In general, we are not used to of reading the content on the packs of food items like fruit juice prior to consumption and even though there may be few people who do it, a large majority does not! Agree? However, if you observe, you will come to know about the sexism between the lines. Yes, that’s right! At least this is what a 9-yr girl has brought our attention to!
A little girl of nine studying in the third standard denied taking Real fruit juice for the reason that the pack had “him” written on it.
Yes, this was indeed worth pointing out because on one hand, we promote gender equality and on the other, make such blunders. Even though unintentionally, it does implicate that the society is still considered male-dominated, doesn’t it?
This made govt. to intervene for making sure that contents on food items are gender neutral. These lines on the pack of Real juice made the girl upset:
“Something that is good for your child should also make him smile.”
Her father filed a complaint after which Maneka Gandhi, Union minister of women and child development, made up mind of taking action and as a result, Dabur, the juice manufacturer company, said that they used “him” in a generalized way for signifying children as a whole and were not intended for being gender-specific. The company also assured, “We will make the necessary amendments to avoid any such misunderstanding in the future.”
Mriganka Majumder, a banker and father of the girl, said that he raised the matter because his only child’s response hurt him. Here’s what he told HT:
“Last Sunday, I bought a carton of Real fruit juice for my daughter. When we reached home, she came to me after a while and said she will not drink the juice as it is written in the carton that it is for ‘him’ not ‘her’.”
Shocked at her reaction, father wrote to Dabur and sought for an apology for spreading gender discrimination by means of products and when he didn’t get a reply from it, he approached the minister.
According to him, he’s a proud father and wants Dabur to respect “our daughters”. In his words,
“I know it’s a small issue but the message that boys are getting more preference is disturbing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of promoting Beti Bachao Beti Badhao and saving the girl child but the message gets diluted by such instances.”
As per Maneka Gandhi,
“I have written to them to ensure that messaging in their products, especially food and beverages is ‘gender neutral’. Why should products such as fruit juice or health drink be male-centric. It amounts to discrimination against the girl child and women.”
Majumder wants Dabur to apologize publicly for this discrimination. However, as per the company, it “always believed in gender neutral communication, be it on its product packs or with its advertisements”.
According to Dabur, the pack of Real juice has the photo of a 4-member family which includes a girl too!
What is your take over the matter? Share your views in the comments section below.