Key Social Norms Take-aways This study reveals how gender norms and ideals of female respectability shape marital arrangements and intimate relationships among low-income young women in urban India. Social norms around family honor (izzat), obedience, and sexual propriety lead families to favor early arranged marriages to mitigate risks like gossip, harassment, or premarital relationships. However, even as globalization expands opportunities for young women’s education and employment, patriarchal expectations remain dominant in shaping post-marital gender roles. While some young women gain agency through love marriages or delayed arranged marriages, they still face constraints in expressing autonomy and achieving emotional and sexual intimacy within marriage. The fluid and often contradictory expectations reflect the tension between emerging and traditional gender norms.
Objectives The study aimed to explore how different marital arrangements—early arranged, delayed arranged, and love marriages—mediate relational risks and opportunities for intimacy among young women in low-income communities in Mumbai, India. It focused on how family and cultural expectations interact with young women’s agency and changing social norms during marital transitions.
Methods The study employed a mixed-methods ethnographic design, including key informant interviews (N=25), in-depth interviews with married women aged 15–25 (N=68), and a structured survey (N=150) conducted in Hindi or Marathi. Sampling was stratified by age at marriage and religion. Thematic coding and analysis were conducted using qualitative software, with survey data used to contextualize qualitative findings.
Results Three distinct marital pathways emerged: early arranged marriage, delayed arranged marriage, and love marriage. Women in early arranged marriages often faced emotional and physical abuse from in-laws and had little say in marital decisions. Delayed arranged marriages provided more opportunity for agency and emotional intimacy, especially when families shared similar values. Love marriages offered initial emotional closeness and autonomy but often lacked familial support and involved significant adjustment to patriarchal norms. Across all types, gender inequity, limited agency, and lack of communication constrained women’s ability to establish fulfilling relationships, with structural and cultural factors reinforcing male authority and female compliance.
Conclusions While globalization offers new opportunities for education and employment, patriarchal gender norms continue to dominate young women’s marital experiences in urban India. Each type of marriage presents unique risks and potential for intimacy, but none offers full protection from gendered vulnerabilities. Interventions aiming to support young women must address these intersecting norms and structures, promote gender equity, and tailor strategies to the specific contexts of marital transitions.