In Their Words: How children are aﬀected by gender issues · Quiz 1 Read the section "How might your life be diﬀerent if you were a girl instead of a boy or a boy instead of a

In Their Words: How children areaffected by gender issues

Image 1. Transgender girls Josefa, age 13, (left), and Selenna, age 8, pose for a picture as they twirl in traditional Chilean dance

costumes before an event marking Transgender Children Day in Santiago, Chile, August 19, 2017. Chile's government has been

pushing for greater acceptance of transgender children. Photo by: Esteban Felix for AP

If you want to know how gender affects a child's future, ask the world's 9-year-olds. At 9, a girl in

Kenya already knows that her parents will marry her off for a dowry. A dowry is money or

possessions a husband gives to the bride's family. Once married, her husband may end up

beating her. At 9, a boy in India already knows he'll be pressured by male pals to harass women

in the street.

Nine-year-olds all over the world talk about big dreams for future careers. Most boys don't see

their gender as an obstacle, while the girls, all too frequently, do. People once thought of gender

as simply being a boy or a girl. But, gender is also how culture or society defines the roles of boys

and girls, and also how people think of themselves and their identity. It is sometimes different

from being born male or female.

By National Geographic, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.11.18

Word Count 973

Level 940L

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

Children at this age have a good understanding of their own possibilities. They also know that

what they can do in life may be limited by their gender.

To get kids' perspectives, National Geographic visited 80 homes on four continents. Many kids

admitted that it can be frustrating, confusing and lonely to fit into their communities. They are

having a hard time living up to the way people expect a boy or a girl to act. But others are thriving

and breaking down the barriers that limit them.


What's the best thing about being a girl?


"Everything about being a girl is good!" said Avery Jackson, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

She swiped away a rainbow-streaked piece of hair.

What's the worst thing about being a girl or boy?

"How boys always say, 'That stuff isn't girl stuff — it's boy stuff,'" she said. Avery spent the first

four years of her life as a boy, and was miserable. She has been living since 2012 as an openly

transgender girl. Transgender people have a different gender from what is on their birth

certificate. For example, a person might be born as a boy, but feel like she is really a girl.

Near Mumbai, India, Sunny Bhope talked to us while his mother was cooking rice over a charcoal

fire. Sunny said the worst thing about being a boy is that his friends expect him to bother women

in public.

How might your life be different if you were a girl instead of a boy or a boyinstead of a girl?

Lev Hershberg of Israel said that, if he was a girl, he "wouldn't like computers." Fellow Israeli

Shimon Perel said if he was a girl he could play with a jump rope.

If she was a boy, Pooja Pawara from India said she would ride a scooter. Yan Zhu from China's

Yaqueshui village would swim in a river that her grandmother says is too cold for girls.

Eriah Big Crow is an Oglala Lakota Native American who lives on South Dakota's Pine Ridge

Reservation. She said that there's nothing that she can't do because boys and girls are "exactly

the same."

Unfortunately, that is not quite true yet. UNICEF's Claudia Cappa said that, on one hand, more

girls under 10 are going to school than they used to. On the other, far more boys are able to go to

high school, and many girls are married off in their teens. "Things change completely in

adolescence," Cappa said. "This is when you stop being a child. You become a female or a male."

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Lokamu Lopulmoe is a Turkana girl living in rural Kenya. She said that when she grows up, her

parents will be given a dowry from her husband's parents. Even if he beats her, Lokamu's parents

will have the dowry to console them, she said.

About 300 miles away, Chanelle Wangari Mwangi sat in a room filled with trophies in Nairobi,

Kenya. She imagined a much different future than Lokamu's. She wanted to be a pro golfer and

"help the needy."

In Beijing, China, Yunshu Sang wants to be a police officer, "but most police are men," she said,

"so I can't."


In Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 9-year-old Hilde Lysiak wants to be a journalist. But she suspects

that a boy reporter might "get more information from the police."

What is something that makes you sad?

Mumbai's Rania Singla feels sad when her little brother hits her. Lamia al Najjar, who lives in the

Gaza Strip in the Middle East, said she feels sad because her home was destroyed due to

fighting in the area.

What makes you most happy?

For most kids, the answer is family, god, food, soccer and friends. Bede Sheppard, an official in

the children's rights division of Human Rights Watch, said the kids with the hardest lives can also

be the most empathetic and selfless.

Lopeyok Kagete herds animals in Kenya. He dreams of giving away money and slaughtering

animals for people to eat.

Though Sunny and his family live in a single room, the Indian boy wants to "provide rooms to the

homeless."

If you could change something in your life or in the world, what would it be?

Clara Fraga, who lives in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, would make thieves "good, so that they wouldn't

steal." Abby Haas would free her South Dakota Native American reservation of the "bad guys."

For China's Fang Wang, the thing she would change is "what it's like when I'm lonely."

The dream mentioned most often was expressed by Avery. If she could change the world, there

would be "no bullying, because that's just bad."


Quiz

1 Read the section "How might your life be different if you were a girl instead of a boy or a boy instead of

a girl?"

How does this section contribute to the article's CENTRAL idea?

(A) It shows that many boys and girls believe boys and girls are treated differently.

(B) It shows that boys like to play with more things than girls do.

(C) It shows that most boys and girls feel that boys and girls can do exactly the same

things.

(D) It shows that most girls get the same education as boys.

2 Which sentence from the article supports the idea that girls often see their gender as an obstacle?

(A) If you want to know how gender affects a child's future, ask the world's 9-year-

olds.

(B) She said that there's nothing that she can't do because boys and girls are "exactly

the same."

(C) In Beijing, China, Yunshu Sang wants to be a police officer, "but most police are

men," she said, "so I can't."

(D) For China's Fang Wang, the thing she would change is "what it's like when I'm

lonely."

3 Read the last paragraph of the article.

The dream mentioned most often was expressed by Avery. If she couldchange the world, there would be "no bullying, because that's just bad."

Which inference can be made based on the paragraph?

(A) Many kids around the world see bullying as a big problem.

(B) Many kids around the world want to change the world.

(C) Avery has spent a lot of time dreaming.

(D) Avery's dream is different from the dreams of other children.


4 Read the section "What makes you most happy?"

How does this section contribute to the entire article?

(A) It compares two boys who are having a hard time acting like boys are supposed to

act.

(B) It suggests that being poor has shaped some of the goals of two boys.

(C) It explains how gender can determine what makes children happy.

(D) It contrasts how children of different genders solve problems differently.


In Their Words: How children are aﬀected by gender issues · Quiz 1 Read the section "How might your life be diﬀerent if you were a girl instead of a boy or a boy instead of a

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