Caste, Gender, and the Myth of a Homogeneous Sisterhood

Indian feminism that treats caste as a “side issue” is not incomplete — it is complicit. Gendered violence in India is saturated with caste: endogamy, manual scavenging’s gendered burdens, temple entry battles, and everyday humiliation in classrooms and offices.

Who Gets to Be the Default Woman?

Media panels, NGOs, and campus feminism often platform caste-dominant women as universal spokespersons. Dalit women’s organizing — from anti-atrocity struggles to land and labor fights — is then framed as “identity politics,” while savarna concerns are framed as “women’s issues.”

Root Solidarity

Solidarity means redistribution of mic time, funding, and leadership. It means believing survivors from oppressed castes when institutions gaslight them. It means recognizing that “protecting culture” often means protecting caste hierarchy with a feminist lipstick.