In the aftermath of the outrage surrounding the Kathua and Unnao rape cases, a Class VIII science textbook drew attention for toeing the line of victim blaming. The textbook, prescribed for Tamil Nadu’s State Board students, was criticised for its sexist undertones and implying that in sexual abuse cases, victims may be to blame if they didn’t take preventive measures.
This certainly isn’t the first time that textbooks in the country are receiving backlash for sexist content. The Class XII CBSE textbook describing the “ideal” size for women was one instance. Study material from a Bengaluru college citing the dowry system as beneficial to “ugly” women, was another.
The second unit of the Class VIII first trimester’s science textbook is called ‘Reaching the age of adolescence’. Under a section titled ‘Prevention and protection from sexual and other abuses’, students are advised not to “wear provocative dresses”, to “take care of the way” they sit, and to “keep distance from the other sex” when going to school, as primary prevention measures.
The textbook was prepared and compiled by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). Though it was first published under the Uniform System of School Education scheme in the state in 2012, the criticism it is receiving is new. Could this be a sign of progress? Now, at least, the text has been recognised as potentially problematic.
Vidya Reddy, of Tulir - Centre for the Prevention & Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, feels otherwise: “It’s coming up only now, because most people may not have even noticed the chapter! It’s not because they didn’t realise it was a problem earlier, and now they do. Chapters like this are often glossed over, or skipped altogether.”
But she doesn’t blame teachers for this. Instead, she points out that the content is not age-appropriate. “I lecture to college students about primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of sexual violence. But at Class VIII, students should instead be learning about risks from peers (through bullying, for example), and making smart decisions about inter-personal relationships.”
She adds, “The main thing that students this age should know when it comes to prevention, is how to label their feelings, to discern unsafe from safe, and what to speak up about. Children, especially in south Asia, are often rewarded for not challenging authority, and this includes keeping quiet when sexual abuse may be meted out from elders in the family.”
Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture leads to the realisation that these issues could be stemming from how we view sexuality in the first place. As Vidya explains, “The problem is that anything to do with sexuality is always spoken about through the prism of violence or disease. It is never discussed as a standalone part of identity to be comfortable with.”
For the textbook in question, T. Udhayachandran, Secretary, Curriculum Development of School Education, Tamil Nadu, says that teachers and principals will be briefed on remedial measures and how to address the passage in classrooms. This academic year at least, the same textbook will have to be used, as the concerned chapter is for the first trimester.
Gender-sensitivity audit
Udhayachandran's team, in collaboration with representatives of the Azim Premji Foundation, was responsible for the recent gender-sensitivity audit of the state's Class I, VI, IX, and XI textbooks. “We will subject new textbooks that are prepared by SCERT for Class VIII too, to the same audit before they are used. This is inclusive of the third gender also — we will strive for balance between all three.”
He continues, “For the new textbooks, key resource persons at the state and district levels will be given extensive training and orientation, by the authors and other experts involved in the writing process. They will go on to train the concerned teachers.”
Till these changes are in effect, or when faced with another such tricky section, what can well-meaning teachers do? Maya Thiagarajan, Education Director at TREE, an organisation that recruits and trains teachers, believes that critical reading is key: “Teachers think that textbooks are some sort of holy grail. We need to teach teachers to analyse texts carefully. No textbook should ever be read or taught uncritically.”
Critical discussion
When teaching such passages, Maya recommends initiating critical discussion by asking students questions such as:
If you had to rewrite this paragraph to give advice to teenagers (both boys and girls), what would you write?
What is sexual harassment? What is rape?
Will teaching girls to protect themselves solve the problem of sexual harassment/rape?
What kind of bias/agenda does the textbook seem to have? How do you know this?
If you had to address the issue of harassment of girls/women in our society, how would you do it?
What do you think the root causes are, and how could we begin to address them?
She concludes, “Our students need to know that a textbook should be read with a critical eye. They should be taught to analyse the information they read — whether it's in a textbook, a newspaper article, or any other publication.”
