Women should grind flour, sweep to stay fit'

Jaipur: Rajasthan’s education department has advised women to do household chores in order to stay fit. The official magazine of the education department has also suggested women to refrain from not just alcohol but even soft drink.

The education department publishes a monthly magazine called ‘Shivira’ for school teachers’ which usually carries reports on education policies, departmental matters and issues of general interest.

However, in the latest issue for November month, the magazine has carried an essay on how to stay fit.

In the article, ‘Swasth rehne ke saral upaay’, the writer suggested that women to go for early morning walks, running, cycling, swimming or any other sports are good for health, which is fine but in the next paragraph various physical activities have also been mentioned including sweeping and mopping floor and grinding ‘chakki’.

The reason this article has invited criticism is because the household chores have been suggested exclusively for women.

The article covers fitness mantra in 14 points emphasising on simple lifestyle, healthy diet and virtues of exercise. While, almost all suggestions are general in nature but the third point has a part exclusively for women.

It says, “Walking, running, cycling, or any sport is a good physical activity.” Then, it dwells upon things that women should do. “For women grinding flour, churning butter from milk, sweeping and mopping floors , skipping and household chores can be good ways of exercise to stay fit,” it said.

The sexist ‘health’ advice aimed only at women is not the first instance of education department’s gender bias under the BJP government. In the previous term of chief minister Vasundhara Raje, a housewife was compared with a donkey in a school text book. “A donkey is like a housewife… It has to toil all day, and, like her, may even have to give up food and water. In fact, the donkey is a shade better… for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents’ home, you’ll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master,” read a chapter in Hindi text book of class IX. The chapter also warned that a housewife might have to give up food and water to fulfil her ‘duties’.

Similarly, the class 8th text book contained a chapter on Sant Kanwar Ram, a Sindhi poet who says, it is the duty of a woman to follow her man.

The latest sexist advice has not gone down well with rights activists. “Such advice cannot be justified for contemporary women. It betrays progressive thinking,” said writer Shivani.