DU: B.Com (Hons.) Textbook tells Students to write E-mails as ‘Short as Skirts’, Creates Outrage

A B.Com (Hons.) textbook guiding students to write emails as short and interesting as skirts has become the new controversy that outraged many. The name of the book is ‘Basic Business Communication’ and it has been written by CB Gupta, Former Head of Commerce Department of a DU-affiliated college.

It is one of the most widely prescribed course books of the B.Com (Hons.) programme offered by various colleges affiliated to DU. The book is being printed from the past decade. In one of its lessons, it says that emails should be similar to skirts, short enough to be interesting and long enough to cover all essential details.

Criticising the analogy, a student of the university said that there are students who come from economically and socially weaker sections of the society who are not able to understand the exact meaning of such statements.

She added that such students follow textbooks blindly without realising that statements like these legitimise casual sexism. The student also added that it’s strange how this statement was never questioned before.

On finding out about the controversy, Professor CB Gupta expressed his regret for hurting the sentiments of people. He also informed that the statement was taken from an article written by a foreign writer.

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Professor Gupta also added that he has asked the publisher to remove the statement from the book prior to publishing the next edition. On being asked why he used such analogy, he added that it was not his concept and that it was a mistake to use such a sentence.

Not long ago, there had been an outrage on social media regarding a class 12 physical education textbook that stated 36-24-36 to be the best body shape for females.

In another instance, one of DU’s History curriculum book called freedom fighter Bhagat Singh a “revolutionary terrorist”. The family members of the revolutionist raise the issue and also notified the HRD ministry.

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Sharing his views on such controversies, a DU professor said that a textbook should provide a neutral description along with balanced viewpoints. The students should be allowed to perceive the text on their own, he added.