Kinship and gender in South and Southeast Asia: patterns and contrasts

"There is a realization that gender relations are constructed differently in different cultures. But we need to understand the nature of cultural diversity and its relationship with women's situation. A key area of cultural diversity is kinship, which subsumes marriage and family organization. Kinship systems are an important context within which gender relations are located. Gender studies often leave out a direct consideration of kinship, perhaps because it is often thought irrelevant or in some ways an immutable, unchangeable given. It may also seem to be couched in arcane and difficult language. In point of fact it is very close to our lives and very relevant for understanding women's situation.