Gender Issues in Education — Hard

Q1. Consider the following statements about the meaning of gender: (I) Gender is what a society and culture makes of boys and girls. (II) Gender has to do with upbringing, socialisation, culture and the role models presented to children. (III) Gender, like sex, is determined at conception by the XX or XY chromosomes. Which statements are correct?

• A. (I) and (II) only
• B. (I) and (III) only
• C. (II) and (III) only
• D. (I), (II) and (III)

Q2. Assertion (A): During adolescence the pressures to conform to gender expectations and follow conventions of femininity or masculinity increases. Reason (R): Gender and gender roles are determined biologically. Choose the correct option.

• A. Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
• B. Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
• C. (A) is true but (R) is false.
• D. Both (A) and (R) are false.

Q3. Comparing sex and gender, which one of the following statements is NOT correct?

• A. Sex is a biological construct; gender is a socio-cultural construct.
• B. Sex is constant and cannot be changed; gender is variable and changeable.
• C. Sex is non-hierarchical; gender is hierarchical.
• D. Sex is society-made and systemic; gender is nature-made and individual.

Q4. Consider an 'extreme case' where, in certain cultures, women are not allowed to drive and men are not allowed to drive women they are not related to. This case primarily shows that

• A. such restrictions are gender-sensitive measures protecting women
• B. interlocking gender restrictions can directly damage girls' access to education and mobility
• C. biological differences between males and females make driving unsuitable for women
• D. school bus systems are the same across all cultures

Q5. Aarti, a Class 7 student in Rampur, is told by her parents that she cannot visit her friend's house after dusk for a project, though her younger brother is free to do so. This most directly illustrates

• A. biological vulnerability of girls during adolescence
• B. denial of freedom of choice to girls on the basis of being a 'girl' — a form of gender discrimination
• C. gender sensitivity by the parents toward Aarti's safety
• D. gender equity, since the parents are protecting historical disadvantage

Q6. Consider the following statements about gender discrimination: (I) Gender discrimination can affect boys and men, not only girls and women. (II) The discrimination as of today is largely loaded against women and girls. (III) The expectation that a man cannot become a 'home-maker' is also a form of gender discrimination. Which of the above are correct?

• A. (I) and (II) only
• B. (I) and (III) only
• C. (II) and (III) only
• D. (I), (II) and (III)

Q7. A rule from 200 BCE: 'Her father protects her in childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.' This rule is evidence of

• A. the modern Indian Constitution's stand on women
• B. the historical roots of gender inequality in Indian society — the 'cumulative distortion of the past'
• C. Jainism's progressive view on women
• D. a Vedic prescription with no impact on present-day discrimination

Q8. The National Policy on Education 1986 (NPE 1986) describes the long history of gender inequality as

• A. a natural consequence of biological differences between men and women
• B. a 'cumulative distortion' of the past requiring an educational edge in favour of women
• C. an unchangeable cultural reality that schools should not disturb
• D. a temporary phenomenon that has already been eliminated by the Indian Constitution

Q9. Gender discrimination operates against the girl child in many forms. Which one of the following is NOT among those forms?

• A. Female foeticide — discrimination beginning before the birth of a girl child
• B. Neglect of nutritional and health requirements of girls, resulting in higher mortality
• C. Girls being taken out of schools on attaining puberty
• D. Providing different examination rooms for women patients in government hospitals

Q10. In the history of gender discrimination in India, the position of women further deteriorated during the medieval period because of all of the following EXCEPT

• A. the practice of sati, child marriages, dowry system and ban on widow remarriages
• B. the spread of the purdah practice and sexual exploitation of devadasis
• C. polygamy being widely practised and even considered a status symbol for some men
• D. the Manu Smriti rules of 200 BCE, which were laid down during the medieval period

Q11. Which one of the following does NOT indicate the status of women in our society?

• A. Rights over property
• B. Education
• C. Knowledge of mother tongue
• D. Sex ratio

Q12. Regarding the workforce-status of women in India, which of the following figures is correctly stated?

• A. Workforce participation of rural women has never crossed 35 percent in the last three decades
• B. Workforce participation of urban women is about 65 percent
• C. Women do only 1/3 of the total unpaid manual labour in the country
• D. Women constitute 25 percent of India's population

Q13. Per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2005 statistics, which of the following pairings is correctly stated?

• A. A rape occurs once in every 29 minutes
• B. A molestation occurs once in every 77 minutes
• C. A dowry death occurs once in every 15 minutes
• D. A sexual harassment case occurs once in every 9 minutes

Q14. A Class 8 teacher in rural Bihar often says to his students, 'Being a girl, how can you be so untidy?' and 'After all he is a boy — he can get away with it!' These classroom remarks are best classified as

• A. gender-neutral feedback aimed at improving behaviour
• B. sexist language used by teachers during classroom transactions — a research-listed form of classroom bias
• C. constructive criticism rooted in cultural sensitivity
• D. a gender-equity measure compensating historical disadvantage

Q15. The National Policy on Education 1986 envisages the National Education System's role in creating a gender-fair society as

• A. passive and neutral — schools should not interfere with society's gender norms
• B. positive and interventionist — fostering new values through redesigned curricula, textbooks, teacher training and active institutional involvement
• C. punitive and regulatory — punishing teachers who do not enforce traditional gender roles
• D. purely informational — only disseminating data on gender gaps without action