Growing up as Boys and Girls
This chapter argues that gender roles are taught by society rather than fixed by biology, and that women's work — especially housework and care-giving — is systematically devalued, producing structural inequality between men and women.
Prelims rarely tests this NCERT directly, but it lays the base for gender questions — constitutional equality and anti-discrimination on sex (Art. 14, 15, 15(3), 39(d)), the anganwadi/crèche welfare architecture, and statistical bodies like CSO/NSO. For Mains it feeds GS-I (Indian Society: salient features, role of women, social empowerment, gender as a social construct) and the topical care-economy/'double burden' debate. It also supplies ready examples for essays on women's unpaid work and socialisation.
Understand the chapter
Gender Is Learned, Not Born: Identity and Society
Being a boy or girl is a core part of identity, but the chapter's central claim is that gendered behaviour is taught by society, not fixed by biology. From a very young age children absorb what is 'acceptable' for each sex, and most people wrongly assume these rules are the same everywhere. Comparing societies exposes these rules as social constructs that prepare children for unequal adult roles.
- Identity = self-awareness of who one is; a person holds several identities at once (girl, sister, musician).
- Society assigns roles that channel boys and girls toward different futures, subjects and careers.
- Core claim: most societies value men's roles and work more than women's.
Two Case Studies: Samoa (1920s) vs Madhya Pradesh (1960s)
The chapter uses two contrasting examples to prove there are many ways of growing up. In 1920s Samoa children did not attend school and learnt by doing; boys took up fishing and coconut-planting by about nine, while girls minded children until their teens and gained more freedom after fourteen — and crucially, boys did most of the cooking. In a 1960s Madhya Pradesh town, boys and girls attended separate schools from Class VI, and the girls' school was built around an enclosed central courtyard for seclusion and safety.
- Samoa: no schooling; learning by observation; BOYS did most cooking in special cooking-houses, girls only helped — a counter-stereotype.
- Samoan girls got more freedom after 14 (fishing, plantations, weaving baskets).
- MP town: separate schools; girls walked home purposefully in groups fearing teasing/attack, while boys idled and played on the streets.
- Lesson: gender norms differ across societies and eras — they are neither natural nor universal.
How Distinctions Are Manufactured: Toys, Dress and Talk
The chapter shows that gender roles are built through the smallest, most everyday things. Giving boys cars and girls dolls is not innocent — it signals different expected futures. Rules about how girls should dress and speak softly, or that boys must be tough, quietly train children for adult roles and eventually shape the subjects they study and the careers they can choose.
- Toys, dress codes and speech norms are tools of socialisation.
- Small everyday distinctions accumulate into life-shaping inequality in subjects, jobs and status.
The Invisible Work: Why Housework Is Devalued
A large part of the chapter demolishes the idea that 'women who stay at home do not work.' Housework and care-giving — looking after children, the elderly and the sick — fall mainly on women worldwide, yet are treated as natural, unpaid and therefore unvalued. The chapter insists this work is in fact strenuous, physically demanding and highly time-consuming — adjectives we normally reserve for 'men's' work.
- Housework is invisible (unrecognised), unpaid, physically demanding and time-consuming.
- Assumed to 'come naturally' to women, so it is not paid for and is socially devalued.
- De-valued = denied due recognition for a task or job one has done.
Double Burden and the Lives of Domestic Workers
Many women labour both inside the home (housework) and outside it for wages — a situation called the double burden. The Central Statistical Organisation study (1998-99) of Haryana and Tamil Nadu found women's combined work hours exceeded men's, leaving them far less leisure. The chapter also spotlights domestic workers — mostly women, sometimes children — who do this devalued work for low wages, very long hours and little respect, illustrated by Melani's account from Delhi.
- Double burden = paid outside work PLUS unpaid housework inside the home.
- CSO (1998-99) data covered Haryana and Tamil Nadu; women's total hours exceeded men's.
- Domestic workers: mostly women; days running from about 5 a.m. to midnight; low wages and frequent humiliation.
Equality, the Constitution and Government Action
The chapter frames gender inequality as a structural problem requiring state action, not just change within families. The Constitution makes equality a core principle and holds that sex must not be a ground for discrimination, committing the government to positive corrective steps. Concretely, it has set up anganwadis (child-care centres) and mandated crèche facilities in organisations employing more than thirty women, so that women can take up outside work and more girls can attend school.
- Constitutional equality: Art. 14, Art. 15 (no discrimination on sex) with Art. 15(3) special provisions for women; DPSP Art. 39(d) equal pay for equal work.
- Anganwadi = child-care centre under the ICDS scheme (1975, Ministry of Women and Child Development).
- Crèche mandatory for organisations with more than 30 women employees — static source: Factories Act, 1948 (Sec. 48).
- Links to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), referenced via the chapter's SDG/UNDP note.
Key terms
- Identity
- A sense of self-awareness of who one is; a person can hold several identities at once (e.g., girl, sister, musician).
- Gender roles / socialisation
- Behaviours and tasks society assigns to boys and girls and teaches from childhood, as distinct from biological sex.
- Double burden
- Women's situation of labouring both inside the home (housework) and outside it (paid work).
- Care-giving
- A range of nurturing tasks — looking after children, the elderly and the sick — carrying a strong emotional component.
- De-valued
- Being denied due recognition for a task or job one has performed.
- Invisible / unpaid work
- Housework and care work that is not recognised as 'real' work and goes unpaid.
- Anganwadi
- A government child-care centre (under ICDS) providing care and nutrition, freeing women to work and girls to study.
- Crèche
- A workplace child-care facility; mandated by law for organisations employing more than 30 women.
Must-know facts exam-ready
- Chapter's thesis: gender roles are socially constructed and taught from childhood, not biologically fixed.
- Samoa (1920s), southern Pacific Ocean: children did not attend school; boys fished and planted coconuts by about age 9; girls became freer after age 14.
- Counter-stereotype: in Samoa, BOYS did most of the cooking in special cooking-houses while girls only helped with preparations.
- Madhya Pradesh town (1960s): boys and girls attended separate schools from Class VI; the girls' school had a central courtyard for seclusion and safety.
- Socialisation cue: boys are given cars and girls are given dolls — toys signal different adult futures.
- Housework is invisible, unpaid, physically demanding and time-consuming (the NCERT exercise's favourite descriptors).
- 'Double burden' = women's paid outside work plus unpaid housework inside the home.
- CSO (Central Statistical Organisation) study, 1998-99, covered Haryana and Tamil Nadu; women's total work hours exceeded men's.
- Most domestic workers are women; long days (about 5 a.m. to midnight), low wages and little respect (Melani's Delhi account).
- Constitution: sex shall not be a ground for discrimination — Art. 15 with Art. 15(3) special provisions for women; equal pay under DPSP Art. 39(d) / Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (static).
- State remedies: anganwadis (ICDS, 1975, MWCD) and mandatory crèches for organisations with more than 30 women employees (static: Factories Act, 1948, Sec. 48).
- Four glossary terms to memorise: Identity, Double-burden, Care-giving, De-valued.
Memory tricks remember it for good
Traps to avoid
- Sex vs gender: UPSC plays on 'roles are natural.' The chapter insists gender roles are socially constructed and vary across societies (Samoan boys cooked).
- 'Housewives don't work' is the half-truth the chapter demolishes — housework is real, strenuous and time-consuming; it is merely unpaid and invisible.
- Crèche-threshold confusion: the chapter's rule is 'more than 30 women employees' (Factories Act, 1948); do not mix it with the '50 or more employees' crèche rule of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017.
- Anganwadi is not a crèche: anganwadi is a government ICDS child-care/nutrition centre, whereas a crèche is a workplace facility mandated by labour law for 30+ women employees.
- Double burden is not 'two outside jobs' — it is paid outside work PLUS unpaid housework inside the home.
- Do not assume domestic 'help' means decent pay or respect; the chapter documents low wages, very long hours and humiliation.
Exam focus
🧠 Prelims angles
- Constitutional equality and anti-sex-discrimination: Art. 14, 15, 15(3), 16; DPSP Art. 39(d) equal pay for equal work.
- Welfare architecture: Anganwadi/ICDS (1975, MWCD); crèche mandate for more than 30 women employees (Factories Act, 1948); Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (50+ employees).
- Statistical body: Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), now merged into the National Statistical Office (NSO) under MoSPI.
- Gender equality in global goals: SDG 5.
- Definition matching: double burden, care-giving, invisible/unpaid work, de-valued, identity.
✍️ Mains angles GS-I
- Recognise, reduce and redistribute women's unpaid care work and the 'double burden'.Open with NCERT's invisible and devalued housework, support with CSO time-use data, then propose crèches, anganwadis and care infrastructure — GS-I role of women.
- Gender is socially constructed, not biologically destined — the role of socialisation.Use Samoa (boys cooked) and MP (separate schools, seclusion) plus toys/dress/speech to show norms are taught, countering the 'natural roles' argument.
- Why correcting gender inequality needs the State, not just families.Link Constitutional equality (Art. 15, 39(d)), Equal Remuneration Act 1976, the crèche law and anganwadis to structural reform of the care economy.
Last-minute revision tick as you recall
- Gender = learned, not born; taught via toys (cars vs dolls), dress and speech.
- Samoa 1920s: no school; boys fish/plant by 9, girls free after 14; BOYS cooked most.
- MP 1960s: separate schools from Class VI; girls' courtyard = seclusion/safety; girls move in groups.
- Housework = Invisible + Unpaid + Physically demanding + Time-consuming + De-valued.
- Double burden = inside housework + outside paid work; CSO 1998-99 → Haryana and Tamil Nadu; women's hours > men's.
- Domestic workers: mostly women; about 5 a.m. to midnight; low pay; little respect (Melani).
- Constitution: sex no ground for discrimination (Art. 15, 15(3)); equal pay Art. 39(d)/ERA 1976.
- Remedies: Anganwadi (ICDS 1975) + Crèche for more than 30 women employees (Factories Act 1948); global goal SDG 5.
Distilled from NCERT Class 7 · Social and Political Life II for UPSC. Always cross-check facts with the original NCERT.