Drama to break gender stereotypes at the Schools of Equality

CHENNAI: Gender is intertwined with our personal identity — the way we are, behave, talk, walk, dress, and every activity is influenced by our gender, whether we’re aware of it or not. Boys shouldn’t cry, girls shouldn’t fight — stereotypes dictate our lives. To deconstruct the rigid concept of gender binary, Schools of Equality devised a workshop on Sunday, bringing persons across all genders to discuss, collaborate and sensitise each other to these issues.

“Unknowingly, we have internalised many of our expectations based on our gender. That’s why it is difficult to identify how gender triggers our actions,” says Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, of Schools of Equality. The choice of theatre-based activities to showcase gender binaries was intentional. “Theatre is role play, where you put yourself in others’ shoes. It is more effective to make people empathise with others, as opposed to a talk or panel discussion,” says Smrithi, programme manager, Schools of Equality.

The workshop began with breaking personal boundaries, as participants walked and ran around the space, smiling ‘hello’ to people they cross paths with, and occasionally freezing mid-action upon the command of Srijith Sundaram, one of the facilitators of the event, and theatre artist with Kattiyakkari Theatre Group. “In terms of space, we have all been restricted to be a certain way; but in theatre, we speak through our body,” he explains.

The first activity involved the participants lining up, closing their eyes and expressing whether they ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ to a set of statements being read by taking a step forward or backward, respectively. The statements were designed to make one explore ideas such as doing household chores while the spouse goes for work, allowing women of the household to go out alone etc. The goal was to realise the small details, which are in fact, stereotypes governing our lives.

The second activity, called ‘Opposite Walls’, had men and women in separate groups, walking towards each other three times. Men were asked to shout, raise their hands and finally, stare at the women each time they walked toward them, while the women were simply told to react to whatever the men do. “Most of them were not comfortable when men did that and moved away; only few reacted. In the second round, the women were told to react to the previous sequence of the men’s actions, while the men should remain silent. And that’s when they started thinking of fighting and yelling,” explains Ashwini Kasi, another facilitator for the event, belonging to the Kattiyakkari theatre group.

The last play involved a ‘lower’ caste man breaking up with his higher caste girlfriend as it would never be accepted by her family, ending with a strong statement: “If the boy were upper caste, and woman lower caste, they have a higher possibility of getting together”. At the end, the participants shared their personal realisations of how every small judgement we make is powerful, and what it feels like to be in each other’s shoes.