Gender equality has become a topic of discussion in political, religious and economic forums. Gender imbalance and violence has created a worldwide alarm. Curbing this pandemic starts at an early age. It begins with engaging students in gender equality activities. Here are some tips on how to teach students on this subject.
Differentiate character and gender
The purpose of gender equality is for students to understand that there is no relationship between their action and being either male or female. In most cases, the fight is about words used to describe each sex. For instance, many think that gender equality is reversing what society thinks each gender can do; girls become brave( opposite of societal beliefs).
Gender equality refrains from using such words. It teaches that a student should judge the other not based on their sex but their character.
Treat everyone equal
The biggest propagator of gender inequality is how society treats both genders. The ideas are passed on from generations that you should be harsh on boys. Students will not get your concept if they don’t see a difference in your actions. Here are some areas to improve.
Give equal punishment. If both genders made a mistake, you should not be biased in your disciplinary action. Let them get a similar punishment regardless of their sex. The reward system should be the same if they do well.
Don’t put higher performance expectation on any gender. Lecturers make comments to suggest that they expected a particular gender to perform better in mathematics and literature. Students take this to mean that they are intelligently unequal. It’s mostly the case when the tutor reads the class’ performance by including the mean grade for each gender.
Give students equal roles. Another challenge in teaching gender equality activities is how you assign responsibilities to learners. For instance, teachers give girls parts that look like “domestic roles”, such as cleaning the class while boys are sent on errands. Dividing roles teaches students that there are some roles for boys and girls.
Teach equal career paths for everyone. Society has a mentality that some careers are for boys and others for girls. Please encourage students to take any course they find fulfilment in. Cite for them cases of people who choose a different path than what the society demands.
Create body awareness exercise
Body image is among the most significant cause of gender imbalance. The society and media have labelled how male and female should look. Let students learn about the danger of these biases and construct the correct way of thinking.
Use physical education to let students express how it feels to be a male or a female. For instance, men can explain the pressure of being brave and defensive, while girls can demonstrate how they are compelled to hide their bodies to escape rape and violence.
Ask them to come with ways to help each other become better people. Women can help men by showing them that being a man means respect and not being violent. Males can help female to reduce the pressure of creating unnecessary attention.
Teach them how to use their voices to bring change. It’s the most commonly used organ to perpetuate gender-bias. Show them how to speak up for a change. For instance, what happens when people don’t use their voices to talk about workplace discrimination and home?
Teach students about benevolent sexism
You may look around and assume that there is no gender bias in your environment. After all, no rape cases, no body shaming and no unhealthy competition. But have you thought about benevolent sexism?
It’s a type of gender inequality where someone is lured to accepting lower responsibilities because of their gender. For instance, during students’ leadership campaigns, girls are normally encouraged to go for secretary posts because men cannot do it better. Thus, girls running for chairperson posts ends up becoming the treasurer willingly.
Benevolent sexism is a perfect argumentative essay topic about women’s rights. People should know how they unwillingly violate the right to equal opportunity.
Sometimes, people are unaware that they are encouraging benevolent sexism. It’s because the idea is ingrained in people’s mind until it becomes a natural behavior. Teach students to resist such crafty biases in their environment. Let each student be encouraged to take up a role they can handle.
Use unbiased materials
Instruction materials encourage gender bias in children from an early age. The effects may not be manifested instantly, but they affect children up to their adulthood. People have written dozens of argumentative essays on the type of materials to use.
Teaching materials have several biases. Some have a higher representation of one gender. They mostly have more male characters than female. Another problem is having gender careers such as nursing and teaching for women. It shapes the decision making of students in their career life.
Teach students the power of language
The everyday language used in school encourages bias. Students should be taught how to spot and avoid biased words. Most of these words have been around for a long time until people don’t recognize them as imbalanced.
Explain to students the effect of using gender imbalanced words. For instances, the society says “be a man”, what do they mean? They mean expressing manly character traits as defined by the society, such as being violent. “Be a woman” means you should be in the kitchen cooking or taking care of children.
Teach students to speak up during gender equality activities
The reason why cases of gender violence are rampant is that no one is willing to stand up for what is right. The society has labelled people as “petty” for challenging existing norms. Teach students to speak up against such abuse. Let them know gender imbalance is unnatural.
Teach them about the consequences of standing up for their right. Not everyone will love their action as some will ridicule them while others will discourage them. Knowing the value of purpose rather than popularity will help them stand while others think they should not. Encourage them that their action will make the world a better place.
Give them alternative words to use
It’s tough for students to replace gender imbalanced words if they don’t have an option. They need a vocabulary to use when they are in an uncomfortable situation. Dealing with inequality is more than just helping learners identify it.
Words to depend on the context. Look for a way to show the person that their notion about gender is incorrect. For instance, tell the person you do not define your masculinity by how fast you run or how many kilograms you can lift in a gym. For ladies, let people know that you don’t see yourself as a secretary but a leader.
Be sensitive about people’s cultural beliefs
Each culture has its belief about gender equality. Some students may feel offended when they hear ideas that are against their norms. Know your students before introducing the topic.
Teach the subject in a way that it won’t look like you are condemning a particular culture. Ensure your examples are soft and sensitive. If a student comes from a toxic culture, find a way to bring them back to reality without making them feel isolated.
The article has discussed ways of involving students in gender equality activities. The only way to reverse the harmful gender inequality ideas engraved in the society is by raising a better generation. Use these tips to bring up a community that respect people regardless of their gender.
