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Women, Work and Fishing

An Examination of the Lives of Fisherwomen in Kerala

Lina Samuel is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include intergenerational cultural retention and the transformation of diasporic identities, as well as the impact of modernization on cultural practices particularly pertaining to gender roles. Address: Department of Sociology, 2151 Vari Hall, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto ON, M3J 1P3, Canada. [email: Lsamuel{at}yorku.ca]

This article focuses on women and their families in the fishing industry of Kerala, India. Documenting women's daily routines and experiences in their work, home and social circles, it reveals the continuing significance of social customs and traditions in limiting and confining women in their everyday life. Despite the varied roles that women play in the fishing industry, the income women earn from working has not altered pre-existing exploitative relations between men and women. Divisions based on caste, the emulation of upper caste behaviour, the continued practice and inflation of dowry, and traditional perceptions of women's responsibilities within the family combine to keep women in a secondary and subservient position relative to men.

Key Words: dowry • family • fisherwomen • gender • Kerala • ‘lived experience’ • patriarchy • Sanskritization

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