From Respect to Friendship? Companionate Marriage and Conjugal Power Negotiation in Middle-Class Hyderabad

Abstract

Drawing on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in suburban middle-class Hyderabad, India, this paper explores gender equality in the context of rising companionate marriage ideals. Informants described a shift in marriage from a hierarchical relationship of respect to a more equal relationship of friendship, expressed concern about marital disharmony caused by ‘ego problems’ and insisted that women's ‘adjustment’ was essential for a successful marriage. Complex conjugal power negotiation reflects class distinction projects as informants sought to claim the ‘moral middle’ between lower and upper classes by presenting themselves as progressive and open-minded, but also respectably Indian.