A: I think it is a feminist text, in the general sense of advancing women's interests, because it argues that married women should have the primary financial responsibility in the household, that women may leave husbands who do not treat them well, that women's pleasure is an essential part of the sexual act, that sex should not be limited to the production of babies. All of this, if taken seriously today, would greatly improve the condition of women in India. And the passages that caution against sexual violence may also be useful in making people in India aware of the causes of rape, and possibly some measures to deal with it. This, surely, will be for the benefit of women in India. As for caste, the fact that the Kamasutra finds caste totally irrelevant, that it specifically says that people of all of the "twice-born" varnas can live the life that it describes, is a total denial of the power of the caste system and a fine example of the sorts of attitudes that we need to cultivate today. Neither feminism nor human rights is a primary issue for the Kamasutra, but its extraordinarily liberal attitude to women and people of all castes makes it a valuable weapon for people who are fighting more directly for feminism and human rights in India today.