Bengaluru College Textbook Says Dowry Allows “Marriage Of Ugly Girls” Among Other Ridiculous Claims

With the debates on misogyny and sexism at the forefront these days, people have started questioning the deep-rooted culture of patriarchy prevalent in our country. India was infamous for regressive practices like sati, female infanticide, female feticide, and dowry.

We all know that these practices are social evils. However, it is scary to see that practices like dowry are actually justified in textbooks.

Yes, you heard that right dowry is being justified in Indian textbooks.

A Facebook post says that this a page from a B.A. student’s study material from St. Joseph’s College in Bengaluru. The student is studying Sociology and in a class of 60 people and faculty, no one opposed this. The material said,

“The marriage of ugly girls who would otherwise have gone without a partner, is made possible by offering heavy amount of dowry”

The post has gone viral with over 1200 shares in just over a day. It is scary that such things get endorsed even in textbooks. Dowry is a punishable offense under the Dowry Prohibition Act. Instead of focussing on that, out education system is teaching us this. The appalling chapter also said,

“Dowry increases the status of women in the family. It affects the love and affection her husband bears for her.

See the whole post here:

Netizens obviously had a lot to say about the post-

Although the text says that ‘according to them (supporters), these are the advantages’, it doesn’t compensate for the subtle promotion of ‘their’ point of view. Why would anyone want to study ‘Advantages of dowry’ from the point of view of their supporters? Wouldn’t it be same as a chapter on ‘Killing people have its supporters (yes, they are called cold-blooded murderers). And according to them, these are the advantages of murder. Point #1: Population control: Ugly people can be killed off to maintain population growth” If this sounds outrageous to you, so should the dowry chapter. Period.