The Irrelevant Project

A constructive protest against harmful stereotypes through feminist & inclusive children's literature | Non-profit Organisation | Bookstore

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Hey @IISuperwomanII! This eight year old champ we know wants to be like you when she grows up so she straight up drew a badass portrait of you. Thanks for making girls all over the world feel they can do and be whatever they want. Much #GirlLove to you from India. 👯‍♀️

[Indian Women Blog @indianwomenblog]

Why do most people still deny the presence of oppression when it is all around them and what can I individually do to change people’s mindsets?,” Meghna Chaudhury, co-founder @IrrelevantProj

https://t.co/UsZkqGVcUX

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Ze also sent us hir research (someone pinch us!) on gendered languages and their politics, which we dove head first into. Here are our takeaways from hir paper!

#WeNeedDiverseBooks #LanguageIsPower #Parenting101 #ItsOnUs #FeministMedia

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

At TIP, we’re constantly learning & unlearning. Rebecca Bigler has been one of the pioneers in gender development in children & it was nothing short of a thrill to have her mentor us on our books! When we sent her ‘The Big Book of Why’, she responded with a precious observation:

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

@RegaJha Thank you so so so much <3

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Excited to have received a shout-out from @RegaJha ! Go see what she has to say about us :D #girlpower

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

@RegaJha
We wrote feminist, picture book for little children. Dropped you an email too! :)

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

@RegaJha Hi - we are a tiny group of people who wrote Indian feminist books for little children. Also, they are fully illustrated! Dropped you an email :)

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Try this at home: Before exams or if your child shows a decrease in confidence, show them role models relevant to the child’s identities. You’ll see.

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Interestingly, one study shows that parents’ implicit bias about their daughters’ math skills actually affects their performance in exams. Conversely, mentioning a Nobel laureate increases their marks.

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

...who she is! Look at the toys in her box & the toys in Najam’s box. Stereotypically, women are considered bad at math & logic. But we are breaking this pattern with Nila! Emotional & familial words are associated with women, but look, there’s a Najam.

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Twitter, say hello to Nila & Najam. Our illustrator wants to us to point out our effort in portraying Nila: her brown skin, the birthmark on her face and attire. But what’s more interesting (always) than what she looks like or wears is...(1/2)

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

@simranahuja76 Thank you so much! 💚 We hope to come out with more stories and reach out to schools and bookstores to really affect change. Help us spread the word, won’t you? :) Retweet us! You can also have a look at them here: https://t.co/QknfjDMM2s

[The Associated Press @AP]

Chelsea Manning officially files for US Senate race in Maryland. https://t.co/5c7nHiKnxT

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh.

A quick reminder to never stop dreaming. #WinnieThePoohDay

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

It automatically creates a hierarchy & children become desperate to look like their role models. Characters like Anvesha hardly exist. We’re changing that! 91 people have bought our books. We want to hit 100 by this weekend. Give us a shoutout, won’t you? 💜#WeNeedDiverseBooks

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

Twitter, meet Anvesha! She is non-petite & brown-skinned, w/ bushy eyebrows & facial hair. She wears an outfit w/ collars; her mother wears pants. Subtle cues but mean a lot! Why? Because throughout media, there is a certain imagery: fair skinned, blue eyed & blonde hair. (1/2)

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

@ChaarviBadani

[The Irrelevant Project @IrrelevantProj]

A note on our logo: If we are a sum of our experiences, then, aren't our experiences limited by the dominant narrative that exists in the environment? Thus, the summation symbol, reversed. We talk about the non-dominant narrative. The one that is not spoken about & needs a voice.