Porni Banerjee | ১৮ জুন ২০২৪ ১৫ : ৪২Porni Banerjee

Gone are those days when women would cook in the kitchens and carry out household chores tirelessly. As time passes by, the contemporary society has started learning about the benefits of shared responsibilities of both husband and wife in the domestic sphere.

Challenging the patriarchal norms, the Kerala government has made a significant effort in promoting gender equality by introducing images in school textbooks that display men and other family members working in the kitchen alongside women, breaking age-old gender stereotypes. The images also intend to normalize boys playing with soft toys.


Such images are introduced in textbooks of students of Classes 1,3,5,7 and 9 and the initiative has been embraced by the state government in order to instil a more progressive outlook among young minds right from a tender age to stop gender bias.

The revised textbooks aim to penetrate in children the mindset that shared household responsibilities are normal and every family member, regardless of gender, has a crucial role to play in daily lives.

This fresh and unconventional idea by the Kerala government has garnered huge appreciation by students, teachers, parents and even social media users, expressing hope that such reimagined gender roles can help the society liberate from gender-based discrimination.  

“It is a great step. Textbooks are foundational for the young generation, influencing their thoughts and shaping their minds. Even in 2024, there are many who are progressive in public spaces but follow the same patriarchal approach at home, believing all household chores are the responsibility of women,” Dr Sreerekha Sathi, professor at the Erasmus University in the Netherlands, said in a statement.

“The thought counts, as the re-imagined gender roles depicted in the textbooks paint a "positive" picture for kids that cooking and other housework are the collective responsibility of both father and mother,” said a teacher from Kochi.