Home Sciences — A Sexist Field of Study?
A degree in home science or home economics equips a person with the knowledge and skills required to develop and maintain a home. Few of the skills one might learn range from cooking, sewing, resource management to nutrition and health. It is one of the most hands-on courses where you get to use almost all the training into practice.
Since it basically teaches you the art of life, I believe this study benefits all humans and must be a compulsory part of elementary education right up to universities and even offices!
However, in India, if you are a man who wants to pursue say a BSc. in home science or home economics, suit up because it is as rare as a hen’s teeth. (If such difficulties exist for a man to pursue this course, one can only imagine the hardships faced by non-binary people). Even today, the country’s top universities and institutions such as Delhi University still offer home science courses almost exclusively for women.
It’s sad to see that this field of study with such practical value has been tainted with sexism as a humungous majority of its pursuers (if not all) are in fact females. Is this not a testament to the institutional reinforcement of stereotypical gender roles?
Two possible fixes for the situation:
1. Make Home Science compulsory
By making home science training mandatory to everybody (not just women) early in their schooling, we prepare our youth to lead better lives as an adult. This could encourage married men to participate in household work with their wives. This science could create ‘people ready for life’ not ‘women ready for marriage’.
2. Open the door for men
Centuries of effort to break the barrier has now relatively eased women’s entrance into STEM. While we recognise the importance of women’s participation in a “masculine” field, it is also equally important to recognise men’s participation in “feminine” fields. Gender equality could only be achieved when all the sexes have indiscriminate access to resources such as education and jobs they desire. So, let’s make home sciences more inclusive by accepting men for the degree and professional courses.
What good does it do?
By teaching a generation of boys how to sew, we teach them to fix their damaged pants rather than throw them away. By teaching a generation of girls the importance of exercise, we raise a healthy population. So, the pursuit of this course also helps humanity become fitter, healthier, resourceful and sustainable.
It’s high time we change the course of Home Science’s future!
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