From divergent gender roles, to class systems, to religious beliefs, to monetary values alike, true equality has yet to exist. This division has endured throughout history and is almost unavoidable due to the way in which they assist societies to function as a whole in their respective countries. Merriam-Webster defines equality as, “the quality or state of having the same rights, social status, etc.”[1] Since the mid-18th century, women have been fighting for equal rights and have slowly made progress as time has passed. Issues of gender equality and class structure have been consistent points of contention in Mexico and India’s history; however, they’ve affected them in different ways. Textual evidence may provide the necessary information and evidence to understand the situation of the time, but rarely do they paint a vivid picture of the circumstance at hand; visual sources are crucial. History is also examined through photography and gender lenses. A vivid description and/or an actual visual representation of the past allows for a deeper understanding of the division among Mexico and India’s borders. Regardless of the empire, examining gender inequalities and caste systems through Mexico and India clarify the past for the people of today.
Porfirio Díaz ruled from 1876 to 1910 in Mexico; his 34-year era is known as the Porfiriato and was one of modernization and industrial progress for Mexico.[2] The late 18th century brought about expansion among the nation’s railroads, mines and ports. Unfortunately not everyone was able to experience this progress first hand. “The major benefits of this growth and modernization were reserved for only a relatively small, elite group of Mexicans and for foreign capitalists. Even worse, despite the nation’s rapid economic growth, obreros and campesinos (workers and peasants) sank deeper into poverty, ignorance, and misery.”[3] Mexican women banded together and fought very hard against inequality and “the traditional social mores that kept women tied solely to home and family, and against the legal code that served to stifle women’s political, educational, and economic needs.”[4] Women, especially of low class, were forced to work in factories or as maids. All women were second fiddle to men and/or their husband.
The following photographs were taken during the Porfiriato and allow us to better understand the true conditions in which they lived. “Critical imagery of the Porfiriato is probably limited to that made by foreigners such as C.B. Waite and Winfield Scott.”[5] The photograph (on right) is titled “Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair” and was taken by Winfield Scott in Mexico.[6] Scott was known as a provocative photographer of his time. At first glance these four young Mexican women appear to be braiding each other’s hair, but upon closer look, they instead seem to be picking dirt out of each other’s hair, which by now is obvious knowing the title of the image. They are sitting in a train like manner, one in front of the other, on the ground. In addition to being arranged, starting on the left, from youngest to oldest. They each look after each other with such care and careful attention. “Although their motives were those of celebrating the creation of a new and dynamic Mexico, as well as bringing tourists to exotic (but safe) locales, Waite and Scott made some images that were at the same time indexes of the crushing poverty and underdevelopment in which so many Mexicans lived.”[7] Waite and Scott were usually contracted out to take pleasant photos for postcards, but instead chose to capture the harsh truth.
The next photograph (on the left) is titled “Grinding Corn in Tehuantepec” and was taken by C.B. Waite in Tehuantepec, Mexico.[8] The image features two young women. The one on the right is grinding corn, while the other is holding a small naked child on her lap. Both girls’ facial expressions are simultaneously not amused and sad. “Between 1895 and 1910, women comprised one-third of all workers employed in manufacturing in Mexico.”[9] Many women worked in the textile and tobacco industries. There were also poorly educated women who were unable to hold positions in the aforementioned industries and instead could only work as a prostitute. “Foreign photographers were especially attracted to the fate of children: girls and boys in rags huddling together in the countryside and the cities, entire families participating in communal delousing.”[10]
A social institution can be defined as a system of behavioral and relationship patterns that are densely interwoven and function across an entire society. They also contribute to a country’s organization. India’s social institutions “were its caste system and its archaic and dominating forms of religious community.”[11] India’s caste system is both a structural system and a cultural one. There are two versions of the caste system: the varna and the national system. Following the national caste system, “caste divides the population into four major groups: the Brahmin (priestly caste) at the top, followed by the Kshatriya (warrior caste), then the Vaishya (commoners, usually known as the trading and artisan castes), and at the bottom the Sudra (agricultural labourers) some of whom are beyond the pale of caste and are known as untouchables.”[12] “[These castes] only came to be extended comprehensively throughout Indian society from
the eighteenth century, initially as a consequence of the strengthening power of scribal and ritual elites in the post-Moghal successor states, and then over the course of the nineteenth century as these movements of upward mobility were reinforced by the legal, religious and administrative strategies of the British colonial state.”[13] Women were largely impacted by castes and were trapped in a suppressive male driven society.
This photograph (on the right) is titled “A Parsee Family” and was taken by William Johnson sometime between 1855 and 1862 in Western India.[14] The photo depicts a family of four- a mother, father, and two young children. The mother is sitting with her two children standing on either side of her. The father stands to the far right of his family with his arm around them. He appears to be protesting them or enforcing his dominance. Within the castes men hold dominance over women; in fact, “increased control over women is one of the factors that a caste must observe along with vegetarianism and teetotalism before it can claim to be ritually pure.”[15]
This photograph (on the left) is called “Bhattia Women” and was taken by William Johnson in 1855-1862 in Western India.[16] The Bhatia caste is comprised of people in Punjab, Rajasthan, Sindh and Gujarat. They mostly live in Northwestern India and Pakistan.[17] Castes also allow men to make all of the big decisions; a woman does not have any say. In addition, “is the far greater control exercised by men over women’s sexuality, through arranged marriage, child marriage, the prohibition of divorce, and strict monogamy for women, leading to sati and ban on widow remarriage, including infant or child widows.”[18] Upper castes were known for following these allowances strictly. Sati (Suttee) is a religious practice where a widowed woman jumps on her husband’s funeral pyre; this is also an example of widow immolation. Fanny Parks, a European writer at the time wrote about an account of suttee in a letter to her family. Her letter is one of a few textual sources that evoked emotion and a visual image of the account. She describes how a woman was treated during the suttee ceremony; she was harshly mistreated when she attempted to back out of the ceremony. “’Cut her down, knock her on the head with a bamboo; tie her hands and feet; and throw her in again;’ and rushed down to execute their murderous intentions, when the gentlemen and police drove them back.”[19] Indian women are often portrayed as victims or heroines of an oppressive male society.[20]
Issues of gender equality and class structure have been consistent points of contention in Mexico and India’s history; however, they’ve affected them in slightly different ways. Similar to Mexico, this time in Western India also experienced a rise of modernity and with it, “women, moreover, appeared in the new public sphere as radical critics of orthodox norms and practices. By the turn of the twentieth century, they had organized themselves into political organizations.”[21] Through the lens of gender division and caste systems has significantly affected Mexico and India as a whole. Studying these events through a specific lens such as photography or a recounting of an experience allowed me to grasp a stronger understanding and form a visual image of what occurred. Gender and class division are major issues in history that have yet to stop impacting our world today. Learning how these issues were dealt with in the past is helpful for our society moving forward.
[1] “Equality.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed April 28, 2015.
[2] Soto, Shirlene Ann. Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman: Her Participation in Revolution and Struggle for Equality, 1910-1940. Denver, Colo.: Arden Press, 1990. 7.
[3] Soto, Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman, 7.
[4] Soto, Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman, 8.
[5] Mraz, John. Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. 28.
[6] Scott, Winfield. “[Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair]: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/mex/id/665/rec/3
[7] Mraz, Photographing the Mexican Revolution, 31.
[8] Waite, C.B. “Grinding Corn in Tehuantepec: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Grinding Corn in Tehuantepec: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/mex/id/2574/rec/162.
[9] Soto, Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman, 13.
[10] Mraz, Photographing the Mexican Revolution, 32.
[11] Peers, Douglas M., and Nandini Gooptu. India and the British Empire. Oxford University Press, 2012. 100.
[12] Liddle, Joanna, and Rama Joshi. Daughters of Independence: Gender, Caste, and Class in India. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1986. 58.
[13] Peers & Gooptu, India and the British Empire, 103.
[14] Johnson, William. “A Parsee Family :: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” A Parsee Family: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/eaa/id/737/rec/1.
[15] Liddle & Joshi, Daughters of Independence, 59.
[16] Johnson, William. “Bhattia Women :: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Bhattia Women: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/eaa/id/671/rec/12.
[17] Chattopadhyaya, Kamaladevi. Tribalism in India. Michigan: Vikas, Original from the University of Michigan, 1978. 160.
[18] Liddle & Joshi, Daughters of Independence, 59.
[19] Parks, Fanny. Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque. With an introduction and notes by Esther Chawner. Vol. I. Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1975.
[20] Lecture Notes (3/3/15)
[21] Peers & Gooptu, India and the British Empire, 286.
Works Cited
Chattopadhyaya, Kamaladevi. Tribalism in India. Michigan: Vikas, Original from the University of Michigan, 1978. 160.
“Equality.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed April 28, 2015.
Liddle, Joanna, and Rama Joshi. Daughters of Independence: Gender, Caste, and Class in India. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1986.
Mraz, John. Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons.Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012.
Johnson, William. “A Parsee Family :: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” A Parsee Family: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/eaa/id/737/rec/1.
Johnson, William. “Bhattia Women :: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Bhattia Women: Europe, India, and Asia – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/eaa/id/671/rec/12.
Parks, Fanny. Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque. With an introduction and notes by Esther Chawner. Vol. I. Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Peers, Douglas M., and Nandini Gooptu. India and the British Empire, Print.
Scott, Winfield. “[Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair]: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Three Girls and a Woman Checking Hair: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/mex/id/665/rec/3
Soto, Shirlene Ann. Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman: Her Participation in Revolution and Struggle for Equality, 1910-1940. Denver, Colo.: Arden Press, 1990.
Waite, C.B. “Grinding Corn in Tehuantepec: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.” Grinding Corn in Tehuantepec: Mexico – Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/mex/id/2574/rec/162