Photo Essays
3 MIN READ
A glimpse into the history of women's education
The tyrants of our past treated the culture of literacy and learning, reading and writing, as dangerous. For women, too, participating in progress and democracy meant in the first place being literate, having opinions, and becoming part of the world of letters.
Women’s education is an important part of feminist history, perhaps even the most important for the quiet and dramatic ways in which it transformed everyday life. To pursue education, Nepali women had to go against the common wisdom that saw girls’ education as an aberration, a waste, or even a threat to social order.
Feminist pioneers in Nepal all emphasized education as the key to overcoming women’s subjugated position in society. From the middle of the twentieth century, circumstances began to change and women started attending schools and colleges in ever-growing numbers. Teaching in schools also became the most significant route for women to begin their professional lives. This series brings together some glimpses of the past that capture the outward surge of girls and women through the life of study and learning. It also shows how schools uniquely fomented a collective experience for women.
[Feature Image: Kathmandu | 1972
Sulochana Manandhar and Astalaxmi Shakya among other students of Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Girls’ College. Started in 1961, RR Campus offered classes in the Humanities and Social Sciences only in the morning shift to accommodate women with busy domestic and professional schedules.
Sulochana Manandhar Dhital Collection/Nepal Picture Library]
These images are part of the ongoing Feminist Memory Project, which were under exhibition during Photo Kathmandu.
:::
We welcome your comments. Please write to us at letters@recordnepal.com.
Nepal Picture Library Nepal Picture Library is a digital photo archive run by photo.circle that strives to create a broad and inclusive visual archive of Nepali social and cultural history, and has collected over 70,000 photos from various sources across Nepal.
Features
4 min read
Where the federal government has failed, local governments have stepped in
COVID19
3 min read
Many Nepalis are despairing at the Nepal-India border after being denied entry to their own country
Features
7 min read
Schools in Nepal continue to police gender, reinforcing the gender binary while promoting victim blaming and rape culture.
Features
12 min read
Kesang Tseten, in documenting these grueling stories, has done his part by successfully bringing the experience of the Nepali migrant worker to our attention, and has thus recorded history in unforgettable images.
Explainers
8 min read
Acid attacks constitute one of the most brutal manifestations of deep seated patriarchy
Features
6 min read
A new report on sexual violence in South Asia evaluates rape laws across the region and finds their implementation sorely lacking.
Photo Essays
4 min read
These women spend all day carrying and transporting bricks. They represent the changing face of the construction industry in Nepal.
Opinions
3 min read
Portraying Nepali women as a homogeneous group obscures the diverse forms of discrimination they face