The first morning session -Gold, Beauty, Society - the possibilities that yellow metal defines for the Malayalis societal aspirations, was held with gender activist Dr. A.K. Jayasree and literary and social critic G. Ushakumari as guests at the venue Under The Bamboo Tree on the last day of Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2018 at Kanakakunnu Palace Grounds in Thiruvananthapuram.

Moderated by journalist and author M P Surendran, the discussion rounded up many relevant thoughts for the audience to ponder upon.

The speakers recalled incidents from their own lives where their standing in society was judged by the gold they wore or chose not to wear. On the one hand, not wearing enough gold was seen as a sign of having too little while adorning oneself with too many ornaments meant being subject to scorn, Dr. Jayasree said.

She said in other states like Maharashtra, gold was determined as a sign of a woman being married. Mr Surendran observed how Kerala was the only state where the most number of divorce cases was related to gold. Dr. Jayasree reminded the audience that a majority of divorce-related battles also led to the brides family never being able to retrieve the gold from the groom. She said it was high time women asked themselves about the extent to which gold defined their identity.

She said every political establishment in the country especially during the freedom struggle, demanded that women activists forgo their use of gold jewellery as it was a mark of many preconceived societal notions. Ms. Ushakumari said this was in contrast to the use of gold as described in literary texts where men have been attributed with adorning themselves with the metal in the same way as women.

Gold lost value in mens attire as part of a colonial hangover, where men then took to fashion by adapting their wardrobe to include pants, coats and ties. Women from the West, as fashion guru Coco Chanel set the trend, preferred imitation jewellery for its convenience and style. Women in Kerala though continued to wear gold as they always did.

The speakers said this was beneficial to a patriarchal society, even helping it thrive, not to mention how marriages, apart from being a business deal, had become a source of livelihood, feeding the jewellery business of the state. The value associated with gold overpowers the financial benefit jewellers enjoy, they noted. From birth, especially for a girl child, parents begin to buy gold as an investment. While globally, financical experts do not consider gold to be an investment with good returns, the role a mangalsutra or thaali plays, supposedly auspicious days like Akshaya Tritiya as per the Hindu calendar all served the commercial interests of jewellers, Mr. Surendran said.  

Ushakumari, an academician, said that apart from taking an extreme stance on the use of gold, it was important for women to assert themselves and take ownership of their bodies. Men assert their citizenship through their choice of clothing and freedom to walk the streets at any time of day or night. Women have to reclaim that as a right without gold becoming an aspect, again imposed by male dominance, as a way to keep them indoors.