Page 83 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes through visible gendered behaviours, then we should see caste differences in these signaling
behaviours but not in hidden behaviours.
Relations between Gender and Caste
Caste permeates all aspects of Indian life. However, gender is one of the primary axis on which
caste stratification rests, particularly in modern India with hierarchies of caste often articulated
through gender. Using unique data collected by the authors for 40,000 households all over India,
this report distinguishes between public and private performance of gender to show that belonging
to a Brahmin caste has a substantial effect on the public behaviour of women but little impact on
their behaviour inside the household. Brahmin families are far more likely to show a nod of
deference to the dictums of obedience and chastity in their public behaviours by insisting on
limiting premarital contact between the bride and the groom, limiting women’s visits to their
natal families, insisting on women not going out alone in public and following a dress code which
includes veiling. However, in private, Brahmin women have as much authority in the household
decision-making as women of other castes. We argue that this Brahminical code of gender-
performance has implications for the public discourse surrounding gender in India which is used
to justify a variety of oppressive actions and institutions, particularly violence against women of
lower castes.
Gender and Class
For a country that registers two million-cases of female infanticide and nearly 5000 dowry deaths
ever year, the less spoken on the status of its women, the better. On the face of it, the current
president’s ‘greetings and felicitations (on the occasion of International Women’s Day) to all
Indian women for shaping the destiny of the country rings hollow. Looking back we find an
ancient Bharat set-up on the principles laid down by Manu who saw women as ‘worthy of worship’.
Even today most of the Hindu deities are female figures that are hailed as ‘mata’ or ‘maa’. But that
is about it. Steer away from the altars and come down to the concrete houses to find a very
different reality.
The country can boast of a decade of reforms. But of what consequence ? Most of these programmes
remain limited to the urban population. The rural belts as well as the unskilled urban wage
workers go unnoticed and unaffected. The government has proposed and launched a number of
programmes for the empowerment of women, including the observance of the year 2001 as the
year of women’s empowerment. It was said, “Our vision in the new century is of a nation where
women are equal partners with men.” Many new projects were launched like Swa Shakti and
Stree Shakti for women’s empowerment; Swayamsidha to benefit 100,000 women through micro-
credit programmes and Balika Samridhi Yojana for the girl child. However, apart from a lot of
hoopla and the accompanying verbal diarrhoea, not much was registered. There are those who
point to an unfounded development in the social position of women through the achievements of
the likes of Indra Nooyi. However, one swallow alone doesn’t make a summer. We cannot deny
that there have been changes. These changes have been limited to the upper crust of the social
order. What we need to realise is that any new programme has to overcome the centuries-old
hold, of subjugation and marginalisation of women.
There has been an alarming rise in the atrocities committed against women. While the constitution
guarantees equal opportunity, patriarchy asserts itself through legal loopholes to consolidate the
age-old domination. India has a long history of activism for women’s welfare and rights. A range
of government programmes have been launched to increase economic opportunity for women,
although there appear to be no existing programmes to address the cultural and traditional
discrimination against women. Be in education, health care, nutrition, property rights,
acknowledgement of labour or life security, women find themselves at the lower rungs of the
ladder.

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