SANSARA GAUTAM, 17/1129

Sociology (Honors) 3rd Semester

SEC Reading, Writing and Reasoning for Sociology – Book review

GENDERING CASTE THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS

In her book “Gendering Caste”, Uma Chakravarti has clearly examined the caste
hierarchy and the idea of female sexuality through varying time periods.

Uma Chakravarti retired as a professor from Miranda House, Delhi. She is the
alumni of Banaras Hindu University. Since the 1970s, Chakravarti has been
associated with the women's movement and the movement for democratic rights.
Her book Gendering Caste was published in August 2006. This book also forms a
part of Theorizing Feminism series by Maithreyi Krishnaraj.

The book aims at understanding the intersection of caste and gender and there
interlink with autonomy and control. Uma chakravarti unmasks the mystique of
consensus in the working of caste system to reveal the underlying violence and
coercion that perpetuates in severely hierarchical society and unequal society.
Also, the book explains how women’s mobility, sexuality and rights are deeply
rooted in the institution of caste and community.

The prologue of the book opens with the issue of Anti- Mandal agitation which
was against the reservation system for OBCs in India. This quota would be used
for Public Services and Central Services. The prologue also talks about the
reception of these reservations among the girl students of Delhi University and
how many of them were against this. The upper caste girls were against this
because they thought that these ‘lower caste’ men could not be their potential
husbands. This mindset clearly shows the futility in their minds against the lower
castes. The issue also stresses on the caste hierarchy that prevails in India even till
date where a lower caste man cannot marry an upper caste woman.

Understanding Caste:

Louis Dumont commented on the Indian caste system saying that caste system was
an integral part of Indian society. It is a system of consensual values which are
accepted by both the dominating group and the dominated group. Ambedkar’s
ideals are completely in contrast to those ideals of Dumont and he was against this
caste system.

The upper caste, educated men found it very easy to dominate the lower castes as
the latter had completely surrendered themselves to their situations. Brahmanical
ideology was extensively used as a tool of oppression and control.
Varna System-

The religious manuscripts are the written source of this system where a person was divided into
four varnas based on his birth.
Nowadays this system prevails in the form of Jati system. The lower jatis are considered to be
polluting in nature and the upper jatis are considered pure.

Occupations were forced upon people based on their births. Chakravarti has used
an example to portray this. Raegars are part of the dalit community in Rajasthan
who were considered impure. When a Raegar refused to pick up a carcass of a
buffalo, he was forced by the upper castes to pick it up.

Women were strongly oppressed and their sexuality dominated upon. They refused
to consider the knowledge and skills of the lower castes and women as
knowledgeable.

The Axis of Gender Stratification in India:

The practice of endogamy is clearly a proof of the existing stratification of gender

in India. Women were treated as tools for giving birth and their male counterparts
ensured that they gave birth to a child pure in its race. The female sexuality was
controlled by not letting women interact with other men. Young girls who had
attained puberty were confined to their households and trained to manage their
respective houses. Women were considered to be commodities. They were
exchanged between different communities as a symbol of kinship.

Endogamy was used as a means to preserve qualitative attributes of jati. Marriages

were ‘arranged’ to ensure endogamy and thereby purity of the ‘vansa’. It is the
purity of these marriage practices that yields hierarchy. Any violation in this
practice of endogamy was punished by ‘outcast’.
Historical roots of Brahmanical Patriarchy:

Brahmanical patriarchy refers to the set of rules and regulations referring to

women and the lower castes about their code of conduct.

The visual representations in Bhimbetka caves depict the sexual division of

labor— where men hunted and collected food and women looked after the family.
Although the amount of physical labor was equal, men are always considered to be
hard working than women. Because women gave birth, they were considered as
goddesses and are restricted from doing any external work. The paintings on caves
in India show the demarcation between the roles of man and woman in a
household.

Women’s sexuality was in the hands of the patriarchal leader. She could be
remarried to her brother-in-law in case of the death of her husband to maintain the
legacy only within the family. Women were used for both productive and
reproductive labor.

An upper caste man was allowed to marry a lower caste woman but the reverse
was a punishable offence .According to the Dharmashastras, marriages were an
important part of Hinduism. Hindu marriages, especially the upper caste marriages
were indissoluble whereas, lower castes could dissolve their marriages. It was a
preconception that lower caste women could not control their sexuality.

Formation of Patriarchy:

Patriarchal society believed that it is the mixing of castes which caused women to
drift from their duties and hence corrupted them. It was the duty of the husband to
see to it that no man wandered near his wife until she has given birth to one child.
Women were encouraged to give birth to a son and if she failed to do so, she was
taunted at.

Manu, during its creation itself stereotyped women as greedy and gossipy in
nature. Women have to keep fasts for the long life of their husbands whereas no
similar ritual is followed by men. Women who menstruated are said to be impure
which also has a reason in the brahmanical ideology
It was Stridharma for a woman to control her sexual desires and perform duties for
her husband and children. Any woman who failed to do so could also be punished
by the kings. A sense of pativrata was imbibed in a girl child from her childhood
and chastity and fidelity became means to “Moksha”. Public humiliation was the
punishment for a woman who did not follow her Patni dharma. These ideologies
are till date narrated to kids in form of stories to inculcate a value of respectability
in them.

Diversity of Patriarchal practices:

Practices like widowhood and devadasi culture underwent a major transformation

from pre-colonial period to post-colonial period.

The uppermost castes acknowledged widowhood to be a sin and completely

outcast the widow whereas in lower castes, women were remarried within the same
family to continue the legacy of the family. This practice of remarriage was very
popular among the Jats of Haryana. They recognized this practice of levirate
unions as they did not want to waste the productive as well as reproductive
capacity of a woman. Though, there were some groups who did not allow the
widows to remarry, even in the lower castes. The upper caste men made sure that
remarriage was practiced among the lower castes so that they would always remain
‘impure’. Dalit women were suppressed much more on basis of their caste and
gender.

Critiques of caste and Gender Stratifications:

Women strongly opposed misogynism and tried to follow Buddhism. They

converted themselves into Buddhists as it was a way to free themselves from the
bondages of the household. The Bhakti cult provided access to women to think and
live an independent life. This practice of Maharashtra was highly criticized by
Hindu priests. The Virasaivite movement practiced in Karnataka, the followers
strongly believed in anti- Brahmanism. They later formed a group and performed
endogamy. Women strongly resisted themselves from getting affected by the
gender hierarchy during this period.

Caste In 18th century:

With the coming of Muslim invaders, the domination of the upper castes over the
lower castes reduced to a large extent. The caste system now was not stable like
before. There was a mobilization in the caste system. The secular power could
bend the caste hierarchies. Still there were some key components of the society
that never changed, for example, endogamy.

The Peshwai under the Marathas were strictly against the untouchables. They were
orthodox Brahmins who wanted to establish a ‘dharmarajya’. They were also strict
followers of widowhood practices and ensured complete celibacy for widows. This
did not end only with celibacy but also saw to it that they were completely
excluded from all kinds of rituals and excluded from the society.

Caste in the Colonial Period:

The colonizers were very particular about the caste system that prevailed in India.
They did not involve much into this complex structure but still the judiciary tried
to solve issues among different castes. They tried to take census for the first time in
India. Lieutenant governor wanted to know the legitimacy of the caste system in
Bengal and decided to have a public notion, but was stopped and told to ask about
this only to the learned scholars, which meant the notions on caste was highly
Brahmanical.

Arya Samaj was against this caste system and wrote no caste in the space provided.
The Dravidian women were made the slaves of the Aryans because they were not
chaste and loyal to their lands was the story that was told.

Caste mobility was a major change that occurred in the British India. The lower
caste people who could no longer stand the atrocities against them converted to
Christianity or Islam. Even Ambedkar had converted into Buddhism in the last
days of his life. Education was considered as an eye-opener to these problems.
Many people like Ambedkar, Periyar and Phule worked for the upliftment of the
lower castes and women.

The Widow Remarriage Act in 1856 was for the young widows who had not yet
consummated their wedding. Levirate marriages were legalized to increase the
potential of a woman. Although lower castes complied by it, the upper castes were
very stubborn of their culture.

The book concludes with the saying that India has not changed much. Even in
contemporary India the concept of love marriage is disgraceful. It is considered as
‘defiance of patriarchal authority and a threat to endogamy’. Honor killings still
take place in many parts of our country.

The book successfully discussed interlink between gender, caste, autonomy and
control. It emphasized on centrality of endogamous marriages as a means to
maintain patriarchal system. Uma chakravarti also discussed the range of
patriarchal practices within larger framework of sexuality, labor and access
material resources. On the other hand the book doesn’t gives deep insight s into the
problems but the writer itself says that research needs to take place in particular
subject.

Overall the book has some great theories collected from researches hence it
enables the reader to understand the interface of gender and caste and further
participate in its critical analysis.