Day of Judgment as this (and he pointed with his two fingers held together).32

Education is not only a right, but also a responsibility of all males and females. The Prophet Mohammad said, “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim” (here, the term ‘Muslim’ is used for both males and females). Bangladeshi patriarchal culture misinterpreted Islam to control women and created values stating that Islam does not allow female education and it a great sin to provide education to girls. As such, gender disparity prevails at all levels of formal education in Bangladesh and, due to this disparity, women cannot enhance their capabilities. At present, parents are interested in educating their daughters but the goal of educating girls is to find a better husband-to-be. In recent times, there has been a significant change attitudes towards women taking up paid employment in Bangladesh. With the breakup of the extendedfamily system and increasing poverty, large numbers of women from landless and middle-class families are in need of economic support. Women from such families are searching for any available employment. As a result, they shed off their age-old inhibitions and prejudices. Changing male attitudes toward employed women and the expansion of educational and employment opportunities also helped bring about changes in female participation in paid

32 Badawi, J. A. (n.d.) “Gender Equity in Islam”. World Assembly of Muslim Youth, WAMY Studies on Islam. Available at: http://www.jannah.org/sisters/genderequity.pdf.

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employment. Both urban and rural women are no longer hesitant to join the paid labour force whenever opportunities arise.33 On the other hand, maintenance is the lawful right of the wife to be provided for at the husband’s expense with food, clothing, accommodation and other necessities of life. This law derives from the injunctions of the Holy Quran, the Prophet’s tradition and the consensus of the jurists.34 It does not matter whether the wife is involved in the paid labour force or not. It is mandatory for a husband to provide for his wife. The Holy Quran instructs men to provide full maintenance for the wife, even if the wife is a rich woman.35 According to Islam, women have every right to spend their income independently and control their money.36 What happens in Bangladesh when women start to work? A study shows that 35% of female garment workers spend their income absolutely according to their own decision. Forty-three percent of the female workers spend their own earnings according to a joint decision with others. Twenty-three percent report that they have no control over their earnings.37 After taking credit/loans from NGOs, 24% of women spend their money by themselves, while 50% of women spend money along with their husbands. The rest of the women’s loan money goes directly to their husbands.38 Another study also finds that some women parliamentarians in Bangladesh have a lack of control over their own earnings.39 In Bangladesh, husbands control their wives’ money directly or indirectly. Husbands employ a number of strategies to control their wives’ income. Most husbands do not want their wives to spend money on their parental family and, thus, control their wives’ income. In many cases, women’s incomes or part of their income is spent on the in-law’s family.40 It is believed that women are transferred to their husbands’ families through marriage. Husbands con33 Khan, S. (1993) The Fifty Percent: Women in Development and Policy in Bangladesh. Dhaka: The University Press Limited, p. 3. 34 Monsoor, T. (1998) “Maintenance to Muslim Wives: The Legal Connotations”. The Dhaka University Studies 1X(1:F): 63. 35 Doi, A. R. I. (1984) Shari’ah: The Islamic Law. London: Ta Ha Publishers, p. 204. 36 Badawi, J. A. (n.d.). 37 Paul-Majumder, P. (1997) “Sramajibi Mohilader Daridrer Bibhinna Matra”, in Rahman, R. I. (ed.) Daridra O Unnayan: Prekkhapot Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Pp. 138−139. 38 Halder R. and Akhter, R. (1999) “The Role of NGO and Women’s Perception of Empowerment: An Anthropological Study in a Village”. Empowerment 6: 61. 39 Chowdhury, F. D. (2004) “Problems of Women’s Political Participation in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study”. Unpublished MA Thesis, Saint Mary’s University, p. 88. 40 Chowdhury, F. D. (2007) “Married Women’s Income in Bangladesh: Who controls it and How?” Unpublished Major Research Paper, Department of Political Science, York University.

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sider their wives as property and the Bangladeshi patriarchal culture teaches girls that it is their religious duty to make their husbands and husbands’ families happy. Society teaches that Islam promises heaven for women in return for complete submission to their husbands. Bangladeshi patriarchal society uses religion in support of this argument and teaches that the wives’ heaven lies at the feet of their husbands; however, this statement is not found in the Holy Quran, nor in the words of the Prophet. Bangladeshi patriarchal society spreads this message in the name of Islam and, thus, men exploit women and, due to the lack of proper religious education, women believe this and, thus, patriarchy is maintained through the misinterpretation of religion. It is believed that an ideal wife should not argue with her husband and her only responsibility is to look after her husband, children and members of husband’s family. A woman in Bangladesh is effectively cut off from her parental family after marriage. Daughters cannot look after their parents from their in-law’s home. Kabir et al. (1998) point out, “Daughters are considered to be ‘temporary guests to the family’ who will be married off when they reach the appropriate age. Even if a daughter wants to, according to social norms she is not expected to directly look after her parents or have her parents live with her.”41 Married women who want to look after their parents are criticised by their husbands and in-laws’ families. The husbands and in-laws’ families always put psychological pressure on them by saying, “You are so poor and helpless that you do not have anybody to look after your parents.” On the other hand, according to social norms, women must take care of their in-laws. Sometimes husbands and husbands’ families disconnect the relationship with the daughters-in-law’s natal families so that their daughters-in-law cannot look after their parents. Married women in the paid labour force also experience this situation. When the Quran instructs about the responsibility towards parents, it does not instruct only for men. The Quran states, And We have enjoined on the person (to be good) to his/her parents: in travail upon travail did his/her mother bear him/her and in years twain was his/her weaning: (hear the command) “Show gratitude to Me and to you parents: to Me is (your final) Goal. (Quran 31:14) We have enjoined on the person kindness to his/her parents: in pain did his/her mother bear him/her and in pain did she give him/her birth. The carrying of the (child) to his/her weaning is (a period of ) thirty months. (Quran 46:15) 41 Kabir, Z. N., Szebehely, M., Tishelman, C., Chowdhury, A. M. R., Höjer, B. and Winblad, B. (1998) “Aging trends — Making an invisible population visible: The elderly in Bangladesh”. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 13: 362.

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Bangladeshi patriarchal society never teaches girls about this instruction in the interest of their husbands and husbands’ family. For this reason, girls are considered as liabilities by their natal family. Parents who do not have sons feel insecure in the absence of a state-provided security system. Kotalova undertook research in a Bangladeshi village; there a young mother explained to her after delivering a girl, “A girl? What for? She will leave one day; here she will stay like a guest fed for others.”42 In Islam women not only have responsibilities towards their parents, but also they have the same religious and moral duties and responsibilities: And their Lord has accepted of them and answered them: “Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you be it male or female: you are members of one another . . .” (Quran 3: 195) If any do deeds of righteousness be they male or female and have faith they will enter paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them. (Quran 4:124) For Muslim men and women and for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise, for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward. (Quran 33:35)

Bangladesh patriarchal society never gives these messages to women of their broader responsibilities in the interest of men. It only spreads the message that women have responsibilities only towards their husbands, children and members of their in-law’s family. Husbands want to appropriate all the income of their wives and do not even allow their wives to give charity with their own income. When women pay their zakat,43 it is their husbands who instruct them to whom it should go. Many women in Bangladesh cannot give their zakat or charity according to their own will.44 In Bangladesh, patriarchy is maintained through spreading the message that men are superior to women in Islam. Badawi argues that the Holy Quran does not state anywhere that one gender is superior to the other. He says, “The Quran makes it clear that the sole basis for superiority of any person over

42 Kotalova, J. (1996) Belonging to Others: Cultural Construction of Womanhood in a Village in Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited, p. 65. 43 Zakat is an obligation of Muslims to pay 2.5% of their wealth to specified categories in society when their annual wealth exceeds a minimum level. 44 Chowdhury, F. D. (2007).

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another is piety and righteousness, not gender, colour, or nationality.”45 The Quran states, O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (one who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (Quran:49:13)

Men in Bangladesh beat their wives to express male superiority. A study finds that 47% of women in Bangladesh experience physical assault by husband and men.46 Ameen states, “The village people are of the opinion that a man who does not beat his wife is spineless. In rural areas there is a saying that, ‘My son keeps his wife at the end of a stick.’”47 It is observed that husbands even sometimes beat their wives when rice is not cooked properly. Even in the urban areas husbands of many highly-educated women beat them. Once a highlyeducated woman expressed her experience: My husband often beats me. My mother complained to my father-in-law that my husband beats me. My father-in-law replied, “A good wife does not say to other people that her husband beats her. Your daughter is not a good girl. So she informed you. It is the personal matter of husband and wife.”48

Islam does not allow husband’s cruelty towards wives. The Prophet Muhammad taught to be kind to women and he said, “The best of you is the best to his family (wife) . . .”49 The Quran asks husbands to be kind and considerate even if they do not like them, but patriarchy in Bangladesh hides this message and gives men the authority to oppress their wives. The Quran states, O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness that you may take away part of the marital gift you have given them except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary, live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good. (Quran 4:19)

45

Ibid. Ameen, N. (2005) Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognized Offence. Dhaka: The University Press Limited, p. 3. 47 Ibid., p. 35. 48 Based on the author’s conversation with a Bangladeshi woman. 49 Badawi, J. A. (n.d.). 46

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Private Patriarchy: Non-recognition of Unpaid work In Bangladesh, most of the women are housewives, although women’s labour force participation rose from 18.1% in 1995/1996 to 22.8% in 1999/2000.50 The UNDP Human Development Report 1995 reveals that women spend more hours in unpaid work and fewer hours in paid work than men, but women have less access to money. They have less wealth and less control over the economy to which they contribute. It is found that women spend on average one-third of their working time in paid work and two-thirds in unpaid housework in developing countries.51 Unpaid domestic work of women is hidden and disregarded, because society perceives this work as wifely duty and this is not considered as work. Sikosha finds that, “When women work in the household, they are considered to be ‘doing nothing’. They are housewives without a profession and are passive dependants upon the breadwinners, i.e., the men. Hence, constructed social relationships based on women’s subordination to men continue to be reproduced in all other aspects of human life.”52 Even the women of Bangladesh themselves do not consider these activities as work. If someone asks a housewife, “What do you do?’ She replies, “I do nothing.” One village leader commented about women’s work, “Our women do not work; they only eat and sleep.”53 These patriarchal expressions make women’s work and women inferior to men. Rosenberg points out that the home is the place where men relax after finishing their work outside. The household is not considered as a place where work can be done. She mentions three major interrelated aspects of the 50 The Report of the Labour Force Survey: Bangladesh 1999−2000 defines the labour force or the economically active population as persons aged 15 and over who are either employed or unemployed during the reference period of the survey (week proceeding to the day of the survey). It includes employers, own-account workers or self-employed persons or commissioned agents, employees, salaried employees and wage earners, paid family workers, unpaid workers, members of producers’ cooperatives, and persons not classifiable by status. The labour force excludes disabled and retired persons, income recipients, full-time housewives and students, beggars and other persons who did not work for payment or profit for at least one hour during the reference week. Refer to: Rahman, R. I. (2005) The Dynamics of the Labour Market and Employment in Bangladesh: A Focus on Gender Dimensions. Dhaka: Employment Strategy Department, p. 11. 51 Campillo, F. (2003) “Unpaid Household Labour: A Conceptual Approach”, in Martha, G. Macro-economics: Making gender matter: Concepts, policies and institutional change in developing countries. London: Zed Books, p. 112. 52 Sikosha, T. (2003) “Measurement and Valuation of Unpaid Household Production: A Methodological Contribution”, Macro-economics: Making gender matter: Concepts, policies and institutional change in developing countries. London: Zed Books, p. 124. 53 Zaman, H. (1996) Women and Work in a Bangladesh Village. Dhaka: Narigrantha Prabantana, p. 3.

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work that women perform at home: housework, motherwork, and wifework.54 Housework includes cleaning, maintaining, and repairing the home, purchase and preparation of food, doing laundry, mending clothes, etc. Housework also provides services to children, unemployed, sick and elderly. She writes, “Motherwork is the culturally organised set of tasks that are part of feeding, clothing, nurturing, and socialising a child (or children) until he or she can leave home and become self-supporting.”55 Wifework is emotional housework. Rosenberg says, “Wifework is the job of listening and sculpting conversations to suit a man. It is the job of soothing, comforting, and having sex with one man exclusively. It is the job of attending to a husband’s needs before he knows that he has them. And it is the job of always putting those needs before one’s own.”56 Following Rosenberg,57 I divided women’s unpaid work in Bangladesh into the same three categories, namely: (1) housework; (2) motherwork; and (3) wifework. (1) Housework: This includes cooking, cleaning, fetching water, collecting fuel, repairing the house, raising poultry, feeding animals, taking care of in-law family members, and visiting relatives and friends. (2) Motherwork: This includes child bearing and child rearing activities, helping them with children’s homework, providing daughters the necessary training for domestic work, and taking care of married daughters and grandchildren. (3) Wifework: This includes satisfying husband’s sexual and emotional needs, protecting the husband from unsanctioned sexual activities, and giving birth to legitimate children. Women do all these duties on behalf of their husbands enabling the men to work hard in paid employment. Although men earn money they are dependent on women for their survival. Non-recognition of unpaid work done by women strengthens patriarchy. Once I met an old woman in Bangladesh whose son-in-law and daughter-in-law were both ill, but she was only anxious about her son-in-law. I wanted to know the reason behind it and asked her. She replied, “I am very much anxious about my son-in-law because my son-in-law looks after my daughter.” It is evident that women’s unpaid 54 Rosenberg, H. (1990) “The Home is the Work Place”, in Luxton, M. and Rosenberg, H. (eds.) Through the Kitchen Window: The Politics of Home and Family. Toronto: Garamond Press, p. 59. 55 Ibid., p. 60. 56 Ibid., pp. 60−61. 57 Ibid., p. 59.

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work at home is not recognised and, therefore, women are considered only as passive dependants. That old woman did not recognise that important and essential work for life was being performed by her daughter-in-law. This is one of the main reasons for the dowry system in Bangladesh. A dowry is defined as property or valuable security which the bride party gives or agrees to give to the bridegroom party as the essential requirement of marriage. The dowry can be in many forms: cash money, payment for the bride’s dress, ornaments, and cosmetics, a large marriage feast, a job for the groom, expenses for going abroad, land, a house, or goods (e.g., radio, watch, bicycle, motorcycle, etc.). If the demands are not agreed to, then the marriage does not take place. If an agreement has been reached but the transaction has not been carried out by the time of the marriage or shortly thereafter, then the bride is inevitably subjected to harassment, abuse or divorce.58 A new element of the dowry system is that it is not considered as a one-time demand. A study finds that, “The husband continues to make demands from his in-laws long after the wedding.”59 Dowry-related violence has been increasing in Bangladesh; 85% of women become victims of various kinds of oppression in connection with dowry.60 Odhikar, a human rights organisation, reports that 138 women were killed and 47 tortured, while 13 committed suicide, in dowry-related incidents in 2007.61 Husbands and in-laws believe that women are not able to earn and they do nothing for the family. Women are regarded as liabilities, not as assets. Husbands and in-laws believe that these liabilities have been transferred from the parents’ families to husbands’ families, so husbands and their families have the right to get compensation from the parents of the brides. Moreover, women are considered as liabilities in their parental family due to this dowry system. Parents are not interested in having daughters. They think that they should marry them off and it will cost much for the dowry. It is observed that the dowry is smaller when the bride is very young and child marriages are arranged to avoid high demands from the bridegroom party.62 It also further reinforces patriarchy. Educated grooms demand higher dowries; Arends-Kuenning and Amin find that, “Some parents intend to limit their daughters’ education before they 58 Ahmed, R. and Naher, M. S. (1987) Brides and the Demand System in Bangladesh: A Study. Dhaka: Centre for Social Studies, p. 160. 59 PromPT (1996) Dowry: Poor People’s Perspectives. Dhaka: UNDP, p. 9. 60 Dhar, S. (2002) “Nari Nirjaton Barche (Oppression of women is increasing)”. Prothom Alo, Bangladeshi Daily Newspaper. 61 New Age, 8 March 2008. 62 Chowdhury (2004:252).

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complete secondary school because they are concerned that they will not be able to pay the dowry for an educated groom.”63 Women are also deprived from higher education because of dowry system. Thus, non-recognition of unpaid work is responsible for the dowry system in Bangladesh and it makes women in Bangladesh liabilities and strengthens patriarchy.

Public Patriarchy: Fear of Sexual Harassment In the public arena women are only considered as sexual objects and patriarchy is maintained through sexual harassment. Sexual harassment includes “. . . staring at, commenting upon, or touching a woman’s body, requests for acquiescence in sexual behaviour, repeated non-reciprocated propositions for dates, demands for sexual intercourse and rape.”64 In Bangladesh women are sexually harassed on the streets, in the marketplaces, in every institution, even in police stations.65 They are always insecure without men’s company, though sometimes it is reported that women are sexually harassed, raped or killed in front of even their male family members. In university, female students are routinely sexually abused, harassed and raped by their male classmates, other students, political goons and even by some respected teachers.66 The Jahangirnagar University Fact-Finding Committee reported in 1998 that 20 rapes and over 300 cases of sexual assault took place at that university.67 A survey unfolds that many female university students were the victims of sexual harassment by their male teachers either directly or indirectly.68 Complaints of sexual harassment by university teachers have also been made by many students in subsequent years. However, female students are generally too intimidated by the power dynamics of the student-teacher relationship to lodge a complaint. Collecting evidence in most of the cases is extremely difficult. Some teachers with the help of lawyers and women’s rights activists have been demanding for a formal Policy Against Sexual Harassment. The Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) filed a writ petition 63 Arends-Kuenning, M. and Amin, S. (2001) “Women’s Capabilities and Right to Education in Bangladesh”. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 15(1): 131. 64 Sheffield, C. J. (1984) “Sexual Terrorism”, in Freeman, J. (ed.) Women: A Feminist Perspective. Mayfield Publishing Company, p. 8. 65 Huda, S. (1999) “Perspectives on Sexual Harassment in Bangladesh: Acknowledging its Existence”. Empowerment 6: 22. 66 The Daily Star, 4 October 1998 and Star Weekend Magazine, 1 August 2008. 67 Star Weekend Magazine, 2−8 October 1998. 68 Putul, S. R. and Munnii, S. S. (1999) “Where professors proposition pupils”. The Independent, 9 July.

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(no. 5916) under Article 102 (Powers of the High Court Division to issue certain orders and directions, etc.) of the Constitution at the High Court Division of the Supreme Court to formulate guidelines/policies to protect women from sexual harassment in work places, educational institutions and other public places and take immediate steps to enact proper legislation to address sexual harassment.69 According to the report of a daily newspaper (Daily Janakantha), four elected women members of the Union Parisad (Council) were raped within five months in 1999.70 A report says that in Bangladesh rape in police custody is an alarming problem. Policemen sexually harass and rape women when they arrest them for committing crimes, beat them and speak to them in abusive terms. Sixty-four occurrences of rape by the policemen were reported during 1996−2001. The report further says that policemen also sexually harass their women colleagues.71 The situation of the entire country is even more bleak and frustrating. Human rights coalition Odhikar said that 5,816 women and children were reportedly raped across the country between 1 January 2001 and 28 February 2007. Of them, 636 were killed after being raped and 69 committed suicide after the incident.72 Generally it is observed that most of the victims of rape cases do not report to the police for fear of public disgrace and lack of security. In a study on garment workers, Majumder states, “In the existing social context of Bangladesh, living alone is not safe and secure for the young women . . . The female garment workers living in mess remain always occupied with the fear of attack by the local touts, flesh traders, drug addicts and above all by the landlords and their sons.”73 Sexual harassment is a serious factor, which may prevent many women from taking up politics. Politics involves 24-hour duty and much travel with strangers, so women may face sexual harassment by male leaders or their male political colleagues. Courting arrest and facing police brutalities are more problematic for young women. If a woman political activist is raped or sexually harassed, it damages her political career. These realities reveal that a patriarchal society always considers women as sexual objects, not human beings. Rape or any kind of sexual harassment can be used as a way to control women. Fear of sexual harassment prevents many women from participating in the 69

Star Weekend Magazine, 12 September 2008. Daily Janakantha, 19 May 1999. 71 Prothom Alo, 24 August 2003. 72 New Age, 9 March 2007. 73 Majumder, P. P. (2000) “Violence and Hazards Suffered by Women in Wage Employment: A Case of Women Working in the Export-Oriented Garment Industry of Bangladesh”. Empowerment 7: 15−16. 70

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paid labour force or politics. Many girls do not undertake higher education due the distance of colleges and universities from their homes; despite being interested in higher education, many girls in Bangladesh cannot get college or university degrees due to a lack of security. Thus, they cannot get high paid jobs, strengthening patriarchy. Again, many women in Bangladesh, even after receiving college or university degrees, consider which jobs will provide them with more security. For this reason women of Bangladesh cannot simply apply for any type of job, as in the case of men. Thus, the employment rate for women became lower than that of men in Bangladesh. Child marriage also occurs due to the lack of security, also strengthening patriarchy.

Capital Accumulation: Private and Public Patriarchy Mies rightly argues that capitalism cannot function without patriarchy, because the goal of this system is capital accumulation and it cannot be achieved if patriarchal relations are not maintained or reconstructed.74 As such, capitalism is another form of patriarchy. In Bangladesh women are used as sexual objects in advertisements and mainstream movies for capital accumulation. Nasreen says, “The objectification and commodification of women are most apparent in advertisements and mainstream movies. Women’s sexuality and physical attributes are used as bait through which products are advertised.”75 Promotion of consumerism in recent years strengthens patriarchy. Teenage girls of Bangladesh are now growing up with Hollywood and Bollywood idols due to the free flow of information. Nasreen says, “But they are not shown the role models they really need to see, who posses qualities like knowledge, intelligence, leadership, etc.”76 There were not as many beauty contests, soap operas or advertisements for cosmetics, toiletries, etc. Even in talent hunt shows on television as the candidates move up, they become more and more glamorous. It also pressurises women to strive to be beautiful by following the media. In beauty contests, participating women are required to expose their body and beauty before male judges. A section of the business community organises beauty contests of the women to use them for commercial purposes. To hide their bad intentions, they say that beauty does not only include physical beauty, but also it includes the intelligence of a woman. In fact, the questions asked in the beauty contests are very silly and through these questions intelligence and wisdom 74 75 76

Mies (1986:38). Star Weekend Magazine, March 9, 2007. Ibid.

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cannot be proved. Beauty contests simply determine the size and shape of a beautiful woman. ‘Women must be beautiful for men’, ‘beauty is the success of women’ — these values are strengthened through the media. Some people make pornography to accumulate capital. Pornography is now available in stores, cable channels, cell phones, homes, offices and cyber-cafes through the internet. In Bangladesh most of the pornographic photos and movies are taken by hidden cameras where the girls are not aware of it.77 Pornography strengthens patriarchy through decreasing husbands’ dependency on wives. ElHage writes that pornography provides dangerous messages about sex and the value of human beings, and which are harmful to maintaining a healthy relationship between the husband and wife.78 Pornography brings dissatisfaction with the ‘sexual performance, affection and physical appearance of intimate partners’. A woman described the impact of online pornography on her relation with her husband, “He is unable to be intimate, he objectifies me, he objectifies women and girls on the street, (and) he fanaticises when we’re together. I feel humiliated, used, and betrayed, as well as lied to and misled.”79 Manning also finds, “It was common for pornography users to continue sexual relations with their female partner, but the sexual advances conveyed a message of objectification as opposed to meaningful interaction.”80 In that study one woman explains, I am no longer a sexual person or partner to him, but a sexual object. He is not really with me, not really making love to me . . . He seems to be thinking about something or someone else — likely those porn women . . . He is just using me as a warm body.81

Pornography also shapes the attitudes of young men towards women and sex. A young man in the USA commented, “The standards of beauty I developed for women were based on images I saw in porn.”82 In Bangladesh men’s attitude towards women is also shaped by the advertisements, films, beauty contests and pornography where women are used as sexual objects to accumulate capital. 77 Islam, A. (2007) “Online Pornography Growing in Bangladesh”. Available at: http://www. groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2833879. 78 ElHage, A. M. (2004) “Sexual Degradation: How Pornography Destroys the Family”. North Carolina Family Policy Council. Available at: http://www.ncfpc.org/PolicyPapers/Findings% 200407-SexualDegrad.pdf. 79 Ibid., p. 3. 80 Manning, J. C. (2006) “The Impact of Internet Pornography on Marriage and the Family: A Review of the Research”. Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity 13(2): 143. 81 Ibid. 82 ElHage (2004).

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The girls’ physical beauty does have an impact on the dowry. The demand of dowry is much higher when the girl is not beautiful. Girls who do not have a beauty face receive more discrimination in the parents’ family. Therefore, educated girls who do not have physical beauty are facing difficulties in finding bridegrooms. By the 1950s and 1960s, bridegrooms started to demand objects which were not of Bengali origin or manufacture.83 Rural bridegrooms started to demand fountain pens, watches and, sometimes, transistor radios. Urban bridegrooms demanded tape recorders, record players, and television sets which were manufactured in Japan or the United States. Some demanded bicycles which were made in Britain and Germany and suits of clothing mostly from Britain. The dowry demands reveal that the emergence of Bangladesh as a consumer of goods from the industrialist countries and, through this, Bangladesh entered into a capitalist world relationship.84 Despite the introduction of socialism after independence, the rich-poor gap widened in Bangladesh and continued to increase after the introduction of free market economic policies in the mid-1970s. Competition started among the people of Bangladesh for accumulating capital. People became more corrupt for the accumulation of wealth. The income inequality in Bangladesh is explained by the fact that the top 10% of the population controlled 40.72% of the national income and the poorest 10% controlled only 1.84% in 2000.85 Khan argues, “The middle class and salaried people are squeezed constantly by increasing rises in the prices of essential commodities, house rents, children’s educational expenses, medical bills and taxes. The toiling masses struggle endlessly to barely survive in a man-made unjust world.”86 In Bangladesh, men increasingly started to use the dowry system for capital accumulation. In many cases, dowry money are used to start a business. Mies rightly points out that the institution of the dowry system can be considered as ‘a source of wealth which is accumulated not by means of the man’s own work or by investing his own capital, but by extraction, blackmail and direct violence.’87 It is observed that daughters who work in the garment industry in Bangladesh contribute to the dowry. Kabir notes that, “. . . men who marry garment workers were not asking for dowry since their earnings were perceived as

83 Lindenbaum, S. (1981) “Implications for Women of Changing Marriage Transactions in Bangladesh”. Studies in Family Planning 12(11): 396. 84 Ibid. 85 Bangladesh Public Policy Watch (2005) Millennium Development Goals: A Reality Check. Unnnayan Onneshan, p. 10. 86 Khan, M. M. (2003) “State of Governance in Bangladesh”. The Round Table July: 395. 87 Mies (1986:162).

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sufficient compensation for waiving dowry demands.”88 Dannecker finds that most of the married female garment workers sent part of their income regularly to their in-law families and, thus, a new marriage arrangement developed.89 Traditionally, the bride’s family had to pay a certain amount of money to the bridegroom’s family once, but now these female workers took this responsibility by contributing their salary. A female garment worker said, I am married now; therefore I do not give any money to my parents. I have to give the money to my husband who transfers part of it to his parents, otherwise he would be disappointed and his family would think that I am not a good daughter-in-law. See, I come from a poor family but his parents did not mind, they said that they do not want any dowry but that I should go on working, sending money from time to time. If I need some money for myself I try to get something from my parents.90

Although middle class educated people know that demanding dowry is a criminal offense and they cannot demand dowry publicly, they adopt different strategies to accumulate wealth from their wives. Now they say, “We do not want dowry. We want working women.” Apparently it seems that they want women’s emancipation, but their main intention is to control the income of their wives and accumulate wealth to enhance their living standard.

Conclusion In Bangladesh, men dominate, oppress and exploit women through private and public patriarchy. Private patriarchy is maintained in the family through the misinterpretation of religion and the non-recognition of unpaid work done by women at home. In the family, women are considered as property of their husbands; Bangladeshi patriarchal culture teaches girls that it is their religious duty to make their husbands and husbands’ families happy. Woman in Bangladesh is effectively cut off from her parental family after marriage and daughters cannot look after their parents from their in-laws’ homes and men ensure it through misinterpreting Islam. Women’s unpaid work at home is not recognised and, therefore, women are considered only as passive dependants. Women do all the duties at home on behalf of their husbands, enabling the men to work hard in paid employment. 88 Kabir, N. (1997) “Women, Wages and Intra-household Power Relations in Urban Bangladesh”. Development and Change 28: 299. 89 Dannecker, P. (2002) Between Conformity and Resistance Women Garment Workers in Bangladesh. Dhaka: The University Press Limited, p. 163. 90 Ibid., p. 162.

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Although men earn money they are dependent on women for their survival. Capital accumulation also strengthens patriarchy in Bangladesh. Men accumulate capital through private and public patriarchy. In Bangladesh, men’s attitudes towards women is also shaped by the advertisements, films, beauty contests and pornography where women are used as sexual objects to accumulate capital. Girls’ physical beauty does have an impact on the dowry. Men have increasingly started to use the dowry system for capital accumulation and the demand of the dowry is much higher when the girl is not beautiful. Teenage girls of Bangladesh are now growing up with Hollywood and Bollywood idols due to the free flow of information and they are not shown the role models who have qualities like knowledge, intelligence, leadership, etc. Women are also excluded from economic and political power through public patriarchy. In the public arena, women are only considered as sexual objects and patriarchy is maintained through sexual harassment. To resist patriarchy, women in Bangladesh have been educating themselves and joining the paid labour force in large numbers, but education and paid jobs failed to liberate women — patriarchy now exists in a different form. At present, parents are interested educating their daughters, but with the goal of finding a better bridegroom. In most of the cases women cannot control their income independently. Their husbands control their money directly or indirectly. Married women who are in the paid labour force also cannot look after their parents due to the misinterpretation of Islam. For this reason they are considered as liabilities in their parental family. In many cases, women’s income or part of their income is spent on the in-law’s family. Husbands consider their wives’ income as ‘a source of wealth accumulation’. Paid employment, therefore, only gives them a ‘double burden’, instead of benefits, which strengthens patriarchy. Appropriation of the women’s income by husbands or the in-law’s family has emerged as a new form of dowry in Bangladesh. Women’s organisations in Bangladesh have been working to stop violence against women and the unequal status in the society. Although the women’s movement in Bangladesh has many positive achievements, it is dominated by the urban, educated upper and middle class. However, the women’s movement in Bangladesh has been negatively strengthened by the money and ideas of donor agencies.91 Akhter writes, “The overwhelming presence of NGOs and dictation of international agencies through their counterparts has often marginalised the voices of Bangladeshi women . . . Bangladesh had only few 91 Jahan, R. “Men in Seclusion, Women in Public: Rokeya’s Dream and Women’s Struggles in Bangladesh”, in Basu, A. (ed.) The Challenge of Local Feminists Women’s Movements in Global Perspective. Oxford: Westview Press, Inc., p. 107.

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middle- and upper-class women seeking jobs at the national and international organisations and therefore they became the ‘implementers’ of the suggestions made by foreign ‘gender consultants’.”92 Women’s organisations must find their own theory of women’s emancipation for the women of Bangladesh which is not dictated by donor agencies; only then they can involve many women in the movement to resist patriarchy.

92 Akhter, F. (n.d.) “Working Women vs ‘Powerful’ Women”. Available at: http://www.newagebd. com/store/anni06/gender.html.