Our identity revolves around our name and whether we are boys or girls. The biological distinction between boys and girls is termed as sex, often interchangeably used with gender. Gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that boys/men and girls/women have to follow. Boys and girls in any society are assigned different roles and are expected to behave accordingly. Gender affects every aspect of life from how we see and value ourselves to how we learn to communicate and interact with one another.

Societies make clear distinctions between boys and girls. We already have a strong scene of such distinctions by early ages. For example, as young children, we are given different toys to play with.

Boys are generally given cars while girls are given Barbie dolls to play with. Both toys can be fun for both boys and girls. Why are girls given dolls and boys given cars? Toys become an indirect way of telling the children that they would have different futures when they become men and women.

When you think about it you will find such differences are created in the smallest and most everyday things. Such differences emerge in the form of gender stereotypes.

Typical examples of gender stereotypes are- boys are good at playing sports, girls are very talkative, and so on. Even the books that you read reinforce this gender stereotyping where girls are portrayed as weak and dependent while boys are portrayed as tough and active. Women or girls generally are passive participants and all the action is taken care of by the male characters.

Don�t you think this affects our understanding of our roles as boys and girls? Don�t we tend to adopt the same approach as we grow up?

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