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
6 min read
Galvanized by a series of videos detailing one woman’s harrowing experiences of being raped as a minor, Nepali women and men take to the streets in protest.
Features
12 min read
The gross underrepresentation of women in Nepal’s social science textbooks promotes a lopsided evaluation of Nepali history and society.
The Wire
4 min read
Weak laws, political pressure and social attitudes perpetuate impunity
Features
4 min read
The latest court ruling in the Nirmala Panta case muddies the waters even more
Features
14 min read
Menstrual education in Nepal is woefully inadequate and, at times, actively harmful, posing risks to health while reinforcing existing stereotypes and stigmas.
The Wire
17 min read
An investigation into the challenges women face in accessing abortion and contraception in two very different countries – India and the USA.
Features
11 min read
Abortion has been legal in Nepal since 2002 but there could be fallout from any overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States.