Are you a man or
a woman? I ask because your sex will determine your likelihood of pursuing
certain routes in life, and these likelihoods are different for each sex.
Four-fifths of
UK politicians are male, only one eighth of British FTSE 100 directorships are
held by women, and most nurses are female. Men are more likely to start a
business and UK women get paid, on average, 15.5% less than UK men. If you're
female, you're more likely to spend time with your kids. If you're male, you're
more likely to end up in prison.
I bet you're
thinking: So what? Who cares what other people do? You're right. Individuals
are free to pursue what they want - there aren't laws blocking us anymore, at
least in the Western world. Nowadays, women don't need their husband's permission
to get a mortgage. Nowadays, women can vote. Nowadays, school leavers aren't
given separate careers forms with different job possibilities for boys versus
girls.
But are we, as
individuals, really free?
The overt
prohibitions of the past have turned into subtle restrictions of the present.
Social gender pressures are still there but now to give in to them is
voluntary. Sounds better? Only thing is that social pressures are often the
strongest pressures of all.
Marketing
exploits gender stereotypes, channelling utterly different products and
lifestyles to boys versus girls, men versus women, tapping into social norms,
reinforcing differences and promoting the development of different skills,
interests and goals. In society generally, women and girls and encouraged to be
and rewarded for being pretty, polite and passive, while boys and men must be
macho, protective and strong.
Parents,
teachers, peer groups and employers buy into this without even realising it,
and failure to conform results in ridicule and ostracism. The more we do
something, the better we get. So before know it, girls and boys en masse are
enjoying and pursuing divergent activities and roles in society.
I still know
what you're thinking. But men and women are naturally different!
I encounter this
line from blog commenters, journalists and critics. A couple of years ago, I
began to question its truth. I read books and articles. For months, I studied
the evidence and its implications, and, when I emerged from my review period, I
was excited and liberated. My conclusion: there is no universal scientific
consensus that men and women are born with different cognitive (thinking and
reasoning) skills. Conversely and worryingly, what we do with our brain as we
progress through life is far more likely to change its structure and function.
My new project
builds on this. Breakthrough: The Gender Stereotypes Project is a
groundbreaking schools programme that kickstarts the gender stereotypes debate
among children, their parents and their teachers. I am working with Laura
Kirsop, inspiring and dynamic year 5 teacher at Soho Parish School in central
London, to run a two-week lesson programme, beginning on Monday, with the aim
of exploring the influence of gender stereotypes. It follows concerns from pupils
and parents that stereotyping may be stopping children from fulfilling their
true potential.
Breakthrough's
aims are to benefit both boys and girls, to encourage debate, rather than
pushing children into thinking a certain way, and to cover all aspects of
gender stereotype awareness - interests, marketing, aspirations, personality
strengths and skills. It's a project about individual freedom and tolerance,
acceptance and respect.
So what's next?
Following the pilot, the plan is to roll this out so more children can benefit.
The demand is there - I am receiving requests from parents, governors, teachers
and potential partners, and ideas to develop this programme to cover more age
groups with more material.
People often ask
me: I know gender stereotypes are affecting my kids - what can we do about it?
I say: you can
either lobby for laws or practices to change or you can shift a culture at its
core. Changing a culture from the inside out is Breakthrough's mission. If the
tide is there, it will turn, and we may see a new horizon before us.
Look at the
words in the table, they all appear in the video. Match them to their meaning.
|
TERM
|
MEANING
|
|
1. likelihood
|
a. done or
shown publicly or in an obvious way
|
|
2. pursue
|
b. to
avoid someone intentionally, or to prevent them from taking part in the
activities of a group
|
|
3. overt
|
c. new and
likely to have an effect on how things are done in the future
|
|
4. ostracism
|
d. the
chance that something will happen
|
|
5.groundbreaking
|
e. to
follow someone or something
|
|
TERM
|
MEANING
|
|
1. likelihood
|
d. the
chance that something will happen
|
|
2. pursue
|
e. to
follow someone or something
|
|
3. overt
|
a. done or
shown publicly or in an obvious way
|
|
4. ostracism
|
b. to
avoid someone intentionally, or to prevent them from taking part in the
activities of a group
|
|
5.groundbreaking
|
c. new and
likely to have an effect on how things are done in the future
|
Pregunta
Verdadero-Falso
Read the article again and say if the following statements are true or
false:
1. In the UK, most politicians are men
Verdadero Falso
Correcto
Four-fifths of UK politicians are male
2. Advertising plays an important role in gender
stereotyping
Verdadero Falso
Correcto
Marketing exploits gender stereotypes
3. It is proven and clear that men and women reason
differently
Verdadero Falso
Correcto
There is no universal scientific consensus that men and women are born with
different cognitive (thinking and reasoning) skills
4. The writer is going to teach a two week lesson at a
school in London
Verdadero Falso
Correcto
The writer says "I am working with Laura Kirsop, inspiring and dynamic
year 5 teacher at Soho Parish School in central London, to run a
two-week lesson programme"
5. One of the ways to change gender stereotyping is
changing culture
Verdadero Falso
Correcto
The writer says:
"you can either lobby for laws or practices to change or you can shift a
culture at its core"
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