“The girl in the modern age is generally very smart, intelligent, conscious and fashionable. She is always imitating the male in fashion, ambition and professional endeavours.”
This is not an excerpt out of a 19th century book on manners, but from an essay in a textbook ‘intended for use’ in CBSE and ICSE schools. Yes, that’s right. An essay titled “The Modern Girl”, written by Kolkata-based author Purabi Chakrabarty,
If one were to believe this author, the modern girl is obsessed with fashion and beauty products, so much so that she has no time to look after family members.
“It is true that the modern girl is more conscious about her health and her figure. She always tries to keep herself fit and beautiful. For this, she uses many costly fashionable beauty products. She has no time to look after the needs of the other members of her family.”
How Is This Essay a Thing?
‘The Modern Girl’ is part of a text called Current School Essays and Letters, which is a collection of essays authored by Chakrabarty.
Shockingly, the collection of essays, published first in 2013 and then revised in 2015, by a relatively unknown publisher called Book Club, claims to be intended for schools across the wide spectrum of educational boards in India. According to the cover page of the book, it is “intended for I.C.S.E., I.S.C, C.B.S.E. Secondary and Higher Secondary Students.”
The essay achieved social media notoriety and attracted criticism for its condescending and moralising tone since photos of it were uploaded by a reader on Facebook on 19 August.
Since then, social media users have called out the essay for its sexist and misogynistic description of a “modern” woman, inevitably using stereotypes like the woman being self-centred, selfish and ‘overly’ ambitious.
According to The New Indian Express, some mothers in Bangalore have taken the decision to write letters to their children’s schools to ensure the text is not part of the syllabus or available in the library. However, it has been reported that the book is stocked as a reference book in libraries and is not taught.
According to the author, the modern girl is:
- Self-centred and selfish
- Overly concerned with her looks and figure and obsessed with fashion
- Has no time for family members and does not understand responsibility
- Ambitious about her career, even excessively so
- Very comfortable (to the point of too comfortable) around boys and men
However, the author does not excessively blame the “modern girl,” and concludes by graciously acknowledging that it is the modern girl’s upbringing that is to blame for these character flaws.
And here we thought that the entire blame was on us!
References to CBSE is Baseless: CBSE
The CBSE, on 23 August, clarified that “While the publisher/author have mentioned the book ‘intended for ICSE, ISC, CBSE, Secondary and Higher Secondary Students’ the reference to CBSE in this news is totally incorrect.”
The school examination board further said, “It is clarified that CBSE does not publish books and nor does it recommend books by any private publishers to the affiliated schools. Therefore, any reference to CBSE in this context is baseless.”
What’s the Status of the Text?
The Quint spoke to an English teacher who teaches Class X and above in a renowned ICSE school in Kolkata. She said that this is not a text which is being taught in well-known schools, nor is it a text which she has come across in her teaching career.
She also noted that the very fact that the text claims to be suitable for both ICSE and CBSE schools is a dead giveaway that it is not a prescribed text.
However, she added that the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations does not expressly prescribe any texts for the subject of English language, leaving it to the schools’ discretion to pick up a text they think suitable.
This essentially leaves the door wide open for any school that so sees fit to include a text like “Current Essays and Letters” in its syllabus.
But how was the essay cleared for publication, with such glaring issues?
The Quint reached out to the Book Club with some questions, to which we received an unsatisfactory reply.
“We do appreciate your observations. We always give priority to the readers’ opinion as well as we do give freedom to the author. However, we’ll request the author to revise and improve the essays to the taste of our readers. We hope we shall be able to bring out the revised edition shortly,” said Kaushik Chakraborty from Book Club.
Unfortunately, while the text is currently out of stock on online portals like Amazon and Sapna Online.com, physical copies of it are still out there for unwitting students to pick up.
“Disgusting Definition”: Social Media Isn’t Amused
The photos of the text were uploaded on Facebook by a user on 19 August who noticed the essay after his cousin bought the book recently. His post immediately went viral, with everyone unanimously slamming the author and her essay.
The post also found its way to Twitter where many expressed their anger at the misogynistic essay and called for the book to be banned.
Renowned author Taslima Nasreen said that “students should unlearn” the lessons of this essay.
If this is the kind of misogyny which exists in our textbooks – especially in books written by women – intended for schoolchildren to learn from, then what hope do we have of combating prejudice against women in everyday lives?
Thank you, but we really don’t need the added prejudice against women and the moral comment on our characters, we deal with those on a daily basis.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)