No 'housewives' or 'bangle-adorned hands': Kerala Women's Commission for gender-neutral narratives

Kollam: The Kerala Women’s Commission has called for replacing the term ‘housewife’ with alternatives that do not perpetuate stereotypes about unemployed women. This recommendation is part of guidelines proposed to eliminate gender bias in media narratives and language. The suggestions have been submitted to the government for implementation.

The guidelines stressed on avoiding headlines that trivialise women’s roles, such as "steering safe in these hands wearing bangles" to describe women entering professional spaces. Creative expressions or poetic language that undermine the dignity and identity of women should be avoided. Derogatory references to demean the intellect of women, implying inferior judgment, or phrases that blame women for decisions that lead to issues, such as "it happened because a woman did it”, must be eliminated from media narratives.

In news involving elopements, sensationalising women’s roles with headlines like ‘mother of two elopes with lover’ must also stop. The guidelines discourage portraying tasks like cooking, cleaning and childcare as exclusively women’s responsibilities, while framing education, health, investments and military service as male domains. Gendered headlines with sexual undertones, such as ‘sexy Sharapova’, must also be avoided, the Commission noted.

Need for Stylebook

The commission has recommended creating an urgent style guide for gender-equitable Malayalam vocabulary, to be made available for official and media use. The government has been advised to form a committee of experts, including language scholars, gender justice specialists and representatives from institutions like the Kerala Bhasha Institute and the Kerala Media Academy, to prepare the guidelines within six months.

The commission also suggested that the committee include as many women experts as possible to ensure a balanced approach to the subject.