The Privileges of Being a Hindu, Upper Caste and Elite Class, Male in India
The Privileges of Being a Hindu, Upper Caste and Elite Class, Male in India Abstract When Peggy McIntosh referred to the term 'White Male Privilege' she describes conditions that systematically 'overempower certain groups' and 'confers dominance, gives permission to control, because of one's race or sex', in a Western society. These privileges according to her are unjust and unearned. She stated that, "I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group". Similarly, in a conservative, patriarchal, stratified, casteist, hierarchical, unequal modern Indian society, the undeserved 'Male Privileges' besides the unwarranted advantage of being a 'Hindu' hailing from an 'Upper Caste' and 'Elite Class' plays a significant role in defining the social status of a person which accordingly confers him the voice, the dominant position, the decision making auth