Unit-5-Gender-Studies

Unit5GenderStudiesConversation1Andy:IlovedthequestionyouaskedTimPearsonaboutthefinancialcrisis.Janet:Well,Ishouldn'thaveaskedit.Afterall,he'sanexpert!Andy:Thereyougoagain,you'realwaysputtingyourselfdown.Youdon'tknowhowtotakeacompliment.Janet:True.Ineverfinditeasytoacceptpraise.Doyouthinkwomanhavebeenconditionedtoacceptcriticism?Andy:Well,Ithinkthat'sgenderstereotyping.Doyouthinkthatmenaregoodatacceptingcompliments?Janet:Well,theyseemtobeabletodealwithcriticismmuchbetter.Andy:Don'tyoubelieveit!Janet:Anyway,thankyou,Iacceptyourcompliment.Andy:Notonlythat,butIthinkyou'dmakeareallygoodTVpresenter.Janet:I'mnotsosure.Ihaven'tseenmanywomenintelevisionhere.Andy:Well,inthemediaingeneral,Icanassureyouthattherearelotsofwomeninpresentingandmanagementroles.Janet:Well,maybe,butI'mChineseaswell.Idon'tthinkI'llbeacceptedasapresenteronaBritishTVprogramme.Andy:GenderANDracialstereotyping.Imean,itdependsonwhatjobandsometimeswhereyouworkinLondon,ofcourse,butgenerally,Londonersareproudoftheirmulti-ethniccommunity.EspeciallytheChinese,becauseyoucookgreatfood!Janet:Nowwho'sdoingthestereotyping!Butseriously,lookatallthesesmartwomenwalkingtowork.Aretheyallsecretariesormanagers?Andy:OK,it'sagoodpoint.Ithinkthatmanywomenmanagetogetmiddlemanagementjobsinmostprofessions.Butit'struethatalotofthemtalkabouttheglassceiling.Janet:What'stheglassceiling?Andy:It'sthesituationwhereawomanissuccessfulinacompany,butthenshehitstheglassceiling—thisinvisibleConversation2Janet:Sowhatdoyouthinkcausestheglassceiling?Andy:It'spartlyprejudicebymenaboutwomen'sabilitiesinmanagement.Butit'salsowhenwomentaketimeofftohavechildren,theydon'talwaysrecoverthesamepowerwhentheyreturntowork.Janet:It'snotfair.Andy:You'reright,it'snotfair.IreadherethatonlyfivetotenpercentofthetopcompaniesinAmericaandBritainarerunbywomen.Janet:That'sextraordinary!InChinathereappearstobemorewomenintopjobs,butImaybewrong.Andy:Andlook,herearesomemorestatistics.About60percentofuniversitygraduatesinEuropeandNorthAmericaarewomen.Andsomethinglike75percentoftheeightmillionnewjobsinEuropehavebeenfilledbywomen.Janet:Sothepercentageofwomeninthetotalworkforceisgrowing.Andy:Yougotit!ButwomenintheUKareinaslightmajority—therearemorewomenthanmen.Janet:Doyouthinkit'sespeciallybadintheUK,andinLondonespecially?Andy:Notreally.Somejobswhichweretraditionallydonebywomen,likenursing,arenowalsodonebymen,andtherearetraditionalmen'sjobs,likeengineering,whicharedonebywomen.Andthereareplentyofwomen'sfootballteams!Janet:Women'sfootball!Wehavewomen'sfootballinChinatoo.Andy:Mindyou,theirmatchesdon'tgetmanyspectators!Janet:Igiveup.Whatelsehaschanged?Andy:Ithinkfathersspendmorequalitytimewiththeirchildrentoday.ButIbetyouit'sstillthewomenwhospendmosttimelookingafterthechildrenandthehome.Janet:Iguessthat'strueeverywhere.Andy:Anyway,I'mgoinghometowatchthematchonTV.Thelocalwomen'steam,ofcourse.Janet:It'stypicalofyoumen!Youalwaysbringitbacktofootball!Andy:Andthat'stypicalofyouwomen!Youalwaysbringitbacktogenderstereotyping.