Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls Solutions
Question - 1 : - Are the statements given alongside true or false? Support your answer with the use of an example –
(a) All societies do not think similarly about the roles that boys and girls play
(b) Our society does not make a distinction between boys and girls when they are growing up
(c) Women who stay at home do not work
(d) The work that women do is less valued
Answer - 1 : -
(a) True. More importance is given to the work done by boys instead of the ones done by girls.
(b) False. Right from the outset of their growing phase, our society makes it a point to distinguish between boys and girls. From an early age, boys are taught to be tough and serious while girls are taught to be coy and soft. Toys like guns and cars are given for boys to play, while girls will be given dolls.
(c)False. A woman who stays at home does housework. A lot of it. They wash clothes, sweep, clean, cook food and pretty much keep the entire house in order.
(d) True. Despite the fact that women do a lot of work, their work goes undervalued. Part of the reason why is that because there is no monetary value attached to it, there is social conditioning that household work comes naturally to women and that it is expected of them.
Question - 2 : - Housework is invisible and unpaid work.
Housework is physically demanding.
Housework is time-consuming.
Write in your own words what is meant by the terms ‘invisible’, ‘physically demanding’ and ‘time-consuming’? Give one example of each based on the household tasks undertaken by women in your home.
Answer - 2 : -
- Invisible’ means the work which is not seen from eyes, for example, the amount of time and labour that goes in preparing food.
- ‘Physically demanding’ means we have to do hard manual labour to complete a task. It is tiring and the hard work tells on one’s health, like fetching water or firewood in rural areas.
- ‘Time-consuming’ means the work which needs considerable time to be completed.
- The care of the house and keeping a watch on the activities of domestic help are invisible.
- Washing of clothes is physically demanding.
- Cooking food and cleaning the house is time-consuming.
Answer - 3 : -
List of toys and games that boys play with: cars, guns, swords, buses, railway trains, lions, etc. (toys), cricket, kabaddi, hockey, football etc. (games).
List of toys and games that girls play with: dolls, cooking items, etc. (toys)’, badminton, table-tennis, hide and seek, etc. (games).
These games are also played by the boys. From the above description we can infer that there is a difference between the toys with which boys play and the toys with which girls play.
The reason behind this is that our society makes clear distinctions between boys and girls. Boys are taught to be tough while girls are taught to be mild. Boys are expected to do works which highlight their manly features but girls are expected to remain in limit with all feminine virtues. All these are ways of telling children that they have specific roles to play when they grow up to be men and women. Later in life this affects even the subjects they can study or the careers they can choose.
Question - 4 : - If you have someone working as a domestic help in your house or locality talk to her and find out a little bit more about her life – Who are her family members? Where is her home? How many hours does she work? How much does she get paid? Write a small story based on these details.
Answer - 4 : -
Yes, A Domestic Help
- Sujata is a domestic help. She works in our neighbour’s house.
- Two sons, one daughter, her husband, and herself are her family members.
- Her home is in Rajiv Camp in Jhilmil Colony, Delhi-110095.
- She works for 10 hours continuously.
- She is paid ₹ 1500 per month.