Gender Roles from a Cultural Perspective unit 3

Gender Roles from a Cultural Perspective

Joan Young Gregg

1 Over the past few decades, it has been proven innumerable times that the various types of behavior, emotions, and interests that constitute being masculine and feminine are patterned by both heredity and culture.1 In the process of growing up, each child learns hundreds of culturally patterned details of behavior that become incorporated into its gender identity.2 Some of this learning takes place directly. In other words, the child is told by others how to act in an appropriately feminine or masculine way. Other details of gender behavior are taught unconsciously, or indirectly, as the culture provides different images, aspirations, and adult models for girls and boys.

2 Recently, for example, a study of American public schools showed that there is a cultural bias in education that favors boys over girls. According to the researchers, the bias is unintentional and unconscious, but it is there and it is influencing the lives of millions of schoolchildren every year. Doctors David and Myra Sadker videotaped classroom teachers in order to study sex-related bias in education. Their research showed that many teachers who thought they were nonsexist were amazed to see how biased they appeared on videotape. From nursery school3 to postgraduate courses, teachers were shown to call on males in class far more than on female students. This has 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 colleges4 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. A similar subordination of female to male students has also been observed in law and medical school classrooms in recent years.

3 Research done by the Sadkers showed that sometimes teachers unknowingly prevented girls from participating as actively as boys in class by assigning them different tasks in accordance with stereotyped gender roles. For instance, one teacher conducting a science class with nursery school youngsters, continually had the little boys perform the scientific “experiment”5 while the girls were given the task of putting the materials away. Since hands-on work6 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.

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. As an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, American boys do, indeed, develop reading problems, while girls, who are superior to boys in math up to the age of nine, fall behind from then on.7 But these are cultural, not genetic patterns. In Germany, for example, all studies8 are considered “masculine”, and it is girls who develop reading problems. And in Japan, where early education appears to be nonsexist, both girls and boys do equally well in reading.

The different attitudes associated with the educational process for girls and boys begin at home. One study, for example, showed that when preschoolers were asked to look at a picture of a house and tell how far away from the house they were permitted to go, the boys indicated a much wider area than the girls, who generally pointed out a very limited area close to the home. Instead of being encouraged to develop intellectual curiosity and physical skills that are useful in dealing with the outside world, as boys are, girls are filled with fears of

the world outside the home and with the desire to be approved of for their “goodness” and obedience to rules.9 These lessons carry over from the home to the classroom, where girls are generally observed to be more dependent on the teacher, more concerned with the form and neatness of their work than with its content, and more anxious about being “right” in their answers than in being intellectually independent, analytical, or original.10 Thus, through the educational process that occupies most of the child’s waking hours, society reinforces its established values and turns out each sex in its traditional and expected mold. (722 words) approve / / v.

1)think that someone or something is good, right, or suitable 认可，赞许 2) officially accept a plan, proposal, etc. 批准，核准

▲aspiration / / n. a strong desire to have or achieve something 志向，抱负 assign / / n.

1) give someone a particular job or make them responsible for a particular person or thing 分配，分派，指派（任务）

2) give a particular time, place, etc. to something or someone 指定（时间、地点等） e.g. I) How much time have you assigned for the meeting?

★bias / / n. a prejudice or preference that interferes with a fair judgment偏见，成见

biased / / adj. preferring one person, thing, or idea to another in a way that is unfair偏袒一方的，有偏见的

gender-biased / / adj. showing an unreasonable preference for men or women有性别偏见的

constitute / / v.

1) combine to form; make up 构成

2) formally establish an organization, institution, government, etc. 设立，建立

culturally / / adv. in a way that is related to the ideas, beliefs, or customs of a society文化上

★feminine / / adj. having qualities that are considered to be typical of women, especially

▲gender / / n. the physical or social condition of being male or female 性别 genetic / / adj. relating to genes or genetics遗传的

indirectly / / adv. not in a direct, clear, or obvious way间接地

★innumerable / /adj. very many, or too many to be counted 无数的，不计其数的 ★masculine / / adj. relating to or being considered typical of men, in contrast to women适合于男子地，有男子特点的

neatness / / n. the quality of being tidy and carefully arranged整洁

#nonsexist / / adj. disapproving the idea that members of one sex are less intelligent, able, skillful, etc. than the members of the other sex 非性别歧视的

northeastern / / adj. in or from the northeast part of a country or area东北的

noticeably / / adv. in a noticeable manner 显著地，明显地

nursery / / n. a place where young children and babies are taken care of幼儿园，托儿所

participation / / n. the act or process of taking part in an activity or event参与，参加

postgraduate / / adj. relating to studies done at a university after completing a first degree 研究生的

preschooler / / n. (AmE) a child who does not yet go to school 学龄前儿童 ▲prophecy / / n. a statement made by someone about something they believe will happen 预言

self-fulfilling / / adj. becoming true because one expects something to be true and so behaves in a way that will make it happen 自我实现(应验)的，本身自然会实现(应验)的

★subordination / / n. inferiority; an inferior or secondary status从属，次要地位

unintentional / / adj. not said or done deliberately 非故意的，无心的 unknowingly / / adv. in a way of not realizing what one is doing or what is happening 不知不觉地

vital / / adj. extremely important and necessary for something to succeed or exist极其重要

的，必不可少的

as a matter of fact used when adding more details about what one has just said事实上，其实

call on ask (students) to answer questions 叫（学生）回答问题

carry over continue to exist in a different situation (在不同情况下) 继续存在，保持下去

fall behind become less successful than someone else 落后

put … away move something into the place in which it is usually kept 放好，收好 take over take control of something 接管，接任 turn out produce 生产

up to for the whole of a period until a certain time or date直到……

★allocate / / v. officially give something to someone, or decide that something can be used for a specific purpose 分配，配给 ★contempt / / n. a feeling that someone or something is not important and deserves no

respect 轻视，轻蔑 ▲discrimination / / n. the practice of treating one particular group in society in an

unfair way 歧视

★disregard / / v. ignore something or treat it as unimportant忽视，轻视，无视，不顾

★disrupt / / v. prevent something from continuing in its usual way by causing problems扰乱，使……混乱

dramatically / / adv. noticeably and surprisingly显著地 essay / / n.

1) a short piece of writing about a particular subject by a student as part of a course of study (学生

为某门课程而写的) 短文，论说文

2）a short piece of writing giving someone’s ideas about politics, society, etc.（关于政治、社会等的）小品文，散文 hopeful / / adj.

1) giving one reason to believe that something will happen the way one wants it to给人以希望的

2) believing that what one hopes for is likely to happen 抱有（充满）希望的 ecturer / / n.

1) a person who teaches at a British university or college (尤指英国大学的) 讲师 2) a person who gives a lecture讲课者，讲授者，讲演者 minority / / n.

1) the smaller part of a group; less than half of the people or things in a large group 少数，少数派， 少数人

#pervade / / v. spread through every part of (a place) 弥漫，遍布 #rightful / / adj. morally or legally correct公正的，恰当的

#sloppy / / adj. not done carefully or thoroughly 马虎的，凌乱的

unladylike / / adj. not behaving in the polite, quiet way that was once supposed to be

typical of or suitable for women缺乏女性风度的

at a disadvantage in a situation in which one is less likely to succeed than others 处于不利地 位的

be accustomed to (doing) something be used to something习惯于 be in a minority form less than half of a group 占少数

be typical of show the usual qualities or characteristics of someone or something 具有……典型特点，代表了……

burn to death/be burnt to death be killed by fire 烧死 for ages (informal) for a very long time

go too far behave in an extreme way that is not acceptable 走得太远，做得过分 make a thing of … consider something to be very important 认为……很重要

#allay/ / v. make something, especially a feeling, less strong减轻（尤指情绪） #amniotic fluid / / n. the fluid surrounding the fetus in the womb羊水

▲anecdotal/ / adj. based on someone’s personal experience or information rather than on facts that can be checked轶事的，趣闻的

balanced / / adj. with all parts combining well together or existing in the correct amounts 保持（或显示）平衡的 construct / / v.

1) build something such as a house, bridge, road, etc. 建筑，修建，建造

2) form something such as a sentence, argument, or system by joining words, ideas, etc. together组成，创建

onstructional / / adj. connected with the making or building of things 建造的，构造的, 建筑的

craft / / v. make something using special skills, especially with your hand手工制作，精制

determinant / / n. (formal) something that strongly influences what you do or how you behave决定因素，决定物 differ / / v.

1) be different from something in some way 不同于，不一样，有区别 2) disagree with 意见相左，持不同看法，不同意 #DIY / / n. (abbreviation for “do-it-yourself”) the activity of making, repairing, or decorating things in the home yourself, instead of paying somebody to do it自己动手（做） empathise / / (AmE -ize) v. understand how someone feels because you can imagine what it is like to be them有同感，有共感 ★extract / / v.

1) deduce (a principle or doctrine), understand (a meaning) in a particular way 推断出，引申出 2) carefully remove a substance from something which contains it, using a machine, chemical process, etc. 提取，提炼 #hard-wired / / adj. caused by your genes and the way your brain is made, rather than learned from experience 生来注定的

#hi-fi / / n. (high fidelity) a piece of high quality electronic equipment for playing recorded music高保真音响设备 mobile / / n.

1) a decoration with parts that hang down and move in the air风铃，（可随风摆动的）悬挂饰物

2)（BrE）a mobile phone移动电话，手机 newsagent / / n.

1) (newsagent’s) a shop which sells newspapers, magazines, sweets and cigarettes 报刊经销店，书报亭

2) a person who owns or works in a shop selling newspapers and magazines, and often sweets and cigarettes报刊经销人，报刊经销商 #onwards / / adv. (AmE onward)

1) continuing after a particular time 从（某时）起一直 2) (formal) forward 向前，前往 origin / / n.

1) the place or situation in which something begins to exist起源，源头，起因 2) the country, race, or type of family which someone comes from身世，出身

parenting / / n. the skill or activity of looking after one’s own children养育，扶养，教养

★predominantly / / adv. mostly or mainly主要地，多数情况下

#prenatal / / adj. relating to unborn babies and the care of pregnant women产前的

profession / / n.

1) a job that needs a high level of education and training（需要专门技能，尤指需要较高教育水平的某一）行业，职业

2) all the people who work in a particular profession (某)职业界，业内人士

rack / / n. a frame or shelf that has bars or hooks on which you can put things支架，架子

#ram / / v. run or drive into something very hard和……相撞，撞击

self-centred / / adj. paying so much attention to oneself that one does not notice what is happening to other people 自我中心的，只考虑自己的

socialisation/ / n. (AmE -ization) the process by which people, especially children, are made to behave in a way that is acceptable in their society适应社会的过程，社会化

systemise / / v. (AmE systematize) formulate into or reduce to a system (使) 系统化，（使）成系统

#testosterone / / n. the hormone in males that gives them their male qualities睾酮，睾丸素

#toddlerhood / / n. the state or time of being a young child learning to walk初学走路的幼儿时期

★underlying / / adj. important in a situation but not always easily noticed or stated clearly 根本的，基本的

workplace / / n. the office, factory, etc. where people work工作场所

a bunch of a group of people or things that are fastened, held, or growing together 一群（束、串）

add up to produce a particular total or result 合计达，总括起来意味着

go beyond be much better, worse, more serious, etc. than something else 超越，超出 in part to some degree, but not completely 某种程度上，部分地

put together make a machine, model, etc. by joining all the different parts 装配，组装

pull together improve something by organizing it more effectively 把……重新组织好，整顿

light up make or become bright with light or color 照亮，变得明亮

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