Amaan Syed Week 7

Gender and Society Summary

Week 7

The article, “Rasoi ka Kaam / Bathroom ka Kaam” by Sonal Sharma talks about domestic workers who work in households in Delhi. There is visible segregation between the workers and employers. The article discusses how some work is considered to be much higher than ‘work’. Those who work and clean bathrooms are considered to be much lower than the people who are associated with the work related to the kitchen or the rasoi. The employers make sure that the ‘dirty’ work is given to people belonging to the lower caste. The system is followed in our university where the workers from Sodexo are from a lower caste than the workers and the cooks who work in our kitchen mess. The article also talks about how a Hindu woman is considered to be impure when she works in a Muslim household. There are many stereotypes that come along the differentiation in the caste and the religion system. We see that there is certain intersectionality going on with these domestic workers. All these leads to create a social hierarchy which impacts the way people assert power over people is considered ‘lower.’