Widows of VaranasiWidows' practices relating to the death of their husbands have historically been very extreme in South Asia. One hundred years ago, the practice of Sati, or widow's burning, in which the widow threw herself onto her husband's funeral pyre, was common. Society dictated that she could not live without him and, therefore, this practice was enforced through many complex social rules. Sati was outlawed in the 1920s and has since slowly evolved into the practice that exists today. With Sati, the problem is that the individual has an extreme lack of individual identity, or as Durkheim defines it, altruism, and therefore, literally, cannot exist without her husband or marriage. The current problem facing widows is both similar and different; widows are shunned after the death of their husbands and, therefore, are forced into extreme selfishness in which they know their identity, but this identity does not fit into a pre-existing social structure. While laws banning Sati are certainly fairer, this extreme transition from Durkheim's idea of ​​altruism to his concept of selfishness is extremely harmful. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The root of this strong altruism comes from the dependence on men within the family unit. In this sense, the gender dichotomy parallels Marx's class structure. Women function as the proletariat of the family. They do all the physical work, like cleaning and cooking, and both society and patriarchy require them to do these things. Without this work at home, they would lose their “job” and their place in society, which would lead to struggles against selfishness or even selfish suicide. This coincides with Marx and Wright's theories as to why the lower class is so dependent on wages; however, in this microcosmic society, wages can be either literal provision by men or sexual or familial love. The mode of production consists of a woman's ability to reproduce and care, both physically and emotionally, for the men in her life. Therefore, this proletariat class of women, deemed irrelevant when their husbands die and their children marry, no longer has a purpose for their mode of production. When women are the “workers,” their “products” are men, and when men leave, women are alienated from both their work and their product. Both of these aspects combine to alienate these women from their “organic nature,” and their “species life.” Marx suggests that because the individual is so dependent on this alienating system of wages, they disconnect from their organic, individual self and replace it with an inorganic self. This determines the “life of the species,” or how our inorganic selves interact with others to create an inorganic culture. Widows allow themselves to be consumed by this inorganic nature, which is incredibly easy to do when their mode of production is so intrinsically tied to strong, positive emotions. Therefore, when these women lose their husbands, they really lose everything, not only their family, but also their role in society. Their entire microcosmic society ceases to exist. This creates an intense selfishness that society reinforces by viewing these widows as objects and, therefore, allowing widows to be dehumanized and exploited. The combination of these things makes the widow's pilgrimage to Varanasi necessary. In Varanasi there is the promise of a community of individuals struggling with similar situations. When society forces these widows to become selfish, they undertake this pilgrimage to.