Understanding the world and the societies in it requires recognizing the role that our prejudices, stereotypes, and role-typing play in shaping the lives of people. In this lesson, students learn about the impact of gender roles and then participate in a “Gender Fishbowl” that enables students to practice empathy. In the activity, students take on different roles in real-life situations, play out different scenarios, react to what they've witnessed, and connect it to the real world. It is part of a broader unit oriented towards guiding student reflection and initiative on these topics.
Materials
Students engage with this worksheet as they complete the lesson. It includes guided questions for the text and the different scenarios for the gender fishbowl activity.
Background - 30 minutes
As an introduction to the theme of gender, students first engage with the role of gendered toys in shaping the development of children. This facet of gender provides a comprehensible access point for teenagers to a complex issue.
Students begin with a brainstorming activity that involves students recollecting the toys they played with as a young child. Students are then assigned a brief reading on the topic and further learn about how different social movements are now seeking to change the current dynamic.
This text can serve as a hook for student discussion on the topic: How exactly do toys become gendered? What are some of the specific ways that gendered toys can impact our lives? Should the marketing of gendered toys be changed and why/why not?
Gender Fishbowl - 90 minutes
Now equipped with some background knowledge and engaged in the theme, students can begin the gender fishbowl activity.
Students are first divided into five groups and each of these groups is assigned a different role play situation. Within each group, different roles are divvied out (as some of the roles may cause discomfort or spark strong negative feelings it would be prudent to check with students first). Students are provided around 5-10 minutes to prepare their scenes.
Based on their observations and/or participation in the gender fish bowl, students should complete the boxes by writing reflections on what they saw and how they felt with respect to each interaction.
One example (all the scenarios are spelled out in detail in the worksheet):
A boy has been training to become a boxer because of his father’s wishes. But he would rather practice ballet. One day his father spots him secretly at a ballet practice and angrily forces him to leave. The father views ballet as a girl’s sport and calls his son a disgrace to the family. A discussion ensues at dinner between father, mother, grandmother, and son.
After the role play is complete, I invite the class to first of all establish what happened in the situation and then to provide their immediate reactions. The participants can also share how they felt playing their characters. This particular scenario also invites discussion on the theme more broadly: Where do the father's prejudiced views probably come from? How could it become otherwise? To what extent does this scenario represent reality in their own community? What are other examples of sports and social activities that are gendered? To what extent are these norms changing or not?
This particular scenario was based on the real-life story of Billy Elliot and students may wish to watch the film about him.
The other scenarios are similarly thought-provoking. Students often find the situation on "brother/sister curfews" close to home and tend to have different feelings about the appropriateness of such rules. The situation on "blaming the victim" on rape can also be used to explore the #metoo movement and harassment of women more generally - this often proves to be an eye-opening moment especially for many boys in my classes who hear the same sentiments and personal stories repeatedly expressed by their female peers.
Further Extension
I've developed a packet of lessons for this unit. This lesson is a particularly effective follow-up to my lesson on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Ted Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, which provides an introduction to the topic of stereotypes and prejudices.
For more on my teaching, connect with me on Twitter: @ShaneMarkowitz