Unit 3 Feminist and Working-Class Women ? Ⅰ Objective ? Distinction of the two discrepant values of the feminists and working-class women ? Learning about Newspaper Lead ? ?Time Arrangement ???? Text: 2 hours ???? Reading Skill: 1 hour ???? Group Work: 0.5 hour????? ???? Discussion: 0.5 hour ? Ⅲ Related Information ????? The Women’s Liberation Movement: ITS ORIGINS, STRUCTURES AND IDEAS History Social fact, however, did not always coincide with social mythology. During the era of the "feminine mystique" when the percentage of degrees given to women was dropping, their absolute numbers were rising astronomically. Their participation in the labor force was also increasing even while their position within it was declining. Opportunities to work, the trend toward smaller families, plus changes in status symbols from a leisured wife at home to a second car and TV, all contributed to a basic alteration of the female labor force from one of primarily single women under 25 to one of married women and mothers over 40. Added to these developments was an increased segregation of the job market, a flooding of traditional female jobs (e.g. teaching and social work) by men, a decrease of women 'e percentage of the professional and technical jobs by a third and a commensurate decline in their relative income. The result was the creation of a class of highly educated, underemployed women. In the early sixties feminism was still an unmentionable, but its ghost was slowly awakening from the dead. The first sign of new life came with the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Women by President Kennedy in 1961. Many of the people involved in these commissions became the nucleus of women who, dissatisfied with the lack of progress made on commission recommendations, joined with Betty Friedan in 1966 to found the National Organization for Women. NOW was the first new feminist organization in almost fifty years, but it was not the sole beginning of the organized expression of the movement. ?The participants of both branches tend to be predominantly white, middle-class and college educated, but the composition of the older is much more heterogeneous than that of the younger ? Discrepancy in Feminists The feminist critique starts from entirely different premises than the traditional view and therefore neither can really refute the other. The latter assumes that men and women are essentially different and should serve different social functions. Their diverse roles and statuses simply reflect these essential differences. The feminist perspective starts from the premise that women and men are constitutionally equal and share the same human capabilities. Observed differences therefore demand a critical analysis of the social institutions which cause then. ? Sexism For women, sexism describes the specificity of female oppression. Starting from the traditional belief of the difference between the sexes, sexism embodies two core concepts. The first is that men are more important than women. Not necessarily superior -- we are far too sophisticated these days than to use those tainted terms -- but more important, more significant, more valuable, more worthwhile. This value justifies the idea that it is more important for a man, the "breadwinner", to have a job or a promotion, than a women, more important for a man to be paid well, more important for a man to have an education and in general to have preference over a women. It is the basis of the feeling by men that if women enter a particular occupation they will degrade it and that men must leave or be themselves degraded, and the feeling by women that they can raise the prestige of their professions by recruiting men, which they can only do by giving them the better jobs. From this value comes the attitude that a husband must earn more than his wife or suffer a loss of personal status and a wife must subsume her interests to his or be socially castigated. From this value comes the practice of rewarding men for serving in the armed forces and punishing women for having children. The first core concept of sexist thought is that men do the important work in the world and the work done by men is what is important. The second core concept is that women are here for the pleasure and assistance of men. This is what is meant when women are told that their role is complementary to that of men; that they should fulfill their natural "feminine" functions; that they are "different" from men and should not compete with them. From this concept comes the attitude that women are and should be dependent on men; for everything but especially their identities, the social definition of who they are. It defines the few roles for which women are socially rewarded -- wife, mother and mistress -- all of which are pleasing or beneficial to men, and leads directly to the "pedestal" theory which extols women who stay in their place as good helpmates to men. It is this attitude which stigmatizes those women who do not marry or who do not devote their primary energies to the care of men and their children. Association with a man is the basic criterion for participation by women in this society and one who does not seek her identity through a man is a threat to its social values. It is similarly this attitude which causes women's liberation activists to be labeled as man haters for exposing the nature of sexism. People feel that a woman not devoted to looking after men must act this way because of hatred or inability to "catch" one. The second core concept of sexist thought is that women's identities are defined by their relationship to men and their social value by that of the men they are related to. The sexism of our society is so pervasive that we are not even aware of all its inequities. Unless one has developed a sensitivity to its workings, by adopting a self-consciously contrary view, its activities are accepted as "normal" and justified with little question. People are said to "choose" what in fact they never thought about. a good example is what happened during and after World War II. The sudden onslaught of the war radically changed the whole structure of social relationships as well as the economy. Men were drafted into the army and women into the labor force. Now desperately needed, women's wants were provided for as were those of the boys on the front. Federal financing of day care centers in the form of the Landham Act passed Congress in a record two weeks. Special crash training programs were provided for the new women workers to give them skills they were not previously thought capable of exercising. Women instantly assumed positions of authority and responsibility unavailable only the year before. 　 ? Ⅳ Emphasized Points ? Key Words fem·i·nist n. A person whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism. adj. Relating to feminism. fem·i·nine adj. 1. Of or relating to women or girls. See Synonyms at female. "a female heir"; "female holly trees bear the berries" 2. Characterized by or possessing qualities generally attributed to a woman. "feminine intuition" ; masculine/ neuter “It is the third-person singular neuter pronoun” 3. Effeminate; womanish. 4. Grammar Designating or belonging to the gender of words or grammatical forms that refer chiefly to females or to things classified as female. ? ? Comments 1.????? Though divided by race, class, culture, and many beliefs, women need to keep trying to understand each other. A fragmented sisterhood never will make as many changes as one that is a strong mosaic of women who respect each other’s differences, but can work together toward common goals. ?????? metaphor: the use of words to indicate sth different from the literal meaning, as in “I’ll make him eat his words” or “He has a heart of stone.” ?????? “mosaic” word of art in which designs, pictures, etc are made by fitting together differently colored bits of stone. ? Ⅴ Text Comprehension ??? A Comparative Study of the Two Classes A Comparative Study of Two Views ? Feminist Working-class Women  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ? ? ?  ???????????????? ? ??? Comprehension Questions ?????? What do you think of the reasons that working women wouldn’t be called feminist? ? ?????? What do you think of the two kinds women? You may give a general opinion, or choose one point to explain. What is your general impression of politeness in Britain? 　 ? Ⅵ Reading Skill ? Newspaper Lead ?????? Finding out what happened The lead refers to the first (and occasionally the second) paragraph of a news story. In the Bangkok Post, the lead is usually one information-packed sentence which expands on the story’s main point as introduced in the headline. As we mentioned earlier, news stories are basically variations of “something happened”. The lead will usually tell you what the “something happened” is. That information is generally found in the subject and the main verb of the lead sentence, so a little knowledge of the grammar of the lead can be very useful. ? ?????? The grammar of the lead We will focus on single-sentence leads because they are by far the most common. The majority of the leads in the Bangkok Post are simple subject-verb-object sentences with the subject and the main verb appearing together at or near the beginning of the sentence. The problem for the reader usually begins when the subject and the main verb are either delayed or separated from each other. Notice how the following lead becomes more complicated as the writer adds information: ? Thousands of Thai students are learning to read the Bangkok Post. Thousands of Thai students, most of whom attend some of the country’s best-known schools, are learning to read the Bangkok Post. In an innovative programme sponsored by the Post Publishing Public Company Limited, thousands of Thai students, most of whom attend some of the country’s best-known schools, are learning to read the Bangkok Post. ? To understand each of the above, you must be able to find the subject and main verb. The above examples illustrate three of the most common positions for these key elements. In the first, the subject and verb are together at the beginning of the sentence. In the second, the subject and verb are separated. In the third, the sentence opens with an introductory phrase, delaying the appearance of the subject and verb. In the Bangkok Post, introductory phrases are not common except when the story is an especially important one—like the ending of a war. ? ?????? Adding the source One of the most common variations of the “something happened” story is the “someone said something happened” story. In this case the lead sentence will usually include the source (the person who gave the information). If the source is very well known and important, it will come at the beginning of the sentence: ? The head of the US military, General John Shalikashvil, said Thursday that China, despite its military might, would fail if it tried to invade Taiwan. ? More often, however, the source will come at the end: ? A Thai family who were sent the wrong body when a relative died in Singapore, has ended a month-long standoff by agreeing to return the body in exchange for US$6,000 in damages, the Thai Embassy said yesterday. ? Newspaper, along with reporting the news, instruct, entertain, and give opinions. A newspaper has separate sections: world news, national and local news, sports, business, entertainment, opinions, comics, classified ads, etc. You can be a better reader, if you know what to expect in a newspaper. For example, when you read a newspaper you usually look quickly at headlines first. Newspaper headline have a language of their own and it is necessary to learn about it. ? 　 ? Ⅶ Homework ??????? For “Group Work”, make your own table of comparison on two classes. ??????? Finish the exercises behind the text. ??????? Home reading: Free but not Equal? ??????? Preview Unit 4