MAINSTREAMING TOOLS — ACTIVITIES

Act as a man, act as a woman

Author: Arcigay Il Cassero
Arcigay Il Cassero • irenep@gmail.com
Issues addressed Bullying, Identity, Prejudice
Complexity 2
Group size From 10 to 40 participants
Estimated duration 60 minutes
Objectives

Understand gender stereotypes, face different identities, experience gender roles.

Related thematic chapters Act as a man, act as a woman
Act as a man, act as a woman

Preparations

The only preparation needed are the materials and the appropriate space to develop the activity.

Instructions

Step 1 — 5 minutes

Explanation: This is an interpretation game, the group is divided in two. One group is going to play the girls role and the other the boys role. We ask to the two groups act out the things we ask them, as if they were from the gender we assigned them (emphasize that they are going to act it out as if they are a boy/girl).

Step 2 — 10 minutes

Trainers invite the groups to act the followings: to walk, to dance, to get pissed off, to scratch yourself, to meet friends & to get ready for a rendez-vous. Aprox. 2 minutes each.

Step 3 — 15 minutes

Trainers choose one of the activities done by the groups and ask the group to play it again in front of the other group and the participants from the other group. The trainer then asks the other group if this is how it would be in reality. The same thing is done by the other group, again with the question after if this is how this is how people act in reality.

Step 4 — 15 minutes

Debriefing: what was the difference between the act and the reality?

Debriefing

How was it? How did you decide to act that way? How did it feel to act this way? Do you think you acted as the people from the gender which was assigned to you is really acting in daily life?

Tested outcomes

This is an activity implemented in a regular basis by the educators of Il Cassero.

Tips for facilitation

The aim is to show the participants gender roles are more complex than their stereotype we have in our minds, and that the stereotype is mostly untrue, as the video Like a Girl shows. Emphasise that a gender role is created by culture, based on a stereotype, but that everybody is different and acts different in real life, and that this is okay.

Potential follow-up

At the end of the activity it would be very useful to watch a short movie about gender stereotypes to help them to get out of the stereotypes' boxes

A suggested video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs LikeAGirl

Needed resources

Two different spaces to allow the groups to prepare separately and not get influenced by each other beforehand, and a big enough space to allow them to act out their performance.

Sources

This is an activity developed by the educational team of Il Cassero.

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