Suggested Citation: Sinha, S. (2021, June 3). Need for Feminism in Indian Education System. Queer Academia. URL
It has been seventy-four years since India gained independence and
yet Indian women do not have the freedom to walk the streets freely. They
continue to be harassed, raped and murdered in broad daylight. In April 2021,
The Hindu reported that a man stabbed his wife to death in the crowded area of
Rohini in Delhi while people watched. The video of the gruesome incident even
went viral on social media platforms. The accused said that the reason he
stabbed his wife was that he didn’t want her to work and suspected her of
having an extra-marital affair. The ‘Crime in India’ 2019 report by the
National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) revealed that there has been a 7.3%
increase from 2018 in the number of crimes against women. 30.9% of the crimes
were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or his Relatives', 21.8% under
‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’, 17.9% under ‘Kidnapping
& Abduction of Women’ and 7.9% under ‘Rape’. The rising crime rate reveals
the toxic environment that Indian women are forced to live in. The root cause
of such heinous crimes is the highly patriarchal and sexist nature of Indian
society which continues to propagate the superiority of men.
The sole reason for the patriarchal nature of Indian society is the
education system which is not only outdated but also continues to reinforce
gender stereotypes through textbooks. Female figures are either ignored or are
represented as household workers. For instance, the ICSE grade III Hindi book
portrays around ten men in different professions and only a few women, who are
mainly depicted as mothers or wives, none of them having jobs (Attari, 2020). A
class IX Hindi textbook compared a donkey to a housewife and said that the
donkey is better because it won’t complain or leave its master (Badnor, 2006).
A class XII sociology book in Maharashtra for the Higher Secondary Certificate
board examinations regressively states that the ugliness of girls translates
into families having to pay more dowry (Pednekar, 2017). The social science
textbook of grade 10 in Chhattisgarh mentions women working as one of the
reasons for growth in unemployment (Drolia, 2015). A study conducted in 2019 by
Shah analysed Kashmiri textbooks to study gender biases. During the study, it
was found that there was a significant difference between the representation of
men and women in terms of picturization. Further, it was concluded that the
books were marred by stereotypes and gender-based division of labour. This lack
of positive female representation in the textbooks of students is a consequence
of strengthening, cementing and crystallizing a culture that is highly
intolerant of equality.
Such textbooks condition children to internalize gender stereotypes,
and due to this, they end up gaining a flawed understanding of gender, sex and
sexuality which hampers their understanding of diversity that exists in
society. Often, children assign occupations to genders, propagating the
gender-based division of labour in society. As a result of this, they grow up
associating professions such as engineering with men and teaching with women.
Schools further add to this patriarchal socialization by objectifying young
girls’ bodies and enforcing strict rules on girls. Female students are barred
from having long nails, wearing nail paint or makeup of any kind. They are
taught to wear their hair in a particular manner and are constantly judged by
the length of their skirt. They are told to alter their appearance, behaviour
and mannerisms so as to not distract boys. All these restrictions teach young
girls that their outer appearance is much more important than them getting an
education. If they do consent to a romantic relationship then they are
condemned for corrupting boys. Instead of holding boys responsible for their
indecent actions, most schools tend to blame girls, reinforcing rape culture
(Mehra, 2019). Thus, education, in a way, becomes a weapon of oppression rather
than being a tool for empowerment.
The consequence of such education and socialisation by schools is
the institutionalised misogyny that plagues Indian society. The lack of
feminist content in the Indian education system coupled with prejudiced
educators delivering the outdated content, help in aggravating the situation of
society. It engenders the growth of individuals who are hostile, sexist,
violent, homophobic and transphobic. This, in turn, transforms into statistical
data of various kinds ranging from female feticide, rape, gender pay gap,
income disparity to sexual harassment, domestic violence and dowry. There is a need
to integrate feminism in schools, both in terms of content and language. As
long as textbooks remain flawed the society will continue to be afflicted by
misogyny, inequality and rape culture. No education is holistic as long as it
perpetuates age-old wrongs and refuses to amend them. As long as the
educational curriculum remains faulty, society cannot reform. For the next
generation to be better and more open-minded, it is imperative to have a system
that is inclusive in terms of both gender and sexuality.
References
Attari,
K. (2020, October 12). From Teachers to
Textbooks: Gender Stereotypes in Indian Schools. The Swaddle. https://theswaddle.com/from-teachers-to-textbooks-gender-stereotypes-in-indian-schools/.
Badnor,
S. S. (2006). Textbook likens donkey to
housewife: India News - Times of India. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Textbook-likens-donkey-to-housewife/articleshow/1475517.cms.
Drolia,
R. (2015). Working women cause of
unemployment says Chhattisgarh school textbook: India News - Times of India.
The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Working-women-cause-of-unemployment-says-Chhattisgarh-school-textbook/articleshow/49065145.cms.
Mehra,
M. (2019, October 30). Decoding The
Culture Of Moral Policing At School Level. Feminism In India. https://feminisminindia.com/2019/10/31/decoding-culture-moral-policing-school-level/.
Ministry
of Home Affairs, Crime in India 2019 (2019). New Delhi, New Delhi; National
Crime Records Bureau. https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/CII%202019%20Volume%201.pdf.
Pednekar,
P. (2017, February 2). Families pay dowry
when girls are ugly: Maharashtra textbook stretches reason. Hindustan
Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/maharashtra-board-textbook-cites-ugliness-of-girl-as-reason-for-dowry-demand/story-llcGGvMQUKTR0xC8It6I3M.htm.
Reporter,
S. (2021, April 10). Man murders wife as
passers-by look on. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/man-murders-wife-aspassers-by-look-on/article34292477.ece.
Shah,
M. U. D. (2019). Content analysis of English Language Textbook of Jammu and
Kashmir State Board of School Education for Class 8th from Gender Perspective. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED604218.pdf.
Edited by: Aashi Singh
About
the Author: Satyawati is currently pursuing a law
degree in NLIU and works as an Intern with Mendlife Foundation.
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