NCERT 7th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Role Played by Gender

Question: “Things are changing for the better for women in India.” Do you agree? Give reasons.

Answer: Things are changing for the better. Today there are more girls in schools. More and more women are coming out of homes to take up jobs or engage themselves in business or social work. This has helped many of them to be financially independent and self-confident. Women have also joined political bodies and are trying to improve the condition of other women.

Question: What link do you see between “less girls going to school” and “better-paid jobs going to men”?

Answer: Less girls going to school means that people do not let some girls to attend school and make them stay at home to do household chores which leaves them uneducated so automatically the best-paid jobs are left for men because people make boys go to school and educate them.

Question: Why are certain jobs seen as unfit for women?

Answer: Certain jobs are unfit for women because of their physical strength. Girls have less physical strength. It is not gender inequality but, it is natural or biological differences made by God. Most of the factories and industries employ males than females because of the working conditions and hard physical job work.

Question: How do you think stereotypes, about what women can or cannot do, affect women’s right to equality?

Answer: Women are considered inferior to men. There is a belief that women do not have technical mind and therefore they cannot be scientists. It is thought that women are good at only certain jobs such as teaching and nursing. These stereotypes about women’s capability or incapability of doing certain jobs badly affect women’s right to equality. It is due to this reason that women are not paid less wages than their male-counterparts.

Question: “Poor girls drop out of school because they are not interested in getting an education”. Explain why this statement is not true.

Answer: Poor girls do not leave school because they wish so but because they are compelled to do so, due to several reasons. In rural and poor areas of the country there are no proper schools. There is also dearth of teachers who can teach on a regular basis. If a school is not close to people’s homes, and there is no transport facility, parents do not show their willingness to send their girls to school.