Do we have caste systems in the United States today? I feel that every society and culture has a caste system within, although it may not be a formal caste system. Although the Indian constitution has made caste-based discrimination illegal, but it remains a significant part of Indian society. In the U.S., there are people who consider themselves among the social and political elite - a ruling caste, as it were. There are people who consider themselves elite within their race. Among these groups are many who genuinely believe that the rest of us should recognize that while a few are born to rule or advise the rulers, the rest of us should be content to work, pay taxes, be ruled, and let those who are more enlightened make the …show more content…
According to Hinduism the female was created by Brahman as part of the duality in creation, to provide company to men and facilitate procreation, progeny and continuation of family linage. The Vedas suggest that a woman’s primary duty is to help her husband in performing obligatory duties and enable him to continue his family tradition. Her primary duty is to give birth to his children and take care of them. Hinduism is a predominantly male dominated religion. Woman play a secondary role. The situation is gradually changing. It is difficult to draw generalizations about the status of present day Hindu women because of society is complex. In general, life in cities is much different from life in the rural areas. Those who live abroad live in different conditions than those who live in the country. Yet, we have ample indications that women are still subject to many restrictions and disabilities in rural area as well as urban areas. The financial independence of woman and the education levels of the family play an important role in this regard. Women in urban areas face numerous challenges in their professions and personal lives. But overall, life is better for them compared to the past. Love marriage outside of the caste or community are scorned and sometimes the couples are killed or excommunicated by the elders in the family or village. Widows can now have a life of their own and even remarry. They draw a lot of sympathy. But
When we talk about caste system, one must talk about the southern and border states of the United States during the 1877 to mid-1960. These states primarily operated and upheld what is called Jim Crow laws. Under Jim Crow laws it legalized anti-black racism; it was a way of life for black citizens to live under a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a system which was supported by beliefs that white citizens were superior to black citizens to include intelligence, morality and civilized behavior. Jim Crows laws suggested by mixing of the races would produce mongrel race that would destroy America, treating blacks equal would encourage interracial sexual relations and violence was the means to keep blacks at the bottom of the race hierarchy
It has been experienced from time immemorial that there has always lain a very big and noticeable gap in the roles that both women and men play in the everyday societal developments. The issue according to most of the renowned researches is more elusive to the women as they are the ones that are mostly faced by the double standards in the society and this could include very harsh challenges as far as economic and financial status is concerned. Some of the roles of women in the society and more typically, in the house-hold, were very much considered inferior as compared to that of the men who in addition, were given an upper hand
Life as a widowed woman in India is extremely debilitating. Without their husbands, the women are no longer useful to the family, therefore, from the moment their husbands die, they are cast out of their homes to fend for themselves, taking work where they can find it. Every day, thousands of these women nimbly make their way around cities, working industriously to earn any money that will help them escape poverty. Though their situation is rough, many widows have overcome their struggles, and are able to begin anew.
In the typical Indian family, gender construction manifests itself especially in the roles of men and women in the household. As Judith Lorber so aptly put, “gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities” which in turn, creates the social differences that define a “man” and “woman” (Lorber). It is these differences that are used to construct and maintain an established gender order within the family. In the conventional Indian family, the order is such that the roles of the women in the household revolve around the roles of the men. This structure was something that I saw from an early age in my parents’ marriage. Though my parents defied the Indian norm of the arranged marriage, they still represented the quintessential model of an Indian couple in many other ways. My mother left her job to become a stay-at-home mom when I was about six years old. However, even before she left her job, she was implicitly expected by my father to shoulder most of the housework including cooking, cleaning, and caring for my older brother
Untouchability as claimed by the Indian government is said to be abandoned 60 years ago, however still 40% of Dalits are illiterate (Around 70 million). This tells us that the caste system unfortunately still exists. The caste system is a system of class and hierarchy, it divides people in terms of classes called castes which usually determines their status in the community and therefor their livelihoods. The caste system still exists and if not constitutionally definitely socially. The caste system presence keeps different communities separated, lowers national GDP (Economic activity/development), discriminates against those of the lower caste, slows the development procedure and creates unlimited social consequences.
An often controversial issue within politics is how woman are viewed and treated in the Hindu religion. The role of woman in Hinduism is often disputed and positions range from quite reasonable to highly antagonistic. An often overlooked aspect is that, Hinduism is more of a way of life then a Religion. This is because Hinduism requires that we see the same reality in all the diversity of creation; that we see the same Self in all beings. Hindu women within this religion would view themselves as an important part of the family, but this is not shown through the contents of the Manusmriti. The Manusmriti directly translated is “Laws of Manu,” or “Institutions of Manu,” is regarded as the foundational
As a married couple, being parents and having a child or children, the mother and father need to share their responsibilities with their new roles in the family. Judaism believes that each parent can contribute different areas on how to help and teach their other immediate family members, such as being parents and child or children. Compare to a family of Hinduism, women are seen inferior to men, thus men making the majority of the decisions. Men are seen as the individuals who makes all the decision for the families. When Women are seen as the individuals where they do not make the decision for the family, need to depend on her husband, be a house wife in which she is in the house to clean, cook, take care of her and her husband’s child or children, and most importantly please her husband with what he needs and wants. A Hindu woman is not really seen as an individual but more of a creature or even an object because in the book of Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Religions, it states, “A man should have sex with his wife… and always find his satisfaction in his own wife, when he desires sexual pleasure he should go to her to whom he is vowed…” (Browning, Green, and Witte,
Gender inequality is displayed in many countries around the globe. In India, the society begins gendering as soon as a child is born. In most cases, the birth of a daughter is unwelcome but that of a son is celebrated. The boys are brought up bold and outgoing while the girls are expected to be at home and do chores. While the other discriminations like economic or social discriminations are present outside the home, but gender discrimination is present outside and inside households. In a familial setup, the father is the head of the family and decision maker. The mother generally performs the ‘home making’. Even if the woman is employed, she is expected to do the domestic chores, in addition to her job. Even though she earns, she does not have the freedom to plan her salary or decide anything.
As a result of these reviews, the ongoing reconstruction of the social status and roles of Hindu women has brought about many new changes in Hinduism. Some of these changes include changes in education, health measures, problems of early marriages, the positions of widows, and the representation of women in governing bodies (Desai, et al., 1995). For example, within Hinduism now,
The social class structure in America is generally divided into mainly three strata: The rich constituting the upper class, the moderately affluent category comprising the middle class, and financially and socially backward people who form the lower class. There are also superimposing areas like the upper-middle class and the lower-upper class. The stratification is based on the social as well as economic environments. Although these classifications and entry to these statuses are not fixed, these three classifications give an overall perceptive of the social classification in the United States of America. (study.com)
As women are traditionally known to be child bearers, the society gives them the role of mother. This influences the type of work a woman can perform and the role she plays in the society. This conceptually distinguishes them from the male identity and masculine gender cannot acquire such roles within the society in that biologically, a man cannot bear children due to the hormonal states involved. This clearly makes childbearing to be a famine identity and the society to identify the role of masculine identity in the society. As most traditions believe that women are more of able to nurture as compared to men so feminine gender role is to care for the family by dedicating her full time rather than employment outside the home.
If you took a handful of random strangers and asked them to tell you whom they are, a majority of those people would start by defining themselves with their name and occupation. The American society is conventionally arranged into social classes founded on income, wealth, occupation, educational successfulness and social network. Social classes are defined as “status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige acquired mainly through economic success and the accumulation of wealth.” (“social class”) For most of American history, social classes have created inflexible barriers, with multiple institutions and businesses, administering rules established on racial discrimination and other forms of categorizing people founded on preconceptions. Social class in the United States is a contentious matter, possessing many different models, definitions and arguments for its obvious existence. Though many Americans now commonly identify with the three-tier model – a model that incorporates the upper class, the middle class, and lower class/poverty – social scientists have suggested more intricately created model. The extreme definition of social classes has only recently appeared in the past 250 years. Clarity of this natural habit did not strike the citizens of the United States until the colonial times when many of the richer, higher class citizens decided they were in need of separation from those that were considered low-class and
Caste-system oppression has been a staple in human culture for centuries. It hasn’t always been centered around race, but was initially centralized around a 3-teired caste system. The ideals surrounding oppression, slavery, segregation, and social injustice were created by the wealthy class centuries ago and have served a lasting influence on our culture still today. Many problems faced today aren’t a result of a war of the races, but instead a war of the classes. This idea of a fair America and the whole essence behind “the American dream” is long gone, and many blame it on our country’s adherence to capitalism and greed. Others might believe that these cards are stacked an ever-struggling third class American citizen and there is reason to
Traditionally, an Indian woman had only four roles and those were; Her role as a daughter, wife, sister, and lastly, a mother. The women in today’s time however are experiencing far reaching changes and are entering into new fields that were unknown to them. They are actively participating in social, economic and political activities. Unlike the older times, women today have received higher education.
It is general belief in our society that role of women is restricted in four walls of home or for mainly household activities. Economy of any country can’t boom without contributing women. The growing industrialization, urbanization and social legislation and with the spread of education and awareness women have shifted from kitchen to higher level of professional activities. Today’s women are taking more and more professional and technical degrees to cope up with market need.The position of women and their position is any society is an index of its civilization. Women are to be considered as equal partner in the process of development.