Family Norms and Images in Transition: Contemporary Negotiations of Reproductive Labor, Love and Relationships in India edited by Nadja-Christina Schneider and Fritzi-Marie Titzmann and published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft in 2020 offers an insightful exploration of the evolving dynamics of family in India. It decodes the persistent yet transformative nature of family, shaped by socio-political, technological, and cultural influences. Despite the variations in frameworks across chapters, the book provides a comprehensive look at contemporary family dynamics in India. The introduction lays the groundwork by examining the intersection of family with nationalism, particularly how the Hindu right-wing government uses family as a tool for shaping citizens. The editors emphasise the ongoing shifts in family structures, influenced by the digital era and the rise of alternative family models globally. This context positions the family as a persistent yet transformative societal unit.

A look into two campaigns and legislations brought in by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and their placement of women in the family structure, in what the author calls a ‘gender-just’ image (adhering to patriarchal notions). This aligns with the role of the man as a caregiver, sometimes taking charge of advancing the women in his life—whether a daughter through education or a wife through kitchen assistance such as gas cylinders. Further analysis of the campaigns reveals intrinsic connections to hegemonic ideas of manhood, virility, and patriarchy. This argument extends to the #selfiewithdaughter campaign, where the father becomes the focal point. There is a risk regarding who gains agency and whose name gets traction, in this case, the father’s.

The chapter explores assistive reproductive technologies, particularly surrogacy, in light of The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019. The bill confines surrogacy within the biological family. Documentaries and examples from some high-profile Bollywood celebrities who conceived children through surrogacy, and former Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj’s regressive stance on those surrogacies, are discussed. The chapter provides an in-depth mapping of the various movies on surrogacy—those available, being made, who is making them, and who is watching them. By delving deeper into Google Baby (2009), Can We See the Baby Bump Please? (2013), and The House of Surrogates (2013), the metaphor of the ‘rented womb,’ and the often mismatched relationship between laws, narratives, and on-ground reality become clear, highlighting the complexity and legal loopholes used to escape rash government decisions. At a deeper level, the author problematizes the gaze on the labouring bodies of surrogates and their role in the process. Rosalind Petchesky consistently argues that through misregulation of such technology through law, the body becomes individualised, privatised, ahistorical, and non-biographical, with lasting effects. The state’s control over biopower limits rights and avenues for alternative family models (single parents, same-sex couples, live-in couples, etc.).

The book delves deeper into the themes of feminist importance and the sexual politics of surrogacy, particularly the association of surrogacy and sex work. The prime examples here are River of Life – Born on the Banks of Ganges (2017) and Monsoon Baby (2024), where once again, the issue with the gaze on the reproductive labour of surrogates shown through reproductive tourism is unethical and questionable. Both movies show India as a transnational market for surrogacy; however, there is a lack of focus on uneven power dynamics between fertility clinics, doctors in charge, surrogates, and the commissioning parents. Moreover, while the law puts down many technical aspects, it fails to even look at the social reality of surrogates and how they manage their everyday lives in a taboo-ridden society.

From documentaries, the next chapter takes us into the examination of drama, comedy, and romance genre films in Bollywood and analysing if they do family any differently. Here, we circle back to the idea of nationalism and citizen-making explored at the beginning of the text. From Mother India (1957) to Fire (1996) to Kapoor & Sons (2016 to Luka Chuppi (2019), the trend has shifted towards the exploration of nuances and, with that, acknowledging to some extent, the violence of patriarchy. There is a pretty dense exploration of the depiction of families in different decades and how they have evolved touching on these subthemes – struggles for the family, family as a site of patriarchy, reintegration of the family, the bickering family, and more. The absent family also became major where friendships and, in a way, chosen families took precedence in the plot of the movies. The drawback here is that the arguments move back and forth with multiple references and it is impossible to cover the length and breadth of the theme of family in Bollywood in a mere chapter.

Perhaps, the closing chapter is the most interesting aspect of the text owing to its peculiar theme of the Muslim middle class and dating in Lucknow and insights into the process of research itself. The era of the digital connection forms the backbone of this section as it dives into how social media and technological access lead to more ground to challenge masculinity/femininity ideals, forms alternative structures of families, and explores non-normative sexualities.

***

Rajeev Anand Kushwah is an independent researcher.