‘Health Suggestions’ For Women: Rajasthan Govt Needs A Time Check ASAP

Posted: November 14, 2017

Tags:gender roles patriarchy stereotypes

From sweeping floors to churning curd, the Rajasthan govt has a lot of suggestions for women to remain fit. Read on to find out!

Education is the primary tool which helps shape an individuals mind and gives it the correct lenses to see the world at large. What happens if this tool if tainted with old age, and harmful stereotypes which hamper its very purpose? Why is it even tainted with these stereotypes if they are so outdated? This is the question that we need to ask the Secondary Education Department of Rajasthan.

The Department recently brought out the latest edition of its monthly magazine, and calling it the latest could just be the biggest irony of the day! According to an article by The Indian Express,

“It states that playing with young children daily for some time is also good for health, as is laughing freely for 10-15 minutes, among a total of 14 suggestions under “swastha rehne k saral upay” (easy tips to stay healthy). The 52-page magazine also suggests that meals should be simple and consumed while considering them to be ‘prasad’.”

Along with other chores like ‘sweeping the floor’ and ‘churning curd’, a woman can, apparently, do these to be the healthiest person ever! If stereotypes helped people stay healthy, then the world would be going towards shorter average life expectancy which is exactly not the case.

The way which this magazine is blatantly re-affirming the gender roles that we are trying to do-away with is a rude shock. After all, if these methods of ‘staying healthy’ work for women, surely they should work for men too? Why keep them away from these easy methods of staying healthy?

And all of this, when we are stepping into another year deeper into the 21st century. What is disappointing is that this kind of ignorance comes from an institution which is supposed to represent the exact opposite of it, i.e., knowledge.

This shows just how little our country has progressed over the span of 70 independent years, and if it goes the same way then the destination might be as upsetting as from where we began.

Image source: By David Brossard (Sweeper) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons, for representational purposes only.

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