Storytelling to break gender stereotypes
in the everyday classroom
My offerings
visual design,
illustration
Collaborator
The Irrelevant Project
Gender Equality, Education
2017, Mumbai, India
With the vision of breaking gender stereotypes, The Irrelevant Project aims to construct an egalitarian world for the coming generation through storytelling and gender-sensitization workshops for children.
I was assigned a story that merged elements of caste/class/religion with the theme of dreams. The end product is a fully illustrated picture book that uses subtle cues to encourage the child reader to challenge the status quo.
Nila and Najam is about two twins from Coimbatore, India who dream of careers that are diametrically ‘opposite’ to their gender. It explores the relationship of a brother and sister, as they dream of their future every night.
A recent email to us mentioned how the reader really loved the character descriptions of Nila, the rational one, and Najam, the ‘soft’ one, a trait hardly associated with the typical male self.
Although a simple story, Nila and Najam advocates for equality and equal opportunity for all, while promoting non-normative realities. The siblings, through their dreamy tales, slowly strip away conventions of gender roles and professions and enter an alternate reality of possibilities.
Press
Youth Ki Awaaz
Two feminist women are creating gender stereotype-smashing stories for kids
The Quint
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The Red Elephant Foundation
Irrelevant. But Relevant.
Platform-Mag
Illustrated books for children
Frontlist
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Momspresso
”The Irrelevant Project” is trying to teach kids about gender equality and consent
BW Disrupt
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Edexlive
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Scroll.in
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Instead of Fairy Tales, Kids Should Be Reading These Books About Real Issues Like Consent
Verve Magazine
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Startupsuccessstories.in
These two feminists breaks gender prejudices by “The Irrelevant Project”
sbcltr.in
How The Irrelevant Project is disrupting stereotypes
GirlTalkHQ
Indian feminist authors create children’s book series to challenge harmful gender norms
New Love Times
“There’s a need for more content that speaks explicitly of the diversity in India”
booklink.in
Five desi children’s books about diversity, feminism and consent