Class 7 Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls Extra Questions and Answers

Class 7 Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls extra questions and answers available here. Solving class 7 extra questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practicing these extra questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Growing Up as Boys and Girls Class 7 Civics Extra Questions and Answers

Very Short Extra Questions and Answers

1. Why domestic workers’ wages are often very low?

Answer: Wages are low, as domestic work does not have much value.

2. Mention the most important activity on the Samoan Islands in 1920s.

Answer: Fishing was a very important activity on the islands.

3. What do we teach boys and girls from a very young age?

Answer: We teach girls to talk softly and boys to be tough.

4. Why do girls like to go to school together in groups?

Answer: Girls like to go to school together in groups because of fears of being teased or attacked.

5. Were Harmeet and Shonali correct in saying that Harmeet’s mother did not work?

Answer: No, Harmeet and Shonali were not correct in saying that Harmeet’s mother did not work.

6. “As these girls walked on the streets, they looked so purposeful.” What it means?

Answer:  It means that for the girls, the street was simply a place to get straight home.

7. What is the daily schedule of a domestic worker?

Answer: A domestic worker’s day can begin as early as five in the morning and end as late as twelve at night.

Short Extra Questions and Answers

1. How are domestic workers treated by their employers?

Answer: Despite the hard work domestic workers do, their employers often do not show them much respect.

2. Where are the Samoan islands located?

Answer:  The Samoan Islands are part of a large group of small islands in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean.

3. Why are girls and boys given different toys to play with?

Answer: Girls and boys are given different toys to play with because toys become a way of telling children that they will have different futures when they become men and women.

4. What are the expected responsibilities of women in the family?

Answer: Housework and care-giving tasks, like looking after the family, especially children, the elderly and sick members, are the expected responsibilities of women in the family.

5. Define the term Double-burden.

Answer: The term Double-burden literally means a double load. This term is commonly used to describe the women’s work situation. It has emerged from a recognition that women typically labour both inside the home (housework) and outside.

6. Why do you think that men and boys generally do not do housework?

Answer:  Men and boys generally do not do housework because it is assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. Thus, across the world, the main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks lies with women.

7. “The work women do is strenuous and physically demanding.” Explain why?

Answer:  Tasks like washing clothes, cleaning, sweeping and picking up loads require bending, lifting and carrying. Many chores, like cooking, involve standing for long hours in front of hot stoves. Thus, the work women do is strenuous and physically demanding.

8. How was the girls’ school in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s designed differently from boys’ school?

Answer: The girls’ school was designed very differently from the boys’ school. They had a central courtyard where they played in total seclusion and safety from the outside world. The boys’ school had no such courtyard and our playground was just a big space attached to the school.

Long Extra Questions and Answers

1. Why does our society devalue the housework women do?

Answer: The main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks, like looking after the family, especially children, the elderly and sick members, lies with women. But, the work that women do within the home is not recognised as work. It is also assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. It, therefore, does not have to be paid for. And society devalues this work.

2. Why Harmeet think that her mother did not work?

Answer: The main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks, like looking after the family, especially children, the elderly and sick members, lies with women. The work that women do within the home is not recognised as work. It is also assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. It, therefore, does not have to be paid for. And that is why Harmeet think that her mother did not work.

3. If you have someone working as a domestic help in your house or locality talk to her and find out a little bit more about her life – Who are her family members? Where is her home? How many hours does she work? How much does she get paid? Write a small story based on these details.

Answer:  Sima has been working in my house for several years. She belongs to Jharkhand. She lives here in Noida with her husband and 5 yrs. old son. She daily comes for work early in the morning at 6 a.m. and leaves in the night at 8 p.m. She is very good at her work. We treat her as our family member. We pay her good salary. Her husband runs a small shop near his house.

4. Critically evaluate life of domestic workers.
or
Discuss the hardships faced by the domestic workers.

Answer: Many homes, particularly in towns and cities, employ domestic workers. They do a lot of work – sweeping and cleaning, washing clothes and dishes, cooking, looking after young children or the elderly. Most domestic workers are women. Sometimes, even young boys or girls are employed to do this work. Wages are low, as domestic work does not have much value. A domestic worker’s day can begin as early as five in the morning and end as late as twelve at night! Despite of the hard work they do, their employers often do not show them much respect.

5. What role was assigned to young boys and girls in the Samoan islands?

Answer: Roles of boys and girls in the Samoan islands

  • Both boys and girls looked after their younger siblings.
  • But by the time a boy was about nine years old, he joined the older boys in learning outdoor jobs like fishing and planting coconuts.
  • After the age of fourteen or so girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the plantations and learnt how to weave baskets.
  • Cooking was done in special cooking houses where boys were supposed to do most of the work while girls helped with the preparations.

6. Discuss the initiatives taken by the government to promote equality between the male or female.

Answer: Government recognises that burden of child-care and housework falls on women and girls. This naturally has an impact on whether girls can attend school. It determines whether women can work outside the house and what kind of jobs and careers they can have. The government has set up anganwadis or child-care centres in several villages in the country. The government has passed laws that make it mandatory for organisations that have more than 30 women employees to provide crèche facilities. The provision of crèches helps many women to take up employment outside the home. It also makes it possible for more girls to attend schools.

7. Make a list of toys and games that boys typically play and another for girls. If there is a difference between the two lists, can you think of some reasons why this is so? Does this have any relationship to the roles children have to play as adults?

Answer:  List of toys and games that boys typically play includes cricket, kabaddi, cars, football etc.

List of toys and games that girls typically play includes doll, kitchen game, indoor games, hide and seek etc.

From the above list we realize that societies make clear distinctions between boys and girls from a very young age. Boys are taught to be tough whereas girls are taught to be soft. All these are ways of telling children that they have specific roles to play when they grow up to be men and women.

8. Explain the term Identity, Care-giving and De-valued.

Answer: Identity – Identity is a sense of self-awareness of who one is. Typically, a person can have several identities. For example, a person can be a girl, a sister and a musician.

Care-giving – Care-giving refers to a range of tasks related to looking after and nurturing. Besides physical tasks, they also involve a strong emotional aspect.

De-valued – When someone is not given due recognition for a task or job they have done, they can feel de-valued. For example, if a boy has put in a lot of effort into making a special birthday gift for his friend and this friend does not say anything about this, then the boy may feel de-valued.

9. How growing up in Samoa was different from other societies in the 1920s?

Answer: 

  • In the 1920s, according to research reports on Samoan society, children did not go to school.
  • They learnt many things, such as how to take care of children or do household work from older children and from adults.
  • Fishing was a very important activity on the islands. Young people, therefore, learnt to undertake long fishing expeditions. But they learnt these things at different points in their childhood.
  • Both boys and girls looked after their younger siblings. But, by the time a boy was about nine years old, he joined the older boys in learning outdoor jobs like fishing and planting coconuts.
  • Girls had to continue looking after small children or do errands for adults till they were teenagers. But, once they became teenagers they had much more freedom.
  • After the age of fourteen or so, girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the plantations, and learnt how to weave baskets.
  • Cooking was done in special cooking-houses, where boys were supposed to do most of the work while girls helped with the preparations.