Patriarchy generally leads to patrilineality and patrilocality which separate the women from her parental family after her marriage. A women thereafter has no claims to her parental family. Moreover, the woman often does not have the title of the matrimonial home in which she concentrates all her time and energy. Hence, in the case of death of her husband or desertion or, divorce, she is often rendered destitute as she neither has a home in her family by marriage, nor in her parental family.

In the patriarchal family structure, individual aspirations and development are given the lowest priority. Children are supposed to be obedient to elders and have little say in decisions which are made for them.

The child gets socialized into the concepts of inequality by gender and age in the name of family stability and family unity. Kinship and the ethnic community have a strong hold on marriage and other family practices which perpetuate patriarchy.

Individuals or families deviate from patriarchal norms often face ostracism. Even women imbibe the patriarchal values and, in turn, utilize their power and position over such others as children, younger women within the family, as well as over men and women of lower castes and classes.

EFFECT OF LEGISLATION

Joint family has been very much influenced by certain new social legislations in India.  These have some direct bearing on the characteristic features of joint family viz. joint habitation, combined kitchen joint property and the authority of the head.  The following are the major ones among these social legislations:

Hindu Married women’s right to separate residence and Maintenance Act.  This legislation was enacted in 1946.  According to it, under specific conditions a wife can demand alimony while living separately from her husband.

Hindu Marriage Act.  According to para 13 of this Act, any husband and wife, who have been married either before or after enactment of this legislation can under specific conditions, apply to the court of divorce.  This law was enacted in 1955.

Hindu Succession Act.  This Act became law in 1956.  According to it, the daughter was given equal rights to the property of the father and women also got the rights to dispose of, mortgage, and use their property in any manner they pleased.

The foregoing Acts of legislation have influenced the solidarity of the joint family.  As a consequence of the Hindu Marriage Act the number of divorces is increasing.  Previously, the women silently suffered many injustices and outrages.  The status of women was extremely low in joint families.  Sometimes the mother-in-law behaved inhumanly towards them.  Their husbands also treated them as they wished and yet the joint family did not disintegrate.  Now, having got the support of the law, women have initiated a strong revolt against this oppression which is leading to a disorganisation of the joint family.  With the enactment of laws providing for their separate maintenance and residence the women no longer need to submit to oppression in the joint family due to financial considerations.  Upon being maltreated they can now leave their husbands and live separately and can demand money from them in order to carry on their expenditure.  This provision has dealt a severe blow to the joint families.  One feature of the joint family is that of joint property.   The Hindu Succession Act has influenced it adversely.  Now that women have the right to sell their property and the girls to share equally in the property of their father it is almost impossible to maintain the family property jointly.  Hence the result is that the joint families are disorganized at a rapid rate.  Modern legislation has put an end to male ascendancy. This to have profoundly influenced the organisation of the joint family.  The wives in the joint family come from other families. Thus it is only natural that they should resent having to sacrifice their own pleasures for the well being of the family.  Previously, they had to suffer silently the doing of their husbands.  Having got equal rights in almost all respects as result of modern legislation, the women whose husbands earn more can now force their husbands to break off from the joint family and setup an independent establishment.  The parents in law also realise their power.  The husbands too cannot do what they will with them.  They also have the same rights over the children as their husbands.  Due to all these causes even the slightest misunderstanding results in a situation where separation from the family is the only course open to the couple as they can not coexist with their relatives.  Actually, the causes of the disorganisation of the joint family are not constitutional but mainly social.  But there is no doubting the fact that the present legislation has also played a part in its disorganisation.

Inheritence laws and women

The female members have not been included in the category of the coparcenary. They have rights of residence and maintenance only as dependents. In 1937 an attempt was made to confer the same right, i.e., the right of inheritance of property on a Hindu widow as her son would have in the estate of her deceased husband. The act enabled her to enjoy the income only from the immovable property of her husband during  her life time.

Until the passing of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, two systems of inheritance dominated among patrilineal Hindus. In one system (called the Mitakshara school, adopted in most regions) a son has a vested interest in his father’s  ancestral property from the moment of his birth. The father cannot give away any part of this property to the detriment of his son’s interest. Under the other system (the Dayabaga school, adopted in Bengal and Assam) the father is the absolute owner of his share and has a right to alienate his property the way he wants.

Among the patrilineal Hindus, some movable property is given to the daughters at the time of marriage as stridhana. With the passing of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, a uniform system of inheritance has been established. The individual property of a male Hindu, dying intestate (having made no will), passes in equal shares between his son, daughter, widow and mother. Male and female heirs have come to be treated as equal in matters of inheritance and succession. Another important feature of the Act is that any property possessed by a female Hindu is held by her as her absolute property and she has full power to deal with it the way she likes. This Act has also given a woman the right to inherit from the father as well as from the husband. However the benefit conferred on a woman is limited when compared to the rights of the male members who still have rights to coparacentary ancestral property by birth. Daughters are not part of the coparcenary and have no birthrighs.

The difficulty of looking at joint family as a coparcenary family unit is that it does not take into account those joint families which possess little in the form immovable or movable property.