“Girls should not stay outside late in the night, good girls come home early. However, it is ok for boys to stay outside late in the night”. This was the general perception of the participants during the session. The session was conducted with 84 adolescents girls at GGSSS, kakrola (dwarka) to introduce the concept of gender. The objective of the session was to make them understand the difference between sex and gender. The session was done through an activity called “gender relay”.

 

Participants enthusiastically participated in the activity. The responses which came out from the participants were fabricated with socially constructed definition of gender.  For boys, participants said they are cheater, bad, not hard working. Some said boys are good friends. One participant said boys bully us. Some talked about privileges of boys like they have no restrictions, boys can act bravely, they are always happy. There were some participants who talked about the looks of boys, they said they are handsome, they have short hair, and they have abs and muscles. The description of boys from the participants was what our society has taught us and what is accepted by our society as popular norms and practices.

 

The description about girls was also similar and they also defined girls by societal norms which have been so normalized. They said girls are shy, beautiful, they have long hair, they are arrogant, and they are caring, honest and intelligent. Some participant talked about restrictions and said they do household work, they have no freedom etc.

Responses from the participants were based upon their socialization process, cultural norms and practices and what society tells us to do. The responses has its roots in what society thinks how a girl/boy should behave, what they should look like, what they can do etc.

 

After discussion and stimulation, their view changed. They said “not every boy is cheater or bully but there are many boys who respect girls”. They further discussed that sex is biological but gender is socially constructed and it defines our position in the society. Gender restricts the mobility and freedom of a person and sometimes it overburden a person with responsibilities set by society.

 

SOME TESTIMONIALS shared by participants

“जेंडर वो हैं, जो हमें समाज देता हैं और हम पर थोपता भी हैं , पर सेक्स हमे प्रकर्ति के द्वारा मिलता हैं | Ayesha class 9th, GGSSS.

“We are judged by our gender, no matter how hard we try, we are pushed back by the society because all the works are divided into girl's work or boy's work. Where is the work which has no gender?  -Sushmita, class 9th