A Bengaluru woman posted a photo of herself flexing her triceps and captioned it ‘Brahmin Genes’, triggering a debate online about identity, caste and privilege.
Some said it was natural to be proud of one’s identity, while others said the post was casteist. One X user pointed out that Brahmanical supremacy comes from the Manusmriti that limits the role of a woman in society.
The post, on X received a staggering 70 lakh views and 33,000 likes. Many responded by posting photographs of themselves with the hashtag ‘Brahmin Genes’.
Anuradha, founder-CEO of a content marketing agency, created the original post on August 22. She told Metrolife that she took pride in her heritage, “as everyone should”. “Also, there is a stereotype about Brahmins. We are often portrayed as weak and fragile due to our lifestyle choices. I wanted to break these stereotypes,” she said. In a subsequent post, she described those who posted against her as “inferior beings”.
She didn’t foresee the post going viral. “Many of the comments are negative, with the pro-reservation faction labelling me as a casteist person and an oppressor… This baseless narrative must end,” she said.
‘Remember atrocities’
Guruprasad D N, writer and proprietor of Aakruti Books, said people from the upper castes should be more aware of the privilege they enjoy. “We still don’t live in a caste-free society. Even in cities, many from the oppressed caste find it hard to rent homes. It is all right to be aware about your caste but you must remember the atrocities and oppression committed by such a system,” Guruprasad said.
‘Unnecessary row’
Abhishek Iyengar, cofounder of WeMove Theatre, believes “society at large is becoming overtly sensitive and reactive to the mention of Brahmins”.
‘No oppression’
Theatre and film actor Ramprasad Banavara said, “When a Brahmin posts about the community, the amount of backlash we receive is incomparable to what others receive.”
‘Symbolic violence’
Lakshmipathi C G, sociology professor with Maharani Cluster University, said many like politician Subramanian Swamy and writer S L Bhyrappa talk about upholding Brahmanism and upholding Manusmriti. “Such statements influence social media users who post similar statements that oppose reservation and negate the Constitution. Such messages are symbolic violence against the oppressed caste.”
‘Dismisses oppression’
Actor-director Lakshman K P expressed concern over the virality of such posts. These can feed the AI models with a biased view of the challenges faced by Indian society, he said.
“The posts dismiss the oppression the community has carried out historically. It also makes uninformed judgement about the system of reservation for oppressed castes.”