{"id":17925,"date":"2026-09-23T04:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T04:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/?p=17925"},"modified":"2026-09-28T04:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T04:37:39","slug":"gender-education-for-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/gender-education-for-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Boys Need Gender Education Too?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key takeaways<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gender education is for everyone:<\/strong> Boys and girls both learn and internalise gender expectations during adolescence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Boys need space to question masculinity:<\/strong> Conversations can challenge ideas that boys must always be strong, aggressive, competitive or emotionally restrained.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Schools can challenge stereotypes:<\/strong> Lessons on menstruation, consent, relationships, care work and bodily autonomy should include boys rather than excluding them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender equality needs participation:<\/strong> One-off sensitisation sessions are less meaningful than continuous, participatory conversations involving students, teachers and families.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Men and boys can be part of the solution:<\/strong> Engaging boys in conversations about equality can help create more equitable attitudes at school, at home and in the wider community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Importance of gender education for boys\" class=\"wp-image-7919\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n-1200x1500.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/442411084_890040773147066_4717453832263573942_n.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The period bell rang, and the boys in the class got up almost instinctively. They grabbed their water bottles and headed towards the school ground while the girls stayed behind. For the boys, this was a fun hour away from the classroom; the girls, meanwhile, were asked to remain seated for a session on gender, adolescence and their changing bodies. This has been widely experienced by us back in our schools but this division says something about how gender is taught to children.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Girls are often introduced to conversations about their bodies, safety, menstruation, puberty and the expectations attached to growing up as women. Boys, meanwhile, are frequently left outside these conversations. They are expected to learn about gender indirectly, from their peers, families, popular culture and the world around them. In fact, it is considered rather unimportant for boys to know about gender at all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if gender shapes the lives of both boys and girls, why is gender education so often treated as something girls need to receive?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The need for equality education&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>India has one of the world\u2019s largest adolescent populations, with around 253 million people between the ages of 10 and 19. As per UNICEF, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/adp\/snapshots\/gender-equality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">adolescence<\/a> is a particularly important period because this is when gender norms begin to consolidate and attitudes about equality are formed. This makes schools an important site not merely for teaching students about their changing bodies, but for questioning the social expectations that begin to accompany those changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is usually girls who have to bear the inequalities of these social expectations. UNICEF notes that while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/india\/what-we-do\/gender-equality\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/india\/what-we-do\/gender-equality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">boys tend to experience greater freedom<\/a> during adolescence, girls face greater restrictions on mobility and decisions relating to education, work, marriage and social relationships. Gender education thus needs to be egalitarian in the way it is imparted to students.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is growing evidence that engaging boys and girls together can shift these attitudes. In Maharashtra, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/media\/181771\/file\/2025%20GPECM%20ARR%20Country%20Profile_India.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UNICEF-supported Gender Transformative School Programme<\/a> reached 246,960 girls and 257,606 boys across 950 schools. An assessment involving more than 18,000 students found improvements in gender-equitable attitudes around games, professions and household responsibilities, alongside less gendered ideas about traits such as fearlessness, sensitivity and emotional expression. The significance of this is that gender equality was not framed simply as a lesson for girls about their rights; boys were also asked to examine the expectations placed upon them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The classroom, then, should not be divided into lessons girls need and activities boys can get back to. A conversation about menstruation can also be a conversation about stigma. A lesson on bodily changes can include bodily autonomy. A discussion about harassment can include consent, peer pressure and masculinity. And a conversation about women&#8217;s unpaid labour can ask boys what they understand by care and what role they expect to play in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The need to teach boys&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The absence of formal gender education does not mean boys are growing up without ideas about gender. They are learning them everywhere\u2014from films, songs, social media, and through informal conversations in their peer groups, families, etc. A boy may learn that crying makes him weak, that aggression earns approval, that domestic work belongs to women, that sexual experience enhances his status, or that being rejected by a girl is an insult to his masculinity. None of these lessons necessarily comes from a textbook. They emerge through jokes in school corridors, conversations among friends, films, advertisements, pornography, social media and the behaviour of adults around them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is another dimension to this conversation. Gender education should not approach boys only as potential perpetrators of harm. It should also ask what rigid masculinity does to boys themselves. If boys are repeatedly told that they must be strong, competitive and emotionally controlled, vulnerability becomes difficult. If care work is presented as feminine, boys may grow up seeing caregiving as an obligation that belongs to someone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If sexual confidence is treated as proof of masculinity, boys may have little space to talk honestly about uncertainty, rejection or intimacy. UNICEF research reveals that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/reports\/gender-transformative-education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">harmful gender norms can restrict boys<\/a>, including through expectations around masculinity and risk-taking. This is why gender education should not be framed as a lesson in how boys ought to behave around girls. It should instead give boys permission to question the narrow version of masculinity they have inherited.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From awareness to practice&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The solution is not another one-off gender sensitisation lecture. Organisations working with adolescents show that gender education is more effective when it is continuous, participatory and extended beyond the classroom. Schools must make gender education a recurring part of the curriculum, rather than an annual workshop.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smile Foundation\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/donation\/women-empowerment\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/donation\/women-empowerment\">Swabhiman<\/a> programme offers an interesting model because its approach to women\u2019s empowerment has never been limited to working with women alone. The programme uses a \u201c4S Model\u201d: health-seeking behaviour, education, male involvement in women\u2019s empowerment, and creating community change agents. Its interventions include work with adolescent girls and women on menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and life skills, while also engaging men and boys in conversations around these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/IMG_2927-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/IMG_2927-1024x683-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/IMG_2927-1024x683-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/IMG_2927-1024x683-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Schools can take a similar approach. A session on menstruation should not automatically mean sending boys outside; boys can be taught what menstruation is and why it should not become a source of shame or ridicule. Boys should also be taught to unpaid care work and then share classroom responsibilities. They can learn about consent alongside discussions about friendship, rejection and relationships. They too should be asked to examine gender stereotypes in films and advertisements and create their own alternatives. Teachers, meanwhile, need training to recognise their own biases and ensure that boys and girls receive equal opportunities to speak, lead, play and participate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parents also have to be part of the process. A school cannot teach boys that care work belongs equally to everyone if they return home to a household where only women cook, clean and care for children. The most tangible change, then, may be deceptively simple: keep the girls&#8217; session, but bring the boys into it too. Let both learn about bodies, consent, emotions, relationships and gender expectations. Then make those conversations part of everyday school life, not something that happens once while one half of the class is sent out to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Why is gender education important for boys?<\/strong><br>Boys are also shaped by gender norms and expectations. Gender education can help them question stereotypes around masculinity, emotional expression, relationships, care work and behaviour while developing more equitable attitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Should boys be included in conversations about menstruation and puberty?<\/strong><br>Yes. Age-appropriate education about menstruation and puberty can help reduce stigma, misinformation and teasing. Keeping boys outside these conversations can reinforce the idea that these are issues they do not need to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. What should boys learn through gender education?<\/strong><br>Gender education can cover topics such as equality, consent, bodily autonomy, emotions, relationships, respectful behaviour, menstruation, unpaid care work, stereotypes and the expectations associated with masculinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. How can schools teach boys about gender equality?<\/strong><br>Schools can integrate gender education into regular learning rather than relying on one-off workshops. Discussions, group activities, role-playing, media analysis and opportunities to question everyday stereotypes can make the learning more participatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. How do gender stereotypes affect boys?<\/strong><br>Rigid expectations can tell boys that they must be strong, competitive, emotionally controlled or willing to take risks. These expectations can make it harder for boys to express vulnerability, ask for help, manage rejection or see caregiving as part of their responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. What role can parents play in gender education?<\/strong><br>Parents reinforce or challenge gender norms through everyday behaviour. Sharing household responsibilities, encouraging boys to express emotions and treating care work as everyone&#8217;s responsibility can reinforce the lessons children receive at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. How does Smile Foundation approach gender equality?<\/strong><br>Smile Foundation&#8217;s Swabhiman programme takes a broader approach to women&#8217;s empowerment through its <strong>4S Model<\/strong>, which includes health-seeking behaviour, education, male involvement in women&#8217;s empowerment and creating community change agents. Its work with men and boys alongside women and adolescent girls reflects the idea that lasting gender equality requires wider community participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gender education is often treated as something girls need, while boys are left to absorb ideas about masculinity and relationships from peers, media and society. But boys need gender education too. Schools can give both boys and girls the opportunity to question stereotypes, understand consent and bodily autonomy, rethink care and household responsibilities, and develop healthier ideas about equality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":9066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-insights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17927,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17925\/revisions\/17927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}