Unit 3 Gender Differences
outline
• Part one: gender differences:
-a broad exploration from different dimensions
• Part two: reading-centered activities
ICR: intensive reading
ACR: students-centered activity
• Part there: further development
--language enhancement
--thematic study (listening practices)
Part one:
a broad exploration on gender differences
of Biological and social characteristics
-women are from Venus and men are from Mars
-femininity & masculinity
Concerning sexism (gender / sex discrimination)
Concerning feminism:
A. femininity & masculinity
• Biological characteristics
-E1: P92-93 as a fast reading exercise
• Social characteristics
-Stereotypes of women and men
-E2: Step one P93 — more
A woman has an inner animus, a man an inner anima
Stereotypes,
Feminine qualities (femininity)
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Tender
Gentle
Soft
Weak
Shy
Timid
Dependent
Sensitive
Neat and clean
Delicate
Cautious
Careful
considerate
Caring and loving
Sympathetic / compassionate
Tolerant
or not?
Masculine qualities (masculinity)
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Strong
Brave
Bold
Courageous
Adventurous
Independent
vigorous
Creative
Confident
Persistent
Competent
Dominating
Manipulative
E2 More of characteristics of men or women
• ___ 1) They talk to exchange information.
• ___ 2) they talk to express feelings.
• ___ 3) they need to be alone sometimes. Every now
and then, especially when under stress, they need
to retreat to their “cave” and do not want to be
disturbed.
• ___ 4) They are goal-oriented problems solvers.
• ___ 5) naturally and cyclically their moods go
through thighs and lows.
• ___ 6) They tend to use dramatic expressions such as
“you ALWAYS forget” or “you never listen to me.
B. sexism (gender / sex discrimination)
The Angel in the House
The Angel in the House is a narrative poem by
Coventry Patmore, first published in 1854 and
expanded up until 1862. Although largely ignored
upon publication, it became enormously popular
during the later nineteenth century and its influence
continued well into the twentieth. The poem was an
idealised account of Patmore's courtship of his first
wife, Emily, whom he believed to be the perfect
woman.
Following the publication of Patmore's poem, the
term angel in the house came to be used in
reference to women who embodied the Victorian
feminine ideal: a wife and mother who was
selflessly devoted to her children and submissive to
her husband
Critics of The Angle in the House
feminism
Virginia Woolf satirized the ideal of femininity depicted in the
poem, writing that "She [the perfect wife] was intensely
sympathetic. She was im mensely charming. She was utterly
unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She
sacrificed daily. If there was a chicken, she took the leg; if
there was a draught she sat in it ... Above all, she was pure."
(Woolf, 1966: 2, 285)
She added that she "bothered me and wasted my time and
so tormented me that at last I killed her" (Woolf, 1966: 2, 285).
Nel Noddings views her as "infantile, weak and mindless"
(1989: 59).
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a short essay entitled The
Extinct Angel in which she described the angel in the house as
being as dead as the dodo (Gilman, 1891: 200).
…
• Draught: 通风口 infantile幼稚的 dodo 落伍的人, 愚蠢之人
C. Feminism
Lead-in questions:
• Who are the angels in the house as far as your observation is concerned?
• As a female, have you ever been excluded from “serious conversations” by males.
• As a male, have you ever turned a deaf ear to female’ ideas?
• What questions do your neighbors and relatives ask you most frequently (about
your life and ideas?)?
• Are you aware that you (either as a man or woman) mock female more for their
“inappropriate” words, “exaggerated” gestures, “funny” looking, or failed actions?
Not to mention women are more harshly criticized for being disloyal to marriage.
• Do you know that there’s a pay gap between male workers and female workers in
many cases because the employer claim that men have to support a family and
women’s work are generally more unskilled in factories?
• Are you aware that your mother might have been an extraordinary person in some
area had she not had to take care of the family and you and therefore lost her
optimum opportunity to improve herself?
• Have you ever realize that many girl do not succeed in their career because they
are not trusted as giving a priority to the work than to the family?
• Have you ever thought that the society is demanding equal performance in work
of men and women but giving them unequal social responsibilities (women are
double workers)?
• Have you realize that many men claim they sympathize women for
being discriminated for their sex but in life they can’t help
discriminating women by using impolite and disrespectful words
without even being aware of that?
• Have you ever found that many men who treat their wives fairly and
nicely think that they do so because they are greater men not because
it should be so?
• Have you ever noticed that many girls claim that they don’t care about
gender equality because they believe a feminist tone would lead to a
lonely life without a marriage or without an ideal marriage?
• Have you ever heard that many people (both men and women) despise
what they thought are “feminism talking” because they thought sex
equality is too much to ask for, considering that women’s immediate
task is to take care of their family instead of thinking about anything
“unrealistic” or “ridiculous”?
• Have you even seen those mocking face when they hearing you putting
a serious voice on gender problems?
Explanations for terminologies:
• Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining,
establishing and defending equal political, economic, and
social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts
overlap with those of women's rights.
Feminism is mainly focused on women's issues, but because
feminism seeks gender equality, some feminists argue that
men's liberation is therefore a necessary part of feminism,
and that men are also harmed by sexism and gender roles.
Feminists—that is, persons practicing feminism—can be
persons of either sex. (In what cases can be a man a feminist?)
The feminist movement (also known as the Women's Movement,
Women's Liberation, or Women's Lib) refers to a series of campaigns
for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence,
maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and
sexual violence.
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The movement began in the western world in the late 18th century and
has gone through three waves:
First wave was oriented around the station of middle or upper-class
white women, and involved suffrage and political equality. – Iron Jawed
Angels
Second-wave feminism attempted to further combat social and cultural
inequalities. – Made in Dagenham China Today
Third-wave feminism (c.1980-c.1990) includes renewed campaigning for
women’s greater influence in politics. –PBS: now special -- Women,
Power and Politics
What are the young generation doing for feminism? (-Reinvent Feminism)
Recommendations
Speeches
TEDtalk: lots of
--Poem of war, peace, women, power
--Our century’s greatest injustice
--Reinvent feminism
Documentaries
--China Today: Women in China
--PBS NOW Special - Women, Power and Politics (2008.PDTV.SoS)
--more (to explore independently)
Movies:
-Iron Jawed Angel 00:21:00 01:16:00 01:33: 00
-Made in Dagenham
…
Recommendations
Institutions
• psychology of Women Quarterly
• Science daily: gender differences
http://www.sciencedaily.com/search/?keyword=gender+differences
Eldis: http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/gender
•
• Coe: stop domestic violence against violence
•
http://www.coe.int/t/dc/campaign/stopviolence/default_en.asp?
李银河博客：http://liyinhe.vip.bokee.com/
(to explore for more independently)
People
 In China: 李银河
 Of western literary world:
Jane Austen;
Virginia Woolf (google “Virginia Woolf as feminist”)
(to explore for more independently)
Iron Jawed Angles
..a 2004 film about the
American women's
suffrage movement
during the 1910s.
..follows political activists
Alice Paul and Lucy
Burns as they use
peaceful and effective
strategies, tactics, and
dialogues to
revolutionize the
American feminist
movement to grant
women the right to vote.
Made in Dagenham
..2010 British film
..dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for
equal pay for women.
Reading-centered activities
—NOT really about femininity or masculinity
—NOT really about Feminism or feminist movements
—NOT about *gender discourse (of *metacognition)
But to make some points concerning
sexism / sex inequity in public sphere and domestic interaction
-ICR; ACR1
sociology & brain science on gender differences:
-feminine / masculine--genetic or cultural? ICR; ACR1
-Nature or nurture? ACR2
ICR
Gender Roles
from a Cultural Perspective
Q&A
Para 1
 We are programmed to be male and female in the process
of growing up.
--How can you interpret this saying after reading para 1?
para 2
 How does the author support his argument that “there is a
cultural bias in education that favors boys over girls”?
para 3&4
 In what ways do the teachers (knowingly or unknowingly)
exert their sex-bias in education?
Para 5
 How does home education mold children’s genderidentification?
Further questions
What do you think you can change as an
individual with regards to gender inequity
in the future? Elaborate your answers from
the perspectives mentioned in the passage.
 What’s new on your mind in respect of your
own gender ROLE?

Language study
New words
 Sentences
 Exercises

Bias & sexist P97
Bias: n
 Bias: v

---(sex)
biased: adj
Sexist – nonsexist
 Sexism

Reminder: racism & racist
Femininity / Masculinity
Feminine & masculine: P97-98

femininity
Armani said that he chose the actress as the new face of
his beauty empire because "she embodies the spirit of the
women of today: free, confident and seductive. Her
beautiful features reveal femininity, sensuality and
strength.“

Masculinity
"She should treat femininity as an opportunity and not try to
emulate masculinity in politics," Versace said.
*feminism / feminist

feminism
At the 1992 Republican Convention supporting former
President Bush, Robertson said, "Feminism encourages
women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice
witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

feminist
"Fortunately I think today's younger women are more in the
post-feminist period, where they don't sort of measure their
independence and freedom by the number of years they
remain full-time in the workforce without having children,"
Mr Howard...
Aspiration & Aspire
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Aspiration: P96

Aspire:
"I will neither aspire to nor will I accept, I repeat, I will neither
aspire to nor will I accept the positions of President..
"We aspire for more democracy, more effort to combat
unemployment and poverty...
Remind: inspire / inspiration

For all the rest important or new words & phrases,
please refer to the word list in P96--98
Sentences
Para 2:
Their research showed that many teachers who thought they were
non-sexist were amazed to see how biased they appeared on videotape.
trans: 这些电视相亲节目显示，现在很多自认为性格很独立的女性事实上
连自己都没有想到她们在节目上的表现是多么地爱慕虚荣。


This was a tremendous impact on the learning process for, in general,
those students who become active classroom participants develop more
positive attitudes and go on to higher achievement.

As a matter of fact, in the late 1960s, when many of the
best all-women’s colleges in the northeastern United States
opened their doors to male students, it was observed by
professors and women students alike that the boys were
“taking over” the classroom discussions and that active
participation by women students had diminished noticeably.
trans: 事实上，20世纪中叶的文坛已经向女性开放，当时的很多男性作
家和读者都发现，女性正在接过部分主流文学主题的话语权，而常常在
文学作品中作为背景人物的女性在逐渐向多面的个性转变。
Para 3
 For instance, one teacher conducting a science class with
nursery youngsters, continually had the little boys perform
the scientific “experiment” while the girls were given the
task of putting the materials away.

Since hands-on work with classroom materials is a very
important aspect of early education, the girls were thus
being deprived of a vital learning experience that would
affect their entire lives.
para 4
 Another dimension of sex-biased education is the typical
American teacher’s assumption that boys will do better in
the “hard”, “masculine” subjects of math and science while
girls are expected to have better verbal and reading skills.

Trans: 另一种经常被人忽视的的性别歧视就是，男士常假设女士在公开场
合不应该被卷入那种“不雅的”、“只有适合男士的”争吵，而男士就理
应承担与生人交涉和谈判等任务。
sentence study and writing:
 apply those “valid” sentences to your own
writings ASAP
 write daily, with your updated vocabulary
and newest understanding of English
grammar
ACR
Students’ presentation
1. Boys are Teachers’ Pets
2. What Kind of Brain Do You Have?
Further exploration
Further exploration
Passage 1 Boys Are Teachers’ Pets
--an exposition on sex-bias in education based on Dale Spender’s research
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Interpret the title (the answer can be a summary of the whole
text)
Do you agree that the solution raised in L7-10 would be an
effective measure? What’s its difference from the solution in
the last paragraph?
Difficult sentences
New words (independent study)
Exercise 2
Further exploration
Passage 2: What Kind of Brain Do You Have?
Questions:
What are the three kinds of brains?
What kind of Brain do you have? Why?

What’s different in baby/ little girls’ and baby / little boys’ behaviors?
What’s different in adult males’ and females’ occupations?
According to the passage, what determine the type of brain one has?
Does it mean one has advantage over the other because he / she has a certain type of brain?
Language:
New words: independent study
Exercises: after-class work
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Your questions?
A quick quiz
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Synonyms of disregard / contempt / discrimination / pervade
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If girls get anything like equal treatment boys will ___ (抗议) and even
____ (扰乱) the lessons.
Boys receive praise for their ____ (马虎的) work ___ (what / that / which)
would not be tolerated from girls.
Some people thought he ________(太过火) in his criticism of the feminist
movements.
Anyone who cannot use a computer is _________ (处于劣势) these days.
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She ____ (empathy) with Kim because of her own experience as a mother.
They were treating only the symptoms of the disease rather than the
______ (underlie) cause.
Social class is a major _____ (determinate) of consumer spending
patterns.
Too thirds of the pupils are of Asian ______ (originate).
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E2 on P111
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Part III Further development
On Language: Enrich your word power (Q&A)
Sexist language: E3: P124
More sexist language that you know?
He who laughs last laughs best.
History…
Men plan, God laughs.
mankind
Women have come to be seen both in person and in words.
Part III Further development
Speaking activities:
1.
In what ways have women themselves contributed to gender inequity?
2.
In what senses does gender discriminations hamper humankind as a
whole?
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
True stories of gender discrimination
Men are biased because of their gender too. For example…
I prefer single-sex / co-educational classes because…
I think / I don’t think gender inequity would harm a marriage.
I think feminism is absurd / brilliant because
Choose one or two of the above topics and discuss in groups.
Part III Further development
Writing suggestions:
anything on your mind about gender differences or gender discrimination…
Suggested topics:
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My Understanding of Feminism
Why I Support / Oppose Feminism
What Is Post-feminism
Man for Field and Woman for the Hearth?
Angels in the House?
Gender Discriminations against Men
Gender Discriminations that You’ve Never Noticed
Movie reviews
….
How to improve your writing daily / weekly
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
apply those “valid” sentences to your own writings ASAP
write daily, with your updated vocabulary and newest understanding of English grammar
Part IV Translation & Writing
英译汉的长句翻译 翻译方法之二：拆分译法
比较学习
 1. 翻译方法之一：原序和换序译法
 2. 翻译方法之二：拆分译法
翻译实例
翻译练习 work in pairs or teams
Tips for quiz preparation
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1. dictation: new words from 3 passages
2. preposition or adverb
3. cloze: based on the theme related words and knowledge
4. grammar: based on the passages of this unit
5. translation: E—C one from ICR, one from ACR 1