Exclusive: Shriya Saran Highlights How School Books, Barbie Dolls And Ads Create Gender Stereotypes
We agree with her!!
Whoever we are today is whatever we learnt while growing up. From our homes to school books, every little thing influences the way we operate today, and handle situations. Many factors contribute in building the ecosystem that we exist in, and our emotions that react to whatever we surround ourselves with. Hence often and then, we go back to school books that introduce the world to us. Our first friends, they are the stepping stone of differences between genders. And speaking about this actress Shriya Saran spelt some important points that contribute to the preconceived notions about gender roles.
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In the latest episode of The Male Feminist, actress Shriya Saran talks about the importance of school books, that influence the way we think. In conversation with host Siddhaarth Aalambayan, Shriya talked about the division of household chores between herself and husband–Andrei–”My husband helps me a lot. I have seen my parents working towards the home together. I feel it is very little to do with what you see at home and I think you have to instil it. Beyond that, it is also about the environment.”
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Citing a few examples, Saran explained–”If you see an ad about detergents, it was always a girl seen washing clothes. If you also look at the old school books, you’d always see a woman ironing clothes. It is in the very recent past that we have been seeing Barbie dolls in different colours, shapes and sizes. I remember my Barbie dolls always had fair, blue eyes, blonde hair, and features that were not relatable and unrealistic.”
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She mentions how these micro-changes today are very important. Shriya also talked about mom guilt and why men who turn into fathers would never be able to feel the same amount of guilt, “Because men are not conditioned to think that they also have to take care of the children. There are very few men I know who have changed their kids’ nappies, made milk for them or fed them breakfast. While women are made to believe that they have to do this also and manage careers too,” mentions Shriya.
We definitely agree with Shriya on this. I think while growing up, we all have seen such gender stereotypes around ourselves and it is only time that we can trust to help make a more inclusive environment for the coming generation.
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