Print Culture and Women Education


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Print Culture and Women Education

Women and Print: liberal husbands and fathers began educating their women folk at home and sent them to schools. After the mid-19th century, women’s schools were set up in the cities and towns. Many journals began carrying the writings of women and explained why women should be educated. But some conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances. Many women contributed to print culture. Prominent among were:

  • Rashsundari Debi, a young married girl in a very orthodox family, learnt to read in the secrecy of her kitchen. She wrote her autobiography ‘Amar Tban’, which was published in 1876 and it was also the first tull-length autobiography in the Bengali language.
  • Kailashbashini Debi From the 1860s, some Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi, highlighted the experiences of women. She highlighted how they were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic work and treated injustly by the same people for whom they served.
  • Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai In the l880s, women writers like Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai both from Maharashtra, wrote about the miserable lives of upper caste Hindu women, especially widows.
  • Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein In 1926, famous educationist and literary figure, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein disapproved men for withholding education from women in the name of religion.
  • Print Culture and Women Education: Urdu, Tamil, Bengali and Marathi print culture also developed. Hindi print culture started seriously from l870s. In the early 20th century, many journals edited by women, discussed about women’s education, widowhood, widow remarriage, significance of national movement etc.

    Books for Women: In Punjab, Ram Chaddha published the fast-selling “Istri Dharm Vichar” to teach women how to be obedient wives. The Khalsa Tract Society also published cheap booklets with a similar message. Battala was an area in central Calcutta. It published various types of popular books including novels and religious scriptures. These books were very cheap and illustrated with woodcuts and coloured lithographs. These books were popular among housewives.

    Autobiography :-- Story of one"s own life written by the author himself or herself . 

    Lithograph :-  A method of printing from a flat surface such as a smooth stone or metal plate . 

     
     


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