"When a woman shares her success, it is never a full sentence. It always demands a footnote about duty and sacrifice. I am an English teacher from Bankura, a district headquarters located in a rural area of West Bengal, India. For 24 years I have taught first-generation learners—children who speak Bengali or Santali at home."
"Now, during my fellowship term in Pennsylvania, I study and observe in schools that are modern and well equipped. Instructors are called 'professionals,' not 'lady teachers.' Students compose their essays on laptops instead of scraps of reused paper. Yet, even in these classrooms, I see female educators juggling motherhood, grading and exhaustion. Patriarchy, it seems, travels well; it only changes its tone."
"Language has always been my chosen battlefield. In my classes back home, whether in school or the after-hours literacy classes in the slums, I tell my students, particularly the girls, that English is not a colonial badge. It is a tool to claim space, because in India, English is the language of opportunity, development and privilege."
An English teacher from rural West Bengal, India, receives a prestigious Fulbright Distinguished Award to study equitable language learning in America. Rather than celebrating her achievement, those around her question who will care for her children and husband, revealing deeply ingrained patriarchal attitudes that reduce women's accomplishments to footnotes of duty and sacrifice. Despite teaching first-generation learners in modest classroom conditions for 24 years, she observes that even in well-equipped American schools, female educators face similar struggles balancing motherhood and professional demands. She views language, particularly English, as a tool for empowerment and opportunity for her students, especially girls, rather than a colonial imposition. Her experience demonstrates that patriarchal constraints transcend geographical and economic boundaries, adapting their form while maintaining their fundamental limitations on women's aspirations.
#gender-inequality-in-education #womens-empowerment-through-language #patriarchy-across-cultures #educational-equity
Read at www.npr.org
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