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(Chapter- 4) (Growing up as Boys and Girls), (Class - 7) Exercises, 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 distinctions 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 than that of men., Answer 1: (a) True It is because the attitude of the societies are not the same. They differ sharply. In one society we find everything in traditional pattern. It does not allow its girls to get high education and do jobs in offices and factories. At the same time there is another society which believes in high ideas and modem ways of living. Such a society allows its girls to go said by side along with the boys. It believes that girls must be given all opportunities like boys so that they may achieve good name and fame. For example, Muslim society puts its girls behind wall; whereas we have the Christian community which paves ways for its girl to rise higher and higher., (b) False It is a bitter truth that our society does not behave fairly with the girls. It makes many distinctions between boys and girls when they are growing up. Most of the parents prefer boys. They provide good food and good education to their son or sons but refuse to make available these facilities for their daughter or daughters., (c) False Women who stay at home do a lot of work. At times, they do more work than men. All the house-hold chores depend upon women for their disposal. Women look after the whole family by discharging their duties in the most perfect way. They cook food, wash clothes, clean the house, etc. They also help their children in doing homework, m not shell we can say that women who stay at home are always busy., (d) False The work that women do is equally values to that of men. Our society and our family depend not only on men but on women too. Both men and women are the two wheels on which the family runs smoothly. If one wheel gets damaged, it is very difficult to run the family. Both men and women are equally important in the development of our country, 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:, > The term 'invisible' means the work that women generally do inside the home is not given due recognition. Example - looking after the family members and cooking food for them., > The term 'physically demanding' means the various works women do for their families require great physical labour. Example - cooking by standing in front of gas-stoves., > The term 'time consuming' in housework means that women spend long hours in doing different household chores. Example taking care of the children and the old are time consuming., Question 3: Make a list of toys and games that boys typically play and another for girls. If there is a difference between the two lists, can you think of some reasons why this is so? Does this have any relationship to the roles children have to play as adults?, Answer 3: Boys prefer hard or tough toys. They are very conscious of their manliness from the very beginning. Toys like helicopter, gun, aeroplane, etc. satisfy their instinct of being boys. On the other hand girls choose those toys which are soft and can be played indoors. Their feministic nature does not allow them to play with toys preferred by boys., Yes, the toys and games, the boys and girls play with have relationship to the roles they have to play as adults. Boys begin to give protection to the girls while girls take care of the boys., 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: There is a domestic helper in my locality. Her name is Geeta. There are six members in her family including herself. She has to look after his old parents, two brothers and a sister. Being the eldest among her siblings, the responsibility of the family falls on his shoulders. She is from a small village of Orissa. She works for fifteen to eighteen hours every day. She gets fifteen hundred per month along with feeding and lodging. Geeta is a domestic helper in the house of Mr. Sharma, She has been working there for five years. Mr. Sharma is an executive engineer. He has five members in his family Geeta wakes up at 5 o'clock every day without failure. After sweeping and dusting she prepares breakfast and tiffin. She washes clothes and iron them. She also goes to the bus-stop to pick up the children. At 2 o'clock she starts preparing midday meal. She cooks delicious dishes for the family. In the evening she serves light meal like snacks, etc. along with tea to the family members. Sometimes Geeta doesn't want to get up so early. But she has to wake up because she is very much afraid of her Memsahib, who always shouts at her. Even children do not behave with her politely. Sometimes she feels hurt. But she keeps silence. She has to cam money at all cost to look after her family ., (Chapter - 5) (Women Change the World), (Class - 7) Exercises, Question 1: How do you think stereotypes, about what women can or cannot do, affect women's right to equality?, Answer 1: Stereotypes about what women can or cannot do affects women's right to equality because, > They are termed weak and incapable of doing strong work. It is because of this reason that women are called inferior to men., > They are paid less salaries / wages than their man counterparts., > They do not get the same support that boys get., > They are promoted to see marriage as their future instead of higher studies., > They are not paid equally to men for the same work., > They are assigned household works as their priority job., Question 2: List one reason why learning the alphabet was so important to women like Rashsundari Devi, Ramabai and Rokeya., Answer 2: Learning the alphabet was so important to women like Rashsundari Devi, Ramabai and Rokeya because after learning alphabet they could achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams and contribute the society., > Rashsundari Devi: Wrote "Amar Jiban", first autobiography written by an Indian woman., > Ramabai: She set up a mission in Khedagaon where widows and poor women are taught variety of skills from carpentry to running a printing press., > Rokeya: She started a school for girls in Kolkata in 1910 and thus helped other girls to get education. Question 3: "Poor girls drop out of school because they are not interested in getting an education." Re-read the last paragraph on page 62 and explain why this statement is not true., Answer 3: The statement in question is not true because of the following reasons:, > There is no facility in rural areas especially in Adiwasi areas., > Not even any proper school nearby their villages. > No teacher in the schools., > No school nearby their homes., > No transport facilities for going to the school which are generally far away., > Families are too poor to afford schooling expenses., > Discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion and sex., > Preference to boys only for education., Question 4: Can you describe two methods of struggle that the women's movement used to raise issues? If you had to organise a struggle against stereotypes, about what women can or cannot do, what method would you employ from the ones that you have read about? Why would you choose this particular method? Answer 4: The two methods of struggle that women's movement used to raise issues are, > Raising awareness through street plays, songs and public meetings., > Protesting through public rallies and powerful way of drawing attention to injustice. I would like to choose raising awareness because I think violation is not a justified method against this.