Dowry prevails because of ugly women: A lesson in a Maharashtra schoolbook

 

A Sociology textbook for Class 12 students in Maharashtra lists dowry as one of the major social problems in India, but it sends out a complete opposite message in the following text. The chapter titled ‘Major Social Problems in India’ for the Maharashtra state board’s secondary and higher secondary students goes on to describe how “ugly women find it difficult to get married and hence the dowry culture prevails”.  Isn’t this just half the truth? Most women, no matter their appearances, no matter their religion end up paying dowry.

 

Interestingly, the textbook has been in use since its publication in 2013 and it was reprinted in 2016.

 

 

 

Now judging by what’s the written word, the author takes for granted that the men who marry these so called ‘ugly’ women are like Greek Gods with not a muscle out of place. So it must be that to marry a ‘perfectly chiselled replica of human perfection and masculinity’ the poor ugly or handicapped woman has to pay a price.

 

Also read: Demonetisation: Brides should be cheering for it

 

The buying of grooms and selling of brides is a market rampant in India, under the veil of  jaise aapki icchaa and jitna apne se ban padta hai (As much as the family wishes and as much as the family is able to give) oh and how can we forget log kya kahenge? (what will the neighbours, extended family and your in-laws say?)

 

That is why men are considered to be ‘in the market’ when they are looking for a bride. And, so an educated, well-to-do, MBA, IAS, Doctor, software engineer will command a dowry north of Rs 5 lakh easily.

 

It’s definitely not the same when it’s the other way round. Imagine an ugly man (an impossible occurrence going by this book) or a handicapped man getting married to a so-called normal woman! What is the give and take there? Ah! Now, I get it. Women have to pay either ways or shows over.

 

Also read: Brides, now include a honeymoon allowance in your dowry

 

What’s common knowledge is how most of the country’s primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions are controlled by officials and learned professionals of the Union and state governments. Their education, insight and planning is what goes into making of textbooks like this.

 

This chapter in the Maharashtra State Board text book points out to how the process of textbook writing for educational institutes is carried out. All you need is money, good connections in the Board of Studies, a printing press and a writer who is as misogynist as the politicians that are in power – the perfect combination.

 

 

Did you know? There is a whole scam of how textbooks are being passed for students without being fact-checked at all and this has been going on for a long, long, time. No one is bothered, not the educationists, not the politicians and not even the teachers. Why? Because they are well aware of the quality of education in state-run schools and so will admit their children only into vetted, recognised and quality public schools. What happens to the students in other schools is none of their concern.

 

Here's an example of a howler from one of the Indian textbooks: History as was seen in the The Social Science English medium textbook for Standard 8 published by the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT) in 2014. 

• Japan dropped a nuclear bomb on the U.S. during World War II
   
• Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on October 30, 1948 

• Gandhi was in fact murdered by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948.