CHENNAI: At a time when gender violence, issues related to sexual autonomy of women and objectification of women are looming large across the country, it becomes important to address the areas that concern gender and defies the stigmas that society imposes on women. Author Sowmya Rajendran, who along with Anusha Hariharan authored the book Gender Talk – Big Hero, Size Zero, talks about what the book is all about and the need of the hour to contain the evils lurking from each corner of the country, intermittently. The book was launched recently by Tulika Publishers as part of its ‘In Focus’ series.
Sowmya, with a background in Gender Studies, frequently writes on gender-related issues on several platforms and has published books from picture books to adult fiction. She says, “Gender Talk – Big Hero, Size Zero is an introductory non-fiction book on gender for adolescents with plenty of examples, news excerpts and visuals that young people can relate to. It is a conversation on gender and the extreme standards of masculinity (Big hero) and femininity (Size zero) to which ordinary people are expected to conform.”
Ask her why a book on gender and pat comes her reply, “A book on gender for young people is important because they are at an age when they are still in the process of being conditioned. Their ideas about gender roles are still not as rigid as they are in older people. So the earlier we get hold of them, the bigger and faster the changes will be.”
The author adds, “We take a lot of things about gender roles for granted. We look at them as ‘normal’, not realising that gender expectations are something that change according to time and place. There is no book for young people on the subject, that deals with it in an accessible way, so we thought it would be a good idea to write one.”
Sowmya echoes the fact that sexuality and sexual identity should be discussed overtly. She goes on, “Anything to do with sex and sexuality is swept under the carpet in our country. However, we cannot discuss gender without discussing sexuality. There is an urgent need to talk about these issues and break away from conventional ways of thinking.”
Side by side the talks have to be kept going, feels the author, as she laments that violence against women is on the rise. According to her, each and everyone of us is part of a culture that makes it possible for such incidents to take place. She says, “Apart from strengthening legal mechanisms, we need to break down the culture of blaming and shaming the victim that we’re all a part of.”
Sowmya has written a number of picture books, the recent one being Wings to Fly, on paralympian Malathi Holla by Tulika Books, a work of fiction for tweens titled Ashwathy and the Boot of God by Puffin Books and a book for adults, a dystopian satire on gender-based violence titled The Lesson, published by Harper Collins.