The Caste System in India

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer studies the caste system in India. The writer states that this system has long been a target of criticism and understandably so. The writer claims that by dividing people into desirable and undesirable people and by forbidding, at least in the abstract, intermarriage between various groups, the caste system undermines the essential human equality of all citizens and creates the grounds for ethnic and social tension. Further, the writer notes that for women especially the caste system is destructive, because it renders them little more than an adjunct to their husbands, while simultaneously denying them the freedom to share their lives with whom they wish.

From the Paper:

"The general status of women is harmed by the caste system in additional ways that go beyond just the potential violence they must confront all-too-frequently. Ultimately, caste determines the type of social mixing permitted, the type of wells at which one can draw water and the types of technology rural inhabitants can use in tending to their lands. In addition, land is almost invariably in the hands of the Brahman elite and underlings are dependent upon their superiors for employment."

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