Orphans and Vulnerable Children - CRIN

Roles usually undertaken by boys and girls (you may add others):

Some roles usually assigned to boys:

• Farming / tending crops


• Hunting


• Playing football


• Tending to goats and cattle


• Building.

1 The Gender Roles of Girls and Boys

In this activity, you will:

 Define what gendermeans and what gender roles are

Facilitator’s notes:

In this activity you will define what gendermeans, and then discuss gender roles with your group.

Examples of gender roles are boys being encouraged to behave in ways that are considered male;
and girls encouraged in behaviour considered to display female traits. Gender roles are enforced
through toys given to children (guns for boys, dolls for girls), what education they receive, the careers
to which they might aspire, and the portrayal of men and women in the media. Many social and
cultural practices discriminate against girl children.

Definition of gender:

Genderrefers to the roles and behaviours associated with being female and male; and is a

socially and culturally constructed concept. Gender norms are not universal and change

over time and across cultures. Gender is associated with privileges and opportunities.

A useful way to describe gender to participants is to compare it with the concept of a

person’s sex – sex is a person’s biological make-up; while gender is a person’s cultural and

social make-up, based on whether they are male or female. Gender roles are thus

acquired through a process of socialisation through the culture of a particular society.

Some roles usually assigned to girls:

• Baby-sitting


• Cooking and serving food


• Sweeping and cleaning the house


• Nursing/caring for the sick and children


• Grinding grain


• Attending to visitors


• Cleaning utensils


• Making mats and baskets for home use


• Washing clothes.

Activity 1

Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Unit 2, Module 1^139