Anchor, BITS Pilani’s Gender and Sexuality Cell, held a series of three online talks with professors from the Humanities Departments of all three Indian campuses titled “(Un)learning with Professors”. The first talk in this series—held on September 5, 2021—was an interview with Prof. KA Geetha; an Associate Professor from the Goa campus. The topic of discussion was the intersectionality of gender and sexuality with caste in Hindu society. Two Anchor members from the Pilani and Hyderabad campuses moderated the conversation.
Prof. Geetha began by clarifying the difference between gender, biological sex, and sexuality. She described sex as a biological identity, gender as a construction within society, and sexuality as the orientation one has towards intercourse. She further stated that the three terms are related to each other.
Quoting the European feminist Simone de Beauvoir, Prof. Geetha went on to say, ‘One is not born, but rather, becomes a woman.’ At a young age, children simply imbibe these ideas and rarely question them. As soon as they are born—a child is subject to societal norms, family values, and religious practices. Through this, their identity is shaped by the gender norms imposed on them. She also explained the concept of the gendered body and the debate surrounding the policing of the female body.She used examples of girls from Islamic families being made to cover their faces and bodies, and girls from certain Hindu communities having to cover their heads. Further, she mentioned the news of the state of Texas banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. She said that thiswas especially shocking coming from the US, where a lot of strong feminist movements originated.
She acknowledged that there exist gender norms that are imposed on men as well, such as the idea that a man cannot cry or show weakness. In tense or sad situations, women are allowed to be more emotional, while men have to be stoic. One of the moderators asked if the issues impacting men and women fall under the same blanket. Prof. Geetha clarified that they did not, and the norms imposed on men cannot be compared to the kind of moral policing a woman’s body faces. Through this discussion, it was concluded that the patriarchal system is male dominated, and hence, the gender norms imposed on men are largely to their advantage.
Following this, Prof. Geetha was asked about her opinion regarding the construction of gender within the Hindu society. She began this discussion by talking about the caste system, saying that it has sustained till modern times because of people gaining power through Brahmanical patriarchy and controlling the system through ideas of individual and caste purity. Tying into this, Prof. Geetha added that endogamy—the practice of marrying within one’s caste, also keeps the caste system alive.
‘Caste purity itself is synonymous with a woman’s purity,’ Prof. Geetha stated. She explained how Hindu wedding rituals such as kanya-daan revolve around the girl’s purity and virginity. Prof. Geetha called this entire gender construction very paradoxical, as on one hand women’s purity needs to be preserved, while on the other they are deemed to be intrinsically impure. ‘A woman is supposed to be intrinsically impure because she undergoes a menstrual cycle,’ she explained. She provided an example of women being denied access to certain temples while on their periods.
Prof. Geetha described how women are treated as utilities within Hindu society. Their only role within the patriarchal system comes with their marriage. Once a woman’s husband dies, she has no role within society. This, she explained, led to customs such as sati and the ostracisation of widows. ‘A widow’s presence is considered to be inauspicious because of these kinds of ideologies or these notions that are embedded and internalised,’ Prof. Geetha stated. Further, she mentioned that many of these customs are propagated by women themselves, adding that ‘Women do moral policing for other women’.
Pativrata, she described, is the concept of a married woman who devotes her time and energy to her husband and nurtures and cares for her children. With rituals like karva chouth, women fast for the health of their husband. She said that a lot of importance is given to pativrata and to the man. In the past, if the man of a household died, the woman would lose her income, as her entire livelihood was dependent on the man. Yet these traditions continue in the 21st century for independent working women. She added that it is ironic that the Hindu pantheon contains multiple goddesses, yet women are still denied things like access to education.
When asked whether the construction of the feminine gender was uniform within the caste system, Prof. Geetha replied that it was not. She described the idea of graded patriarchy used by Indian feminists like Uma Chakravarti and Sharmila Rege. They say that patriarchy has different levels, with brahmanical patriarchy being at the apex. Just one form of patriarchy is not prevalent, rather, there is intersectional oppression due to caste and gender. Brahmin women face certain forms of oppression due to their gender, but a Dalit woman’s problems are entirely different from theirs. “Upper caste” women face domestic violence and oppression within the household. Dalit women, unlike the Brahmins, have to work for their survival. They face harassment both within their households, and outside by their employers, landlords, and the society at large. A point she brought up was the sexual exploitation Dalit women often face through their mode of employment. She specifically mentioned systems which sexually exploited Dalit women, like the practice of sending Daroga women as concubines to Rajput families after their marriage.
Prof. Geetha was asked what could be said about the lack of Dalit women’s representation within the women’s and Dalit movements. She said that the divide in the experiences of women across castes was not always evident or talked about within the feminist movement since the movement was initially dominated by upper caste Hindu women. Incidentally, it was men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy who were exposed to western ideals who initiated the feminist movement. The Mandal Commission, established in 1979, brought about the realisation that the diversity of experiences among women of different castes had to be reflected in the movement. The movement in India did not come in three waves like it did in the west, but there was an ongoing women’s movement. She added that women had come together in the past for other reasons—like the Chipko movement, the movement against alcoholism in Telangana, against bride burning, and female infanticide. However, these movements were disconnected and not part of a cohesive ‘women’s movement’ nor did they represent intersectional oppression of Dalit women. Thus, there was a necessity for Dalit women to fight against the specific issues that they were facing, which did not fall under the purview of the feminist movement or the larger Dalit rights movement.
The Dalit feminist movement did not become a very strong political movement, but it did become a powerful literary movement. Dalit authors like Bama, Kumud Pawade, and Babytai Kamble began writing about their lives in their vernacular, which then got translated into other languages and was read more widely. She added that while this literary movement was strong, it was necessary to look into how much it directly helped Dalit women get liberation. She suggested reading Bama’s “Karukku” and “Sangati” and Mrinal Pande’s “Girls” to understand this movement and the experiences of Dalit women better. She added that there are also excellent documentaries about this topic. She also suggested reading the two-volume compilation “Women Writing in India” by Susie Tharu and K Lalitha, which include written works from Buddhist times and the Bhakti movement, where a lot of women were involved.
Towards the end of the talk, Prof. Geetha touched upon the Devadasi issues, where women with ties to a certain temple get pushed into prostitution. She said that issues like these are still alive in certain parts of the country, and the caste divide still exists within these communities.