Blaming the house: women's efforts to preserve marriage in a rural Sinhala village

Abstract

In rural Sri Lanka, marital tension, frequently leading to violence, is an increasing problem. This article explores how the house becomes both the source of problems and a possible solution to them. By examining the way that the social, material, and symbolic dimensions of houses are made to interact, I show how women effect the shaping of social relations and homemaking. Specifically, I focus on how houses become spaces where women are expected to embody the ideals of wifehood and motherhood, thereby creating and maintaining a ‘good house’. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted over fourteen months in a rural village, I illustrate the ways in which women actively engage in strategies to construct and preserve their houses as spaces free from violence. I describe how women, in addition to their traditional caregiving roles, employ the science of architecture (vāstu vidyava) to restructure their houses as a way to promote peace and prosperity. As a result, houses emerge as strategic allies in women's lives, facilitating their pursuit of the desired ‘good life’.