Fact or Fiction?

This lesson engages students in discussions about gender, sexual desire, and consent.

Learning intentions:

  • Develop an awareness of common misconceptions about sexual desire and sexual behaviour as they relate to gender
  • Critique their own ideas about how they think men and women “should” behave in romantic relationships
  • Understand that people with more gender equitable attitudes are more likely to experience more respectful relationships
  • Understand that stereotypes around gender and sexual activity are misleading and contribute to diminished levels of sexual safety

Digital Educator: Vanessa

  • 12-30 learners

    Class size

  • 9+

    Year Level

  • 40-50 minutes

    Course duration

  • Nil

    Student Handouts

    Preparing for the lesson

    Information
    Resources
    ACHPE Objectives
    UNESCO Objectives
    Safety & Wellbeing
    Sequence
    Extension
    In this Fact or Fiction? lesson, students will expand on the concept of gender stereotypes and their relationship to sexual desire and consent. 

    They will examine ideas (or misconceptions!) about gender, sexual desire and sexual behaviour through a Fact or Fiction quiz. Students will then select one of the misconceptions to further develop their understanding of the issues through explanation development. When we inspire young people to question gender stereotypes, we enable them to make more informed choices about their futures, to broaden their opportunities and to be exactly who they want to be.


    Each lesson ends with a consolidation activity, inviting students to list 1 thing they have learnt from the lesson, 1 thing they already knew, 1 piece of advice they would share with a friend, and 1 adult or organisation that would be helpful in relation to the lesson topic.  

    Facilitator Printouts

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    Student Printouts

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    Additional Information

    AC9HP10P03: Investigate how gender equality and challenging assumptions about gender can prevent violence and abuse in relationships.
    • Investigate and challenge attitudes that lead to people enacting, excusing or condoning gender-based violence.
    • Analysing ways that attitudes towards gender equality and power can affect expectations and behaviour, and lead to practises of sexual coercion, harassment, violence and submission. 
    • Evaluating how gender equality can empower people to develop equal and respectful relationships. 


    AC9HP10P09:     Critique health information, services and media messaging about relationships, lifestyle choices, health decisions and behaviours to evaluate their influence on individual attitudes and actions. 
    • Discussing how the portrayal of sexual relationships in TV shows, advertisements, movies, popular music and online content (such as pornography) may influence people’s beliefs about respectful, safe and consensual relationships. 
    Key concept 3: Understanding gender
    3.1 The Social Construction of Gender and Gender Norms.
    • Key idea: Gender roles and gender norms influence people’s lives.


    3.2 Gender Equality, Stereotypes and Bias.
    • Key idea: Stereotypes about gender can lead to bias and inequality. 
    • This lesson gives students a chance to explore gender stereotypes and their limitations. It is important to encourage discussion of how these binary ideas harm us all, including trans and gender diverse youth. 

    • It is important that discussion of the limitations, particularly in relation to diverse young people, is handled respectfully and links back to how much exclusion and disadvantage can be experienced when people break the rules of gender in our society. 
    • Many young people continue to report gender-based double standards when it comes to sexual activity. Many also report a sense of injustice about such double standards. We want students to continue to question any misconceptions they may hold with respect to gender and perceived corresponding (sexual) behaviours. More gender equitable attitudes are associated with more respectful relationships, including safer, mutually consenting, mutually pleasurable sexual activity.
    • At the completion of this lesson, students need to be reminded that when it comes to values around relationships, intimacy and sexual activity, we have more in common across genders than we have differences. For example, we all want to feel safe, respected, listened to. We all want to experience pleasure and intimacy. We all want to share time, company and conversation with someone we like, and someone who likes us in return.
    • It is also advisable to remind students that sex means different things to everyone, and that they get to determine their own definition of sexual activity for the purposes of this lesson (and throughout their lives!).
    Ideally, you will have scope to deliver all of the lessons in your program. However we understand that many schools have limited capacity to do so. Should you find yourself having to implement part of this program, we have provided a suggested sequence of lessons within the broader skills and knowledge categories of relationship, consent, gender, and health & legal literacy. We recommend delivering at least one lesson from each category.

    1. Group Agreements & Pod Mapping should be the first lesson as per best practice.

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