LAUSR

ABSTRACT Despite much research on the middle class in India, this still remains an ambiguous category. There is a range of parameters used to map class; however, the variations only reflect the numerous ways in which it can be theorized. In this paper, I turn my focus on housework to understand diversity within the middle class. I question the consumption model with a gender lens, based on women’s experiences of running households. While increased capacity for purchase and greater interface with the market by the “new” middle classes may imply greater consumption, the institutions of family and marriage play a significant role in decision-making pertaining to expenditure. Although women are primarily addressed as consumers, their contribution via household chores is critical to maintaining middle class “status.” By examining experiences of housework, in this paper I question existing consumption-centric frameworks of class.