Patriarchy and Resistance in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting

Abstract

Patriarchy is systematically a set of rules in which a male dominates over a female in every aspect of life. Even children also suffer in this patriarchal system. The literal meaning of ‘Patriarchy’ is “the rule of the father.” The word 'Patriarchy' originated from a Greek word which is a combination of two words; ‘patria’ means ‘lineage, descent, family, fatherland’ and the other is ‘arkhe’ means ‘domination, authority, sovereignty’. It is a system which subordinates women in both private and public life. For the ages, men relish the supreme position and women have been subservient to them. Society assumes men as superior to women. They are considered as inferior and less intellectual and are made to follow male authorities and ideologies. The patriarchal ideologies consider women only as a housewife and men as a leader of social, political and economic authorities. They experience domination, discrimination, oppression, control, insult and violence within family as well as in society. Although in contemporary society, a number of women try to resist and revolt against dominating authorities to get equal rights yet many of them relinquish their lives silently at the hand of heinous offenses of patriarchy. This system is very common in India and across the world. Females encounter physical or verbal abuses in their family and sometimes at public place too.