Society, caste and identity

Caste, ethnicity, gender, family and community.

Racism is more foolish than bad

A report on Malaysia’s interior minister saying the stolen-passport passengers had ‘Asian facial features’, with the poster’s comment that the remark shows a politician failing to see that a white…

Brown Pundits Archive10 March 20140 comments
A glimpse of Pakistan and her castes.

A reader’s first-person account by Imad Uddin Ahmed of discovering caste and skin-colour prejudice in Pakistan after returning from California, posted as the second story in a reader series.

Brown Pundits Archive10 March 20140 comments
Made in Bangladesh

An extract on the controversy over an American Apparel ad featuring a former-Muslim Bangladeshi model, with the poster arguing that showcasing women’s liberation answers conservatives better than anything, and that…

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20141 comment
The (Lady) Enforcer

A profile of 27-year-old Manju Bhatia, joint MD of the all-female loan recovery agency Vasuli Recovery, with the poster’s comment that India needs more women leaders in fields seen as…

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20141 comment
“Mardon wala kaam kaise karogi?”

A report on Khairunnissa Shaikh, a burqa-clad school bus driver in Mumbai, with the poster’s wry comment that a burqa may not be the safest attire for Mumbai traffic.

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20142 comments
A woman (not a girl) needs a husband

A Times of India report on a 15-year-old girl pushed into marriage, with the poster arguing that society must mediate, keep girls in school and blame the groom’s family too.

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20140 comments
Bend it like a (Bihari) Beckham

An interview with Franz Gastler, whose under-14 girls’ football team from rural Jharkhand came third at Spain’s Gasteiz Cup, with the poster asking why Indians need inspired foreigners to inspire…

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20140 comments
Belly Dancing, Clickbait and Censorship on Salon.com

The poster discusses Randa Jarrar’s Salon piece arguing that white women appropriate belly dancing from Arab women, quoting her conclusion and questioning the clickbait and censorship around it.

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20143 comments
Tears of a father

A Texas murder trial report about an Indian-born son pressed into an arranged marriage, with the poster blaming the father’s traditionalism for a double tragedy and suggesting he might have…

Brown Pundits Archive7 March 20142 comments
Democracy against Brahmins

A post on California’s debate over affirmative action and Asian Americans, linking it to Tamil Nadu’s 69 per cent reservation policy and the history of Brahmins there, with extracts from…

Brown Pundits Archive7 March 20142 comments