This article attempts to scrutinize the contemporary shift in marital ritual(s) of Bengal, particularly the application of vermilion on the groom’s forehead by the bride. This act is being held as the epitome of gender equality, with women having equal privileges as men. While it appears that the act embodies equality, a deeper engagement reveals that it strengthens the existence of Brahminical patriarchy and its penetration into different layers of society. The article examines its failure to challenge either patrilocality or patriliny, which ensures the continuation of Brahminical patriarchy and the sanctity of home. Further, I dissect the relation between patrilineality and patrilocality through the act of marriage. My short article dissects this superficial change to show how the contemporary middle-class bhadralok society of Bengal, which claims to reject the patriarchal structure, is trapped by the same nineteenth-century Brahminical patriarchy in a refined fashion.
Pritha Sarkar (Fri,) studied this question.