A young reader told us excitedly about a video game that he had developed and wanted to show the same to us. The game was a conflict game in which his chosen character was trying to capture the other character that was constantly moving. While he showed it to us, it occurred to him. that the name of the moving character was female and to show that moving character was losing every round, was offensive to the girls in the audience. He realized that it might be offensive and asked the audience for their opinion. Interestingly, the girls did not speak up first but it was the boys who voiced their thoughts. They agreed that this approach was offensive and must be changed!
What led the readers to think in this direction?
A combination of factors. A more open outlook in school and home contributes a big role. So do the kind of books they read and the kind of T.V shows they watch. Seeing more women in a variety of roles that previously were considered to be only for men is becoming a lot more prominent.
Case in point is the recent development in Kerala, India. Always known for being a matriarchal society and high female literacy rate, Kerala State Government is in the process of making revisions in their school textbooks. When a picture showing the mother cooking in the kitchen and the father helping out by grating coconut appeared in the textbooks, it led to much discussion. More changes are underway. The new textbooks will include pictures showing examples of gender equality as well as lessons that would make children aware of the gender spectrum. The purpose to enable children to develop a sense of empathy towards marginalized sections of society including and beyond gender. This news is of particular interest as children spend considerable amount of time studying their textbooks. What they learn and absorb from their textbooks gradually finds its way to influence they way they think and behave.
The girls at the Young Readers' Club felt good that the boys had taken note of the gender based discrimination that had creeped into the video game. The boys deserve much appreciation for taking a moment from the video game to ponder. As I write this blog, a thought runs parallelly. Was the video game violent and perhaps unnecessarily promote violence? But I am feeling reassured when I think, "When these children can pause a video game to think of discrimination, they understand that violence is unacceptable. The game is unreal. The characters don't exist. It is simply another version of "Cops and robbers."
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