शिक्षा जगत और स्त्री का स्वरूप

Summary

The text examines gender representation in Indian school textbooks, highlighting a significant bias favoring male characters and roles. An analysis of 300 English textbook lessons found 181 stories centered on men versus only 9 on women, with 263 male images compared to 75 female images. In biographical lessons, 78 characters were male and only 3 female. Of 199 jobs depicted, 124 held economic or social importance, with men performing 113 of these and women only 11. Women were shown in limited roles such as nurse, teacher, queen, maid, or witch, while men engaged in diverse occupations. Fifty percent of female characters were not given names, identified only by relationships like mother or sister. Science and adventure lessons excluded women entirely, implying they lack intellectual curiosity. Hindi textbooks from several states showed similar patterns: 75% of story characters were dominant males, 45 male biographies versus 7 female, and nearly 100 female characters only did housework. Of 465 occupations listed, women were absent from 344 and shown independently in only 10. Textbooks described daughters' births with regret, praised sons, and presented practices like sati as ideals. The text argues this creates lasting impressions that women are inferior, discouraging girls from pursuing non-traditional careers and causing mental conflict. It calls for balanced representation with equal numbers of male and female examples, stories, and images, showing women in diverse professions like lawyer, architect, driver, and minister, and men engaged in domestic work. It recommends depicting girls and boys playing the same sports and girls playing with toys beyond dolls, to build a society based on democracy, equality, and social justice.