Abeer Shrivastava, Week 3

Comment on Gendering Caste Through a Feminist Lens by Uma Chakraborty

In the initial couple of chapters, the author puts forth her theory behind how the hierarchy of the caste system is based on purity of occupation, primarily because it is invented by men, the gender which solely used to practice occupation in that era. However many sects rejected brahminical supremacy based on the caste system, with their power based on their hegemony over resources e.g. the reddiars. It is pertinent to recognise dominance is not only based on social distinction but also control over land. Nevertheless, the idea of impurity prevails over all and is also regarded to be an ideological weapon. In furtherance of the concept of ideological weapon, knowledge and the power to monopolise and filter knowledge is another weapon. This monopoly has aided the males of the upper castes to project intellectual professions, conventionally under the influence of males, as superior and that of domestic professions, conventionally under the influence of females, as inferior. The integration of class into the framework of caste expands the purview of gender itself. One of the main agents of this expansion is endogamy, which promotes cultural discreteness as well as gender subordination. The latter is a result because endogamy essentially views female sexuality as a boundary for endogamy. Female sexuality is treated as a means of separation from external communities. This boundary is often referred to as the marriage circle and is one of the primary causes of intersectional atrocities inflicted upon women by stacking caste, class and gender on their social individualities.