“If Only I Were a Male”: Work, Value, and the Female Body

Abstract

Unorganised or informal sector constitutes a pivotal section of the Indian economy. More than 90% of the workforce and about 50% of the gross national product are accounted for by the informal economy. A high proportion of socially and economically underprivileged sections of society are concentrated in the informal economic activities (Report of the Committee on Unorganized Sector, 2012). Informal employment is generally a larger source of employment for women than for men in the developing world. The informal economy in India employs about 86% of the country’s work force and 91% of its women workers (NSSO 2004–5), who comprise the most vulnerable sections of society. Devoid of any legislative umbrella, these women workers are often the primary breadwinners for their family and often ignored in statistics. For the illiterate, migrant, often low caste women, the easiest job is available in the care economy or domestic labour where there is no age of entry or retirement and which exists outside the domain of officially sanctioned ‘work’. This paper revolves around the life histories of four women belonging to different castes and economic backgrounds, who migrated to Delhi, post marriage. Depending upon their socio-economic location, they negotiated with their changing life conditions. The researcher’s close proximity with these women who worked as domestic help over a period of time (2008–2018) and the daily conversations with them induced novel meanings of labour, work, space, motherhood, notions of gender and caste, and the bodily aesthetics which would be discussed. The structure and style is conversational and informal. The first section discusses the genesis of servitude in India and the second section is focused on the women’s narratives of their life-worlds.