englisch - Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG

Transcription

AKTUELLE
E
ENGLISCH
UnTErrichTSM AT E r i A L i E n
bETr i ffT UnS
Gender Roles
Mit zwei farbigen Oh-folien
2·2009
INHALTSVERZEICHNIS
Gender Roles
EBU-SPECIAL
Jochen Baier, Evrin Genç, Christian Horsch, Simona Höll,
Julia Mittler, Sylvia Ulrich
A Closer Look at “Body Language”
1
(ab Jahrgangsstufe 9)
Laurenz Volkmann
‘Lonely Hearts Columns’
Ein alternativer Zugang zum Thema „Gender“
7
LITERATURE
Jochen Baier, Evrin Genç, Christian Horsch, Simona Höll,
Julia Mittler, Sylvia Ulrich
I Man — You Woman
Delilah’s Cat by Martin Forbes
14
A LOOK AT THE PRESS
22
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MEDIA
Ute Ritzenhofen
Gender Roles Down Under
Die australische Fernsehserie McLeod’s Daughter
Impressum
Herausgeber:
Dieter Hermann Düwel
Jennifer von der Grün
Dieter Düwel, Jennifer von der Grün
“Feminists Claim Clinton and Palin Paved the Way for a New Generation”
A newspaper article from The Guardian
Weitere Materialien per Internet @
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von „Englisch betrifft uns“ können
über Internet Zugang zu einer Unterrichtseinheit zum Thema: „In search
of the perfect robot wife“ erhalten.
Wenn Sie sich unter
www.buhv.de/bonus/ in den MailVerteiler eintragen, werden Sie benachrichtigt, sobald diese Materialien
zum Download bereitstehen.
28
Anzeigen:
Petra Wahlen
T 0241-93888-117
Druck:
(Sekundarstufe II)
A WRITTEN EXAM
Peter Dines
Boy Crazy — The Best Type of School for Boys and Girls
An excerpt from a press report
Ein Klausurvorschlag
36
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Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG
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52072 Aachen
DEUTSCHLAND
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Titelbild:
Lutz Scharf, Castrop-Rauxel
ISSN 0941-0481
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
1
Jochen Baier, Evrin Genç, Christian Harsch, Simona Höll, Julia Mittler,
Sylvia Ulrich
A Closer Look at “Body Language”
--
Objectives
-
to expand the students’ vocabulary
to improve the students’ ability to
talk about different parts of the
body, typical male or female behaviour and strategies
to strengthen the students’ awareness of body language
to categorise various adjectives as primarily describing men or women. The
results then can be compared to the
results of a survey of 100 students (see
S1). The question which adjectives can
be applied to both sexes offers the
chance to discuss if it is possible at all
to distinguish between “typical male”
and “typical female” characteristics.
The Topic
Step 2
Body language is an important factor in
the process of interaction. Sometimes
it is even more effective to communicate your thoughts and feelings by the
way you place and move your body
rather than by the use of words.
At the same time body language mirrors the characteristics ascribed to
males and females — for the students
it is important to be made aware of
gender specific behaviour. By acting
out role plays the learners individually
and consciously make use of what they
have learned about body language.
This teaching material can be used
whenever it comes to analysing characters who are presented visually.
Body language is an important aspect
of plays and films as well as in newspaper advertisements or TV commercials.
Visualization: Typical body language
The teacher divides Transparency 1
into an upper and a lower part and
then shows the class the upper part
with photos of what may be seen as
typical “male” or “female” body language. The teacher asks the students
to describe the photographs and to
analyse the meaning of and impression
created by the body language shown.
They should examine the man’s and
woman’s postures, foot positions,
shoulders, demand for space, facial
expressions and head positions (For
suggested solutions see S2).
During the analysis process the teacher
can use the lower part of the transparency for an overlay procedure. This
means that the lower part of the
transparency is placed right on top of
the man and the woman who are
standing so that it becomes obvious
that men and women stand differently:
traditionally males tend to have a
straight posture whereas females usually bend their heads and limbs. Without the lower part of the transparency,
which illustrates the difference, students often overlook this fact simply
because they are so used to it.
Suggested Treatment
Step 1
Warming-up phase
The teacher hands out W1. This worksheet helps the students to find out
more about their personal ideas concerning gender-specific characteristics.
In the assignment the students are asked
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2 · 2009
Step 3
Test: Pick-up artists
Next the teacher hands out W2 with
questions on how body language is
used when we try to seduce a person.
The students tick what they consider
to be the correct answers and then are
given the opportunity to compare their
answers in class. Subsequently they
use T1 to check their results. For this
purpose the text “The Facts of Life:
Seduction” can either be read aloud or
read individually (for solutions see S3).
Step 4
Role-Play: “Shopping”
In the following step the teacher presents Transparency 2 and asks the
students to make notes on the body
language of the individuals presented
and to draw conclusions from this body
language. Then groups of two to four
students of one gender (groups of boys
and groups of girls) are formed. The
groups will now perform role-plays
about “Shopping” (buying a new bikini
/buying a new pair of sports shoes) using their ideas of the characters on
Transparency 2. After each role-play
the students are asked to analyse the
body language they have seen and to
discuss the stereotypes which were
shown.
Gender Roles
2
WORKSHEET
 W1 Warming-up Phase
Assignment
A Please decide which adjectives are used to describe primarily men or women and note them down in the corresponding column. Some adjectives might be suitable for both genders. Which are they?
strong
brave
serious
muscular
self-confident
intelligent
helpless
cool
Independent
tough
sporty
dominant
aggressive
target-orientated
arrogant
smart
communicative
nice
shy
pretty
naive
insecure
outgoing
Predominantly male characteristics
handsome
reserved
fragile
defensive
straightforward
Predominantly female characteristics
open
Male or female characteristics
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Gender Roles
WORKSHEET
3
 W2 Test: Pick-up Artist
Assignment
A Please answer the following questions by ticking what you think is the right answer.
There is sometimes more than one correct answer.
1. Which of the following shows someone
-
is flirting with you?
Their feet and hands will point in your
direction without them being aware of
it.
They smoke a cigarette.
Their pupil size and blink rate increases.
Their eyes flit around your chest and
your belly.
2. What is the best time for
-
seduction?
When both are listening to a Madonnasong.
4. Who are the least successful European
After a hot cup of chocolate.
In the summer months.
In the winter months.
After breakfast.
3. What is the most effective chat-up
-
line?
-
flirters?
The Spanish
The Italians
The French
The Austrians
The Germans
“How about a coffee?”
“It would be wonderful to wake up in
your arms tomorrow morning.”
“Do you have a lighter?”
“If you were a burger you’d be a
McGorgeous.”
“It is hot today, isn’t it? It’s the best
weather when you are training for a
marathon. ”
5. What is the biggest turn-off on a first
-
date?
Greasy hair
Bad body posture
Horrible body odour
Being in a rush
Obvious nervousness
ANNOTATIONS
blink rate — the frequency sb. moves her/his eyelashes up and down
gorgeous — beautiful
odour — smell
seduction — using one’s charm to persuade another person to have sex with her/him
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Gender Roles
4
TEXT
 T1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Textwork: The Facts of Life, Seduction
Sunday, 14 September 2008
There are five main ways to tell if
someone is flirting with you: their eyes
will flit around your face and body;
they begin to mirror your actions; they
raise their eyebrows when they first
meet you (ever so slightly); their feet
and hands will point towards you subconsciously; and their pupil size and
blink rate increases.
Flirting often goes unobserved by men,
who are useless at spotting come-on
signals. Scientists from Indiana University found that when men were shown
images of women making an advance,
they tended to see sexual cues as being merely friendly, and saw friendly
gestures as showing sexual interest.
Women performed far better at picking up on body language.
The summer months are the best time
for seduction, according to a survey of
3,000 singles. Twice as many people
get lucky during the summer as during
the winter. Relationships that start between June and August also last an average of four dates, longer than the
average for the other periods.
Women who read romance novels are
more easily seduced than those women
who don’t, and have sex twice as often, a study found.
Casanova used to prepare a cup of hot
chocolate for his prospective ladies in
order to seduce them.
Good news for marathon runners: the
most effective chat-up line of all is:
“It’s hot today, isn’t it? It's the best
weather when you are training for a
marathon.” That's according to 200
female students who were asked to
rate 40 lines culled from the internet,
films and television. It might be best
to avoid “If you were a burger you’d
be a McGorgeous”, which ranked bottom. [...]
The British are the best at getting
their fellow Europeans into bed, according to a survey conducted across
the continent and it’s all down to our
sense of humor. However, respondents
to the survey which also covered Germany, Spain, Italy and France said we
are also the easiest to seduce. The
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ANNOTATIONS
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
Europeans least likely to pull successfully are the Germans, who were also
voted the least attractive, yet most
cultured. The best-looking are the Italians, while the French came out on top
in terms of leading the most adventurous lives in the bedroom.
59 per cent of singles agree that bad
body odour is the biggest turn-off on a
first date, and the biggest turn-on is a
sense of humor, according to a survey
by the dating site itsjustlunch.com.
Male chimpanzees act much like humans when trying to seduce a mate.
Stirling University research revealed
that the chimps would often present
the females with gifts, much like men
use flowers in their efforts to woo
their chosen one. The chimps stole
fruit from nearby orchards and presented it to the females in exchange
for sex and grooming.
According to Neil Strauss, author of
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-up Artists, the best way
for a man to seduce a woman is to insult her subtly when you first meet
her. The technique is to “neg” her;
that is, to deliberately “lower her selfesteem” by an apparently unintended
insult that will leave her craving your
approval.
(c) http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ lovesex/seduction/the-facts-of-life-seduction928192.html
2 · 2009
according to — as said by
adventurous — here: exciting
to crave — to desperately want sth. or
s.o.
cue — signal
to cull — to filter
deliberately — done with care and
with a plan in mind
effort — a usually earnest attempt
fellow — belonging to the same class
or group; united by the same occupation, interests, etc.
to flit — to move fast
gesture — movement of the head,
hands or arms by which a person wants
to tell us sth.
grooming — cf. to groom: to clean and
brush (an animal)
mate — here: sexual partner
to mirror — to reflect
to make an advance — to approach
amorously or sexually
merely — only, simply
orchard — field of fruit trees
to pick up on sth. — to notice sth.
that other people do not notice
prospective — possible in the future
to pull successfully — here: to flirt
successfully
to rank — to be positioned
to reveal — to show sth. that was hidden before
subconsciously — without being aware
of sth.
subtly — in an indirect way
survey — Umfrage
to tend to do sth — be inclined to do
sth.
unintended — doing sth. without
meaning to do so
unobserved — not watched
to woo — to try to attract the affection, or love of sb., esp. with a view to
marriage
Gender Roles
WORKSHEET
5
 W3 Role Play: Shopping!
Assignments
A
--
Look at the four individuals on the Transparency.
Describe their body language. Note down the conclusions you can draw from it about their main characteristics.
The Vamp
The Macho
Description:
Description:
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Conclusions:
Conclusions:
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The Mouse
The Nerd
Description:
Description:
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Conclusions:
Conclusions:
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B Choose one of the following tasks for your group’s role play:
buying a new bikini (1) or buying a new pair of sports shoes (2).
One of you will play the shop assistant and the others choose their role by picking one of the characters on Transparency.
C
Try to act in accordance with the stereotyped character traits. Maybe you could even play a character of the opposite sex!? Just give it a try...
Rehearse and perform your role-play.
While watching the other groups: be prepared to analyse the characters’ body language and discuss the stereotypes which are shown in the role play.
--
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Gender Roles
6
SOLUTIONS
 S1
Warming-up Phase
[cf. W1, page 11]
The following solution has been compiled in accordance with
a (non-representative) survey among 100 pupils aged between 15 and 17. The number of students who ascribed a
specific characteristic to either men or women can be found
in brackets.
 “Typical” male characteristics:
Brave (87), strong (91), muscular (94), independent (54),
tough (87), aggressive (81), handsome (67), serious (49), arrogant (69), self-confident (79), intelligent (40), cool (65),
sporty (76), defensive (34), straightforward (56), targetorientated (73), dominant (87).
 “Typical” female characteristics:
Helpless (87), communicative (92), smart (86), nice (76), shy
(75), pretty (92), reserved (50), fragile (65), naїve (37), insecure (76), outgoing (82), open (76), intelligent (82), sporty
(74), defensive (53), straightforward (39).
 S2
Visualization: Typical Body
Language
(Typical Female or Male?)
[cf. Transparency 1]
Body Language
Female
Impression
Posture
bent
insecure, defensive
Foot position
one leg bent, one unstable
foot in front of the
other
Shoulders
one shoulder
slightly lowered
shy
Demand for space sitting with knees
together and feet
at an angle
taking up little
space, slightly
tense
Facial expression
looking upwards,
smile
innocent, helpless,
wanting to please
Position of head
bent to one side
coy
Gesture
-
playing with hair
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Body Language
Male
Impression
Posture
straight
secure, offensive
Foot position
weight on both
feet, feet parallel
confident, stable,
secure
Shoulders
open, straight
self-confident
Demand for space sitting with legs
wide open
taking up lots of
space, casual, relaxed, at ease
Facial expression
equal, powerful,
eye-to-eye posireliable, strong
tion, looking
downwards, serious
Position of head
straight
Gesture
 S3
-
self-confident
-
Pick-up Artist/Seduction
[cf. W2, page 3 and T1, page 4]
 The right answers:
1. Which
-
of the following shows someone is flirting with
you?
Their feet and hands will point in your direction without
them being aware of it.
Their pupil size and blink rate increases.
2. What is the best time for seduction?
After a hot cup of chocolate.
In the summer months.
3. What is the most effective chat-up line?
“It is hot today, isn’t it? It’s the best weather when you
are training for a marathon.”
4. Who are the least successful European flirters?
-
The Germans
5. What is the biggest turn-off on a first date?
Horrible body odour
innocent, childlike
distracted
2 · 2009
Gender Roles
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
7
Laurenz Volkmann
‘Lonely Hearts Columns’
Ein alternativer Zugang zum Thema „Gender“
-
Ziele
-
Die Schüler/-innen lernen eine authentische Textsorte und deren typische diskursive Merkmale kennen,
Sie lernen den Umgang mit in Anzeigen typischen Abkürzungen und
den Aufbau typischer (Kontakt-)
Anzeigen in der Zielsprache. Dabei
lernen sie, genau zu lesen und
Sinnbedeutungen abzuwägen (close
reading),
Sie lernen anhand von konkreten,
sehr alltagsrelevanten Textbeispielen die Funktion rhetorischer Stilmittel und Strategien wie Wortspiele, Euphemismen, Humor und
Understatement kennen,
Sie reflektieren den Konstruktcharakter von Geschlechterrollen und
werden im Sinne der GenderStudies angeregt, über die Vielfältigkeit von Gender-Konstruktionen
nachzudenken,
Sie werden aufgefordert zur mündlichen und schriftlichen Sprachproduktion, zur Stellungnahme und
zum Kommentieren.
Lernvoraussetzungen/
Unterrichtskontexte
Neben Horoskopen und Kolumnen der
Agony Aunt (also der englischen Version von „Dr. Sommer“) sind gerade
Kontaktanzeigen im Fremdsprachenunterricht gern, aber doch zu selten eingesetzte authentische Textsorten. Diese bieten Abwechslung gegenüber den
schematischen Mustern der LehrbuchUnits, stellen vielfach verwendetes
Vokabular und häufige Sprachwendungen für eigene mündliche und schriftliche Äußerungen zur Verfügung. Die
Kontaktanzeigen bieten vielerlei Im-
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betrifft uns
pulse zum Nachdenken und für Diskussionen — auch im interkulturellen Vergleich. Die hier vorgestellten Beispiele
aus den lonely hearts columns der britischen Sonntagszeitung The Observer
bieten sich für den Einsatz im Unterricht aufgrund ihrer Kürze besonders
an: Während Kontaktanzeigen oftmals
länger und sprachlich komplexer sind,
liegt hier ein klar vorgegebenes knappes Schema vor. Die 3—4-zeiligen MiniAnzeigen operieren mit einer recht
überschaubaren Anzahl von Textbausteinen und Abkürzungen, die zum Entschlüsseln und (kreativen) Wiederverwenden einladen.
Prinzipiell könnten englischsprachige
Kontaktanzeigen (etwa aus dem Internet) bereits in einer früheren Jahrgangsstufe, etwa der 8. oder 9. Klasse,
eingesetzt werden. Die hier vorgestellte Sequenz eignet sich für Lernende ab
der Klasse 10/11. Sie kann für sich eingesetzt werden oder in Anschluss an
oder Vorbereitung auf eine entsprechende Unit im Lehrbuch zu Themen
wie boy meets girl, Erwachsenwerden
als geschlechtlicher Findungsprozess
oder generell zum Thema „Mann und
Frau“. Insgesamt eignet sich die Sequenz auch als Einstieg in das in der
Oberstufe gern behandelte Thema der
gender roles. Denn mit Kontaktanzeigen kann auf motivierende, ansprechende und teilweise witzige Art auf
die essenzielle Erkenntnis der GenderForschung aufmerksam gemacht werden: Es besteht ein entscheidender
Unterschied zwischen biologischem Sex
und kulturell bzw. kulturspezifischkonstruierten Vorstellungen davon, wie
ein Mann oder eine Frau, ein Junge
oder ein Mädchen auszusehen und auf-
2 · 2009
zutreten haben — also ihr gender konstruieren.
Die Einheit bietet vielfache Möglichkeiten des Weiterarbeitens: mit (literarischen) Texten zum Thema, mit Filmen
wie Thelma and Louise oder About a
Boy, in denen auf höchst unterschiedliche Weise gendered identities präsentiert werden. Nicht zuletzt kann ein
intertextuelles „Spiel der Texte“ mit
zahlreichen Songs oder Videos aus dem
Bereich Pop, Rock und Rap bzw. HipHop zur eingehenden Erkundung von
gesellschaftlichen und medialen Vorgaben, Zwängen aber auch Angeboten
zur Ausformung individueller Geschlechterrollen führen. Hierzu mehr
in den Vorschlägen zu awareness- und
post-reading-activities.
Zum theoretischen Hintergrund
der Gender Studies
Leider zeigt die gegenwärtige Generation der Schülerinnen und Schüler —
zumindest aus Sicht der in den Hochzeiten des Feminismus sozialisierten
Lehrkräfte — bisweilen ein eher gering
ausgeprägtes Bewusstsein für Fragen
im Bereich Gender. Dies mag teilweise
an einer distanzierten Haltung gegenüber dem (so verpönten) Birkenstockund Lila-Latzhosen-Feminismus der Elterngeneration liegen, für den die
neue Generation wenig übrig hat.
Scheint dieser doch die von der visuelldigitalen Medienwelt permanent zur
Verfügung gestellten Spaß- und Genussressourcen im Bereich der GenderKonstruktion à la Britney Spears ideologisch nachhaltig zu vergällen. Zum
anderen erscheint der neuen Generation das Hauptanliegen des Feminismus,
nämlich das Aufdecken und Verändern
Gender Roles
8
TEXT
kultureller und vor allem sozialer und
ökonomischer Ungleichheiten, gleichfalls überholt. Die nach wie vor existierenden, aus Sicht der GenderForschung teilweise eher versteckten
patriarchalischen Dominanzmuster werden nicht so ohne weiteres erkannt.
Trotz dieser Überlegungen zur anhaltenden Bedeutung feministischer Gedanken sollte dieser Unterrichtsvorschlag nicht als feministischer Beitrag
verstanden werden. Es bleibt der Lehrkraft überlassen, inwieweit eigene
Vorstellungen der Geschlechterordnung — hoffentlich ohne Zeigefingerdidaktik — in diese Sequenz mit einfließen. Dieser Vorschlag begreift sich
vielmehr als praktische Umsetzung der
aus dem Feminismus erwachsenen
Gender-Theorien. Beeinflusst von Minderheiten-Theorien wie gay studies,
queer studies etc. hat sich ein entscheidender Paradigmenwechsel in der
Betrachtung der Geschlechter vollzogen. Im Sinne der oben aufgeführten
Betrachtung von gender als sozial konstruierter, variabler Größe haben einflussreiche Theoretikerinnen der Gender Studies das Modell der binären
Opposition von „männlich“ und „weiblich“ aufgelöst und durch ein fluides,
performatives Modell ersetzt, dem
gemäß vielfältige Möglichkeiten der
Konstruktion von Männlichkeit und
Weiblichkeit existieren.
In der fachdidaktischen Publikation von
Helene Decke-Cornill und Laurenz
Volkmann (eds., Gender Studies and
Foreign Language Teaching. Tübingen,
2007) werden entsprechend folgende
Prämissen einer gender-orientierten
Didaktik formuliert:
Gender is perceived as the product
of a ‘community of practice’ (that
is, gendered practice),
Gender is defined as a multiple
and fluid identity,
Gender is defined as a social and
linguistic representation; it is thus
flexible and changeable,
The importance of individual
agency and of contestation is
stressed.
Gemäß dieser Sicht ist der Einzelne
frei, in der postmodernen Gesellschaft
-
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betrifft uns
aus einer großen Bandbreite von unterschiedlichen gendered identities das
zu seinen eigenen Bedürfnissen, Lebensphasen usw. passende „GenderKostüm“ auszuwählen und entsprechend selbstbestimmt zu leben. Eine
gender-bewusste Pädagogik bemüht
sich demnach, Kinder und Jugendliche
auf die große Bandbreite von gendered
identities aufmerksam zu machen und
zu Toleranz gegenüber anderen Formen von Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit, überhaupt von Geschlechtlichkeit
zu erziehen.
Die Zeit eindeutiger Rollenvorstellungen und diametral entgegengesetzter
Ausformungen von Mann und Frau sind
also, wie uns ein kurzer Blick in die
Popkultur und nach Hollywood lehrt,
längst vorbei. Denn was hier beispielsweise gerade an Männermodellen vorgestellt wird, bietet ein recht facettenreiches Bild: von muskelbepackten,
wortkargen He-Men wie Rambo und
Arnold Schwarzenegger über finster
dreinblickende Rapper wie z.B. 50
Cent bis hin zu smarten Softies wie
Hugh Grant oder androgynen Wesen
wie David Bowie, Michael Jackson
(schwarz?, weiß?, Mann?, Frau?) oder
Bill Kaulitz von der international erfolgreichen deutschen Band Tokio Hotel.
Männer- und auch Frauenmodelle gibt
es genug — wie so häufig kann diese
neue Form der postmodernen Angebotsvielfalt aber auch bei Jugendlichen
Unsicherheiten und Verwirrungen hervorbringen und zu problematisch erscheinendem Experimentieren mit erstarrten Männer- und Frauenklischees
führen, wenn beispielsweise das unpassende Tragen aufreizender Kleidung
bei Mädchen als Ausdruck des selfempowerment (miss-)verstanden wird.
Trotzdem: Eine Unterrichtssequenz,
welche gerade den Konstruktcharakter
von Männer- und Frauenbildern veranschaulicht, kann und muss aufzeigen,
dass es unterschiedliche Angebote
gibt, sich als Junge oder Mädchen,
Mann oder Frau zu verstehen. Denn in
Kontaktanzeigen werden — dem Wesen
der Gattung entsprechend — besonders
mit Gender-Attributen versehene per-
2 · 2009
sönliche Eigenschaften und Merkmale
hervorgestrichen. In diesem Sinne kann
bei der Beschäftigung mit dieser Form
der auf Gender fokussierten Selbstinszenierung und Selbstvermarktung
auch ein Stück (kritischer) gender awareness angebahnt werden.
Zum Inhalt und zur Behandlung
im Unterricht
Bei den hier in nahezu identischem
Layout und unverändertem Wortlaut
abgedruckten Kleinanzeigen handelt es
sich um Texte aus einer britischen
Sonntagszeitung, dem quality paper
The Observer aus dem Jahre 2002. In
der inzwischen veränderten Rubrik
Soulmates versuchen Männer und
Frauen in kurzen Selbstbeschreibungen
und Aussagen zum Idealpartner, auf
sich aufmerksam zu machen. Bei Interesse besteht die Möglichkeit, eine Telefonnummer anzurufen und die Stimme des Inserenten zu vernehmen. Bei
anhaltender Neugierde kann dann ein
näherer Kontakt angebahnt werden.
Das Image des Observer, der politisch
wie The Guardian eine Leserschaft mit
non-conformist intellectual attitudes
anspricht, ist durchaus das einer politisch eher links ausgerichteten Sonntagszeitung. Dies gilt es bei der Einordnung der Anzeigen zu beachten. Die
hier präsentierte Auswahl erfolgte
nach dem Kriterium einer gewissen
Exemplarität.
Konkrete Vorschläge für den
Unterrichtsverlauf
Step 1
Warm-up activities
Die Lerngruppe kann auf verschiedene
Weisen auf das Thema vorbereitet
werden. Es geht dabei zunächst um das
Erkennen typischer Geschlechterstereotype.
Die Lehrkraft stellt den Lernenden
die Aufgabe, Bilder ihres beliebtesten oder des am wenigsten beliebten Popstars zur Unterrichtsstunde
mitzubringen (alternativ: Bilder eines „typischen Mannes/einer typischen Frau“ aus der Medienwelt).
Diese werden kurz kommentiert.
-
Gender Roles
NOTES
-
FOR
Möglich wäre eine plakative „Verortung“ an der Tafel, z.B. linke
Seite: typically male, female; rechte Seite: atypically male, female.
Als Einstieg wird ein Song genommen, in dem stereotype Geschlechtervorstellungen verbalisiert werden (Hip-Hop, Rap, aber auch Heavy
Metal). Diese werden kurz thematisiert.
Die Lehrkraft zeigt als Diskussionsanlass Bilder von „untypischen“
Männern und Frauen, entweder
Stars oder Bilder von Männern in
typischen
Frauenberufen,
von
Frauen in typischen Männerberufen.
Eventuell kann auch ein kurzer Videoclip aus einem Film mit „typischem“ Geschlechterverhalten gezeigt werden (z.B. 50er Jahre:
Doris Day oder ein Musicvideoclip
von Rappern aus dem Jahr 2009).
Zusätzlich oder für sich kann das
Ergebnis eines Brainstorming zu
„geschlechtertypischen“
Eigenschaften auf W1 (Aufgabe A) fixiert
werden. Es geht dabei um Adjektive und ihre geschlechtsspezifischen
Konnotationen (handsome, beautiful, strong, gentle, caring, passionate, active, passive, lively, etc.).
(Für Lösungsvorschläge siehe S1.)
Step 2
Die Lehrkraft zeigt die Kleinanzeigen
auf T1, die mithilfe der Annotations
erarbeitet werden. Es gilt auch dabei,
die Abkürzungen zu verstehen. Die
Schüler/-innen sollen versuchen, aus
dem Kontext die Bedeutung der verschiedenen Abkürzungen zu erschließen. (Für Lösungsvorschläge siehe S2)
Im zweiten Teil von W1, Aufgabe B,
notieren die Schüler/-innen die geschlechtsspezifischen Merkmale, die in
den Kleinanzeigen erwähnt werden.
(Für Lösungsvorschläge siehe S3)
Im Anschluss gilt es, auch als Voraussetzung für die eigene kreative Tätigkeit (Schreiben von Anzeigen), den
Aufbau dieser Annoncen im Überblick
festzuhalten (W1, Teil C). (Für Lösungsvorschläge siehe S3). Auf diese
Weise entsteht eine Art Rezept für Anzeigen.
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THE
TEACHER
Step 3
Nun erhalten die Schülerinnen und
Schüler die Jumbled-up Ads (W2) aus
der britischen Sonntagszeitung The Observer als Kopie. Sie erfahren, dass alle Kennzeichen der Zugehörigkeit zu
einem bestimmten Geschlecht gelöscht
und durch ein x ersetzt wurden. Die
Arbeitsaufträge sind zu lösen — sinnvoll erscheint es hierbei, in Partnerarbeit vorzugehen. Zudem können die
Schüler/-innen ggf. Wörterbücher verwenden. Alternativ könnte die Lehrkraft am Anfang Hinweise zur Entschlüsselung semantischer Probleme
liefern.
Im Forum wird dann diskutiert, welchem Geschlecht die jeweilige Anzeige
zuzuordnen ist. Wichtig ist hierbei die
„Metaebene“, also die Diskussion, auf
Grund welcher Geschlechtervorstellungen diese Aussagen getroffen werden.
Dabei wird deutlich, welche Rolle Klischees im Denken spielen, gerade
wenn die Lehrkraft sukzessiv die „Lösung“ aufdeckt (Für Lösungsvorschläge
siehe S5), und diese mit den eigenen
Vorstellungen nicht übereinstimmt.
9
hende Vertiefung des Themas Gender
Roles geschehen, etwa mithilfe des
hochaktuellen Viewfinder-Bandes Gender Roles von Annegret Schrick (Langenscheidt, 2007).
Step 4
In einem letzten Schritt (eventuell als
Hausaufgabe) kann 1) eine kreative
Aufgabe gegeben werden: Write an
advert for a star, your best friend,
etc. Hierbei kann, etwa, wenn es ein
Star ist, dessen Identität in einem Ratespiel erfragt werden. Die Aufgabe,
ein anderes Mitglied der Lernergruppe
zu porträtieren, ist unter Umständen
problematisch! 2) Eine eher kognitiv
ausgerichtete Aktivität wird von den
Lernenden gefordert, wenn sie den
Auftrag erhalten, sich in die Position
eines Alien zu begeben, der die Geschlechterverhältnisse auf dem Planeten Erde nur aufgrund der vorgefundenen
Kontaktanzeigen
beschreibt,
kommentiert und wertet. Aus der
Sichtweise des Alien kann so ein humorvolles Bild der Verhältnisse zwischen Mann und Frau in einem Kurzessay verfasst werden.
Step 5
Wie eingangs erwähnt, kann im Anschluss an diese Sequenz eine einge-
2 · 2009
Gender Roles
10
TEXT
 T1
Personal Ads from The Observer
ANNOTATIONS
bubbly — lively
Celtic — from Scotland or Wales
daft — stupid
hedonistic — enjoying the good things
in life
hunk — attractive, muscular man
quirky — not exactly normal
researcher — scientist or s.o. who
works at a university to find out things
Mrs. Robinson — film about a schoolleaver falling in love with the wife of his
father’s business partner, Mrs. Robinson
Ms Write (pun) — allusion to Mr Right
(Ms./Mrs./Miss.)
Rubenesque — opposite of slim
(women the painter Ruben portrayed)
significant other (politically correct)
— partner
spark — a very small piece of burning
material
tactile — good with hands
There are a number of abbreviations
in these and other ads which are
used to save space and ultimately to
save money. Try to work out their
meaning.
attract =
educ =
F=
f/ship =
GSOH =
h’some =
indpt =
intellig =
ints =
Lancs =
Ldn. = London
l’term =
M=
nat =
n/s =
poss
p/time =
profess =
r/ship =
sim =
SW =
TLC =
veg =
WLTM =
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WORKSHEET
11
 W1 Working with Personal Ads
Assignments
A Note down what comes to your mind when you think of traditional male and female roles:
Old/Traditional Man
Old/Traditional Woman
--------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
B Note down the gender characteristics that appear in the personal ads in T1.
New Man
New Woman
--------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------
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C The structure of these ads follows a certain pattern. Please try to identify it. What do these ads begin with? What do
they move on to? What usually comes next?
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12
WORKSHEET
 W2 10 Jumbled-up Ads
Assignment
ANNOTATIONS
A All gender attributes (pronouns) have been deleted in these personal ads. Who
do you think is male, female or homosexual male? Why? How do the (popular)
categories New Woman, New Man, Old Woman, Old Man apply? Consider the issue of race and class. What is their role here? Do you see any differences to
Germany (in the way people describe themselves)?
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Frasier — British sitcom
A1 — German 1A, unique: one of a kind
Amis — British novelist, ‘amiss’: lacking,
lecturer — teacher at university
telly — television
Gender Roles
SOLUTIONS
 S1
Working with
Personal Ads (I)
 New Woman:
[cf. W1, page 11]
 Old/Traditional Man
Patriarch, head of the family, dominant, the breadwinner,
takes on responsibility for business/affairs outside the
house, handsome, strong, gentle, caring, passionate, active, lively
Has a domestic role, looks after the children and the
household, emotional, caring, warm, beautiful, passive
Abbreviations and
Their Meaning
[cf. T1, page 10]
attract = attractive
educ = educated
F = female
f/ship = friendship
GSOH = great sense of humour
h’some = handsome
indpt = independent
intellig = intelligent
ints = interests
Lancs = Lancashire (etc.)
Ldn. = London
l’term = long-term
M = male
nat = nation
n/s = non smoker
poss = possible
p/time = part-time
profess = professional
r/ship = relationship
sim = similar
SW = south-west
TLC = tender loving care
veg = vegetarian
WLTM = would like to meet
 S3
lively, carefree, creative, great sense of humour, welltravelled, tall, attractive, fit, enjoys, change, optimistic,
warm,
witty,
complicated,
hedonistic,
trendy,
Rubenesque, caring, tolerant, gentle, calm, likes romance, quirky
→emphasis mainly on character, some emphasis on appearance
 Recurring Pattern
 Old/Traditional Woman
 S2
13
----
witty, eye catcher (often a pun)
self-promotion in a nutshell (traits, physical appearance, gender, age)
own preferences, hobbies
description of prospective partner
(common interests)
region, number
 S5
10 Jumbled-up Ads
[cf. W2, page 12]
1. male, ‘tall’, ‘fit’, emphasis on interests, the partner
should be attractive
2. male, again emphasis on interests/hobbies, the partner should be slim
3. female, emphasis on appearance, likes horse-riding
4. female, maybe more difficult to identify than the others, emphasis on creativity, for the first time the colour of the person’s skin is mentioned
5. female, emphasis on appearance, then on activities, is
looking for romance
6. female, again emphasis on appearance, would like to
meet a handsome partner with money!
7. male, allusions to car
8. male, ‘Lover’ suggests that the writer is male, again
colour is mentioned,
9. gay male, emphasis on interests, the writer’s eyes are
the only physical aspect mentioned
10. female, but as far as the interests are concerned,
could also be a man.
→It is not always easy to identify the gender of the writers of the ads: they are moving closer together as far as
their interests are concerned.
Working with
Personal Ads (II)
[cf. W1, page 11]
 New man:
Tactile, sensitive, Celtic, fun, laughter, handsome, likes
meditation, travel, good food, humorous, extrovert, likes
pubs, tall, blond, attractive, in good shape, many interests, slim, arty, serious, daft.
→emphasis particularly on activities/interests, some emphasis on character traits and appearance
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Gender Roles
14
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
Jochen Baier, Evrin Genç, Christian Harsch, Simona Höll, Julia Mittler,
Sylvia Ulrich
I Man, You Woman
Delilah’s Cat by Martin Forbes
-
Objectives
to improve the students’ analyzing
and interpreting skills
to encourage the pupils to write
texts in a playful and creative way
in a rather taken-aback and shy way.
The picture can either be used as a silent impulse or with the following
questions: What can you see in the
picture? Is there anything bizarre
about it? Explain your opinions). For
suggested solutions see S1.
The Topic
Delilah’s Cat by Martin Forbes is the
story of two people who are drawn to
each other and depicts the different
ways men and women flirt. The man
embodies an aging womanizer, who
finds Delilah sexually attractive without, as far as we can see, seriously
wanting to have a longer relationship
with her. Delilah for her part plays the
harmless and helpless girl, who uses an
opening move to get the attention she
wants. With the help of her “cat story”
she manages to turn the tables on Sam
and picks up the surprised womanizer.
This story is particularly suitable when
it comes to the topic “gender roles”,
as it reverses the traditional roles of
men and women. Furthermore the
story makes human relations (love and
friendship) a subject of discussion and
thus links to the students’ everyday
experiences.
Suggested Treatment
Step 1
Pre-reading activity: I man, you
woman
In order to make the text and its topic
accessible to the students, the pupils
are confronted with W1 as a teaser.
The material depicts a situation in
which traditional gender roles are reversed. It shows a woman (dressed in
1920s fashion) who offensively flirts
with a man using typically male body
language. He, on the other hand, acts
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Step 2
Reading and analysis I: First textual
encounter and preliminary characterization
After the warm-up activity the teacher
hands out the first part of the short
story (T1) for silent reading. After
that, W2 is used to focus the students’
attention on the protagonists Sam and
Delilah as well as on the bartender,
Tick. In assignment A the students collect all the information they have obtained on the characters so far (for
suggested solutions see S2).
Step 3
Reading and text analysis II: Second
textual encounter and final characterization
As the next step, the teacher hands
out the remainder of the story T2,
which reveals the essence of the story.
The students read the excerpt and
learn more about the characters of Delilah’s Cat. They complete assignment
B on W3 (for suggested solutions see
S3).
chosen (for suggested solutions see
S3).
Step 5
Post-reading activity II: Re-writing
the story
In the next step students re-write the
story from Delilah’s point of view
(Imagine you are Delilah. Consider
what she might think and feel. Now
re-write the story from her point of
view. To make your story lively and interesting you can use, e.g., direct
speech and other narrative elements).
At the end of this step students are invited to present their results to the
class (see suggested solutions S4).
Step 6
Conclusion: Closing the circle with
W1
The picture from step 1 can be re-used
to complete the session. It comes in
handy to take another look at gender
roles against the backdrop of the short
story (Which connections do you see
between the text and the picture we
discussed at the beginning? What
should men and women be like when
they are talking to each other?)
Step 4
Post-reading activity I: Questions on
the text
To intensify their understanding of the
short story, the students complete assignment C on W3 in writing. The answers can be collected and discussed
in class and the best solutions can be
2 · 2009 Gender
Roles
WORKSHEET
15
 W1 Working on a Cartoon
Assignment
A What can you see in this picture? Is there anything unusual about it? Explain your ideas.
Your ideas:
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16
TEXT
 T1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Martin Forbes: Delilah’s Cat (Part I)
They were all
was pretty easy. Easy to convince her of the fact that noaway for the day.
55 body — none of those dark unknown creatures this city
Indeed it is bethouses — had killed her pussy. It was probably just straying.
ter to spend such
Slowly I tried to fix her thoughts on me and after a while she
a scorcher in the
seemed to be taken in by my charming wit. Top performance
of male intelligence. At that stage I was absolutely sure that
sun — out on the
Keys and catch60 in spite of all her innocence she would not reject me, if I put
ing either tan or
some more effort into the whole thing: smooth operating
tuna. Some stay
and one more Heart. My cheeks went red with excitement
white
though.
when I finally said: “What about having a look for your cat at
your place?” To my great pleasure she accepted without
Absolutely successless. I really,
65 even thinking about it. [...]
(c) Martin Forbes
really hate those
pale girls, that is
if a real man can
ANNOTATIONS
hate girls at all. That was the prime reason why I preferred
to catch a glimpse of sth. — take a quick look at sth.
Harry’s Bar in early spring. Tick smiled: “Hi, Sam, what
chat-up — a trick to start talking to sb. you do not know beabout that old Bond thing again?”, he asked as I entered the
cause you want to have a sexual relationship with him
empty room. Sometimes I used to order a dry Martini —
facial
expression — the feelings showing on a person’s face
shaken not stirred. It was kind of a show for Tick and me:
to
do
sb.
a favour — to act helpfully
getting him a good tip and getting me all the attention I
to
grip
sb./sth.
firmly — an act of holding sb./sth. tightly
needed. Unfortunately it had grown to be a bit of an old
involuntarily
—
without even noticing it
chestnut chat-up routine and we had not done it for years.
the
Keys
—
the
Florida Keys, a chain of islands south of
Not since Sean Connery gave up his one and only job and vamainland
Florida
cated it forever. Yet as nobody seemed to be listening I orold chestnut — an old joke or story that has been told too
dered the “Bond thing” one more time. Just to do Tick a
many times
favour, who was a real friend to me. “My pretending barpale
— light skin colour
tender” I used to call him. A helping hand. My order echoed
to
pick
up sb. — see “chat-up”
in the glass while my memory went plunging back into the
to
plunge
into sth. — to jump into sth., usually water
old days. Waves of smashing success. My thoughts went back
to
pretend
— to create a false impression
to Eve whom I had picked up some years ago. Nostalgia
prime
—
main;
most important
could not rule for a long time. Suddenly I heard the sound of
revelation
—
the
act of making people aware of sth. that has
a glass shattering from behind and involuntarily gripped my
been
secret
Martini more firmly. I caught a glimpse of a lady sitting in
scorcher — a very hot day
the darker lower level, which could hardly be seen by those
smashing success — a great victory
in front of the bar. She was looking sadly at her drink which
to spill sth. — here: to drop sth. on the floor
she had spilled on the floor. By its red shine I knew it was
to stand a chance — to be able to succeed
Tick’s favourite: Heart 4/5. As the waiter looked at her she
to stir — to mix a substance thoroughly, mostly using a spoon
smiled shyly as if to say: “Sorry, I’m too drunk to be responswiftly — quickly
sible”. Tick answered her looks and turned to me for one of
tan — (also sun tan) the brown colour that sb. becomes after
his usual and well-paid revelations. He did it swiftly — not
being
in the sun
more than a whisper: “Listen, son. She’s a poor girl. Desperto
vacate
— to leave a job
ate. Just here because there is something wrong with her
wit
—
the
ability to say things that are both clever and
cat. Yeah, something must have happened. Ya wanna have
amusing
her, son? Then get her another Heart. But take care. Ya
Ya wanna …? (non-standard) — Do you want to …?
know she is not one of those girls you can easily take home
with you. Huhu, I’m positive you stand a chance today. And
Assignments
son: remember she’s special so don’t hurt her”. Tick said all
this within a second and without changing his facial expresA Read the text carefully.
sion. No other guest would have understood him but it was
B What is the story about so far?
still perfectly understandable to a friend. I walked my MarWhat do you like and what don’t you like about the
tini over to her. Delilah was a good girl. She was exactly my
story?
type, in fact, and I really got into talking to her. Actually it
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17
 W2 Analyzing the Story I: The Characters
Assignment
A What can we say about the main characters of the short story so far? Go through the text (T1) again and collect all
the information you need to fill in the diagrams below.
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TEXT
 T2
Martin Forbes: Delilah’s Cat (Part II)
[...] As she went up to the bar again I 10 being a womanizer, which would obvihad some extra bucks ready for Tick
ously turn Delilah off. I was surprised
but he had left me in the meantime.
as he just greeted me relatively reTalking feverishly, I did not notice all
spectfully. Then after a while his voice
knifed me from behind. It took him
5 this — otherwise I would have tried to
avoid meeting the other barman. 15 just one second en passant: “Hey DeliKnowing so well that he was rather inlah!”, he shouted, “shall I take care of
discreet, I feared that he could again
your cat again?”. Apparently I turned a
drop some kind of comment about me
bit pale as we went out of the bar.
ANNOTATIONS
buck — a US dollar
en passant — while passing; in the
course of doing something else
feverishly — showing strong feelings of
excitement, often with a lot of activity
or quick movements
 W3 Going Deeper — Analyzing the Story II
B After reading the remainder of the short story (T2), write down how your impressions have changed. What are the
true traits of the characters?
C Now try to get a more complete picture of the text. Check what you have understood by answering the following questions.
Who is the narrator of this story?
What is the “Bond thing”?
Why does Delilah spill her drink on the floor?
Why does Sam decide to say, “What about having a look for your cat at your place”?
Why would Sam have tried to avoid meeting the other barman?
How do you understand the title of the story? In what way does the “cat” play an important role?
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SOLUTIONS
 S1
Working on a Cartoon
[cf. W1, page 15]
In this picture we can see a scene reminiscent of the 1920s.
In an apparently wealthy setting (couch, tiger rug, small oriental side table, oriental jug) a man and a woman are sitting
on a couch. Their clothing also suggests that they are relatively wealthy. Up to this point nothing distinguishes the
couple from couples on similar pictures. However, on taking
a closer look we can see that the traditional roles are reversed. The woman, who is smoking, seems to be taking the
initiative, is leaning towards the man, has her arm around
his back and seems to be offensively flirting with him. The
man on the other hand is withdrawing slightly/coyly and
seems to be rather taken aback.
 S2
Analyzing The Story I:
The Characters
[cf. W2, page 17]
 First impression
Delilah: A good girl: sad/ desperate/ special/ exactly Sam’s
type/ something is wrong with her cat/ tipsy/ impressed by Sam’s charming wit/ accepts Sam’s offer to have a look for her cat at her place without
hesitation/ clumsy, even helpless (spills her drink
on the floor)/ easy to convince/ innocent/ naive
Sam:
A womanizer: choosy (hates pale girls)/ aging/
smooth talker/ his cheeks go red when he is excited/ feverish when he talks to Delilah/ afraid
that the other barman could blow his trick/ cool
but maybe old-fashioned/ self-confident/ enjoys
attracting attention/ conceited/ successful as a
womanizer in the good old days
Tick:
A bartender: works in Harry’s Bar on the Keys/
helpful for Sam/ trustworthy (a real friend)/ discreet (passes on useful hints without changing his
facial expression)/ obviously takes bribes (his wellpaid revelations get him some extra bucks)/ aware
of Delilah’s good looks
 S3
Going Deeper: Analyzing the
Story II
[cf. W3, page 18]
19
 Questions on the text
-C.
--
Sam, the first-person narrator
It is a dry Martini ordered “shaken not stirred” and it is
also an old routine, a show for both Sam and Tick, which
they haven’t done for years. It gives Sam the attention of
the women in the bar and Tick a good tip.
She wants to gain Sam’s attention.
He is absolutely sure that Delilah won’t reject him and
that he will stand a chance tonight.
Sam fears that the other barman, who is not as discreet
as Tick, will ruin his plans by revealing to Delilah the
truth about him being a womanizer.
It is not clear whether there is a cat or not. But with the
help of her cat story Delilah manages to hook Sam.
 S4
Rewriting the Story —
Suggestion
[cf. step 5, page 14]
Tick and I had known each other for a long time and we both
knew what I was looking for. He had the perfect guy for me
and told me so many stories about his old friend Sam and the
good old days. When I heard these stories I knew this one
could be for me. I like men, I really do, and I could not wait
to meet this one at Harry’s Bar. To make sure that everything worked fine Tick and I had agreed on a cue. The sign
for Tick was the following: I should spill my cocktail on the
floor and play the drunk and helpless girl to show Tick that I
was interested in Sam to make him start doing his job. It
only took a few minutes and Sam was on his way to my table. What an easy catch … ! I had to be careful not to burst
out laughing and forced myself to smile shyly. Sam was a
really good looking and charming man. You could tell that he
put a lot of effort into our conversation. When he offered
me his help with my cat problem I just thought: “Strike!”. I
knew I’d got him — the moment his cheeks turned red. Tick
had noticed it too and left us alone. Of course, I did accept
the offer, why shouldn’t I? On our way out of the bar I saw
the other barman and only thought: “Oops, hopefully the
new barman will not ruin my plans”. He knew me and the
games I played. He could reveal that I’m a man-eater. At
first everything worked out fine but then all of a sudden he
made this stupid comment and I saw Sam’ face turn pale.
 Second Impression
B.
Delilah: man-eater: playing a game/ uninhibited (maybe a
woman who has many sexual partners)/ deceitful
Sam:
victim: shocked/ perplexed/ naive/ foolish/ blind/
so convinced of his own attractiveness that he
doesn’t stop to think that he could be the victim
this time.
Tick:
betrayer/ double dealer: deceitful/ maybe selfish
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TRANSPARENCY
1
(for use see page 1)
 OH1
Visualization: Typical Body Language
Jochen Baier, Odenthal
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Gender Roles
TRANSPARENCY
2
(for use see page 1)
 OH2
Role Play: Shopping
 The Vamp
 The Macho
 The Mouse
 The Nerd
Jochen Baier, Odenthal
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Gender Roles
22
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
Dieter Düwel, Jennifer von der Grün
“Feminists Claim Clinton and Palin Paved
the Way for a New Generation”
A newspaper article from The Guardian
-
Objectives
to make the pupils aware of the
growing number of women in important political positions
to provide the pupils with information on two important women in US
politics
to develop the pupils’ abilities to
work selectively on the main ideas
of a newspaper article
The Topic
The US election campaign 2008 has differed from former campaigns in the
way that never before have women
played such a decisive role on the Democratic as well as on the Republican
side. In this context the topic of women in politics has again attracted
public attention, particularly in the
American media.
In recent years women in various
countries have taken over political
power. Today there are more women
in governments than ever before.
The proportion of women in national
assemblies has increased by 8 % to
the current global average of 18.4 %
in the decade from 1998 to 2008,
compared to an increase of just 1% in
the two decades after 1975. Yet
even at the current rate of increase,
developing countries will not reach
the “parity zone” where neither sex
holds more than 60 % of seats until
2045 (http://www.unifem.org/).
Women are also scarce in US politics
with only 16 % of seats in Congress. Although more than 90 % of voters say
they would vote for a woman, barely
half believe that the US is ready for a
woman president.
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More facts about women in politics can
be found on the website of the Center
for American Women and Politics,
which offers a large variety of facts,
research work and press releases
(http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/).
The text at hand deals with the two
female protagonists in the US election
campaign 2008, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. It offers factual information
about their roles in the campaign but
also examines the impact these two
women have had on the American society in the way that their roles have
led to a greater readiness in the minds
of Americans to accept women as a real political force.
The following suggestions can be used
in a series of lessons about the topics
of gender roles and politics, but they
might also be helpful when dealing
with the US presidential campaign
2008.
Suggested Treatment
Step 1
Introduction to the topic
At the beginning of the lesson the pupils can be asked to exchange what
they know about women in politics and
in important political positions.
The following questions/tasks might be
helpful to initiate a discussion:
Which women in leading political
roles do you know?
The pupils might mention women such
as, e.g., Angela Merkel (German chancellor), Condoleezza Rice (US Foreign
Secretary und George Bush), Hillary
Clinton (Presidential Candidate and
United States Secretary of State). The
teacher can refer to other female political leaders, e.g. Ségolène Royal
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2 · 2009
(Presidential Candidate of the French
Socialists), Michelle Bachelet (President of Chile), Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
(President of Liberia), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (President of Argentina).
The following website offers a list of
political offices which have been held
by women:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_
the_first_female_holders_of_political
_offices
Why do you think women have increasingly gained important political positions in recent years?
-
Step 2
Explaining the function of the introductory paragraph
After reading the first paragraph and
the accompanying annotations the pupils can be asked to speculate on and
discuss the journalist’s reasons for
starting her article in this way. They
will most probably conclude that the
writer presupposes a certain amount of
information on the part of the reader,
who is forced to reflect on what
he/she has previously heard about the
two female American politicians mentioned in the heading. As a great deal
of news space was devoted to the
American presidential campaign in British newspapers, most readers of The
Guardian will recognise the brief references made here.
Step 3
Working on the main ideas of the text:
Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin — two
female candidates in the US presidential campaigns 2008
Gender Roles
NOTES
FOR
After reading the complete article the
pupils can be asked to collect the information they find in the text on the
two candidates (see W1 and for solutions see S1). As the text contains both
facts and opinions, the worksheet has
been constructed to accommodate
these two aspects and to force the pupils to distinguish between these two
areas. To conclude this step the pupils
should then be in a position to identify
the importance of these women for
other women in politics in general (see
W1 Conclusions and S1).
Step 4
The journalist’s message and the way
she presents her position:
As the pupils will have ascertained at
the end of the previous step, Suzanne
Goldenberg is trying to make it clear
to the reader that both Hillary Clinton
and Sarah Palin have “helped ease the
way for a new generation of women”,
particularly in the political field. To do
this she makes use of a number of
structural and stylistic devices. Therefore the pupils should examine the
structure in this phase and the language of the text (for the task see W1
and for solutions see S2).
-
THE
TEACHER
23
Comment on the evaluation of
Hillary Clinton, who has been
characterised as “a woman who is
struggling to find an ideal mix of
feminism and femininity, one that
allows a woman to behave both
like and unlike a man without being penalized either way” (The
Times Magazine 10 February 2008).
To what extent are you influenced/do you think you would be
influenced by the fact that a political candidate in an election that
you are taking part in is female? To
what extent do you think you are
in this respect a representative of
the majority of voters?
Step 5
Comment
In this final step the pupils have the
chance to express their opinions about
the topic of women in politics in general and about the two protagonists at
hand in particular. The following suggestions can serve as starting points
for a written comment or a discussion.
How would you answer the question included in the following quotation: “In recent years women
have taken over political leadership in various countries and continents, e.g. Tarja Halonen in
Finland, Angela Merkel in Germany
or Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Were
they elected just because they are
women or despite the fact that
they are women?” (adapted from:
http://www.kas.de/proj/home/pu
b/57/1/year-2007/dokument_id12086/index.html
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Gender Roles
24
TEXT
 T1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Feminists Claim Clinton and Palin Paved the Way for a
New Generation
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Lipstick on pitbulls. Tears in New
Hampshire. Moose-hunting hockey
moms
turned
shop-till-you-drop
$150,000 campaign wardrobe divas.
Eighteen million cracks in the glass ceiling.
What was billed as the year of the
woman in American politics regularly
slid into sexism and silliness. But feminists argued yesterday that Hillary
Clinton and Sarah Palin helped ease
the way for a new generation of women.
Except, of course, that for all the talk
about shattering the proverbial glass
ceiling Clinton lost the Democratic
nomination to Barack Obama. Palin,
for all the early excitement of her
candidacy, morphed into the comedian
Tina Fey, was backstabbed by her own
campaign staff as a diva gone rogue
and could be on her way back to Alaska tomorrow morning.
Supporters of both women claim they
were victims of sexism, ranging from
overweening interest in their wardrobes to unfair suspicion of their policy
platforms.
Even so, Gloria Steinem sees the campaign as a net plus. “Clinton’s candidacy has made it possible for huge
numbers of people to imagine a female
head of state,” she said. “I always
thought it was too early but now there
is a change in the molecules in the air
so that people can imagine a female
head of state. She has also brought
large numbers of women into political
life.”
The two women followed very different trajectories. Clinton entered the
race for the White House as one of the
best-funded and well-connected candidates in history. She lost her lofty
status as a former first lady and White
House favourite to Obama but remade
herself along the way into a gritty
street-fighting populist.
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
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Palin, the maverick mother of five who
was hailed as a breath of Arctic fresh air,
became the first woman to join a presidential ticket in a generation after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. She was also the
first woman of the right on a national
ticket, hailed by Camille Paglia as a new
muscular breed of feminist.
Michelle Obama, an increasingly popular fixture on the campaign trail, was
also seen as inspirational as a deeply
engaged spouse, and a new model of
first lady.
Both Clinton and Palin were lauded for
showing their willingness for the fight:
Clinton for her determination to fight
to the end, Palin for her undented
self-confidence in the face of multiple
fiascos.
Clinton did not fully embrace the historic nature of her candidacy until her
concession speech in June, when she
talked about cracks in the glass ceiling.
However, gender was a constant on the
landscape. In New Hampshire, a moment
of weakness, when Clinton came close to
tears, was endlessly dissected. Women’s
groups accused media commentators of
unfair treatment.
But Steinem argues that even the sexist heckling at Clinton rallies and the
negative treatment from cable television hosts had had a positive effect in
opening the eyes of a younger generation of women to sexism. “Lots of women in their 20s and 30s were shocked
and appalled,” said Steinem. “It awoke
them to a problem that they thought
had been solved.”
Palin, by campaigning with infant in tow,
may have helped break down one of the
most enduring prejudices against mothers in the workplace. “Nobody after
Palin is going to say a woman should be
home with her children,” said Barbara
Ehrenreich. “Here is a woman with a
newborn special needs baby and a
daughter in a terrible crisis and out on
the campaign trail, but we are not going
to get that line any more — probably because the people likely to say that are
Republican.”
2 · 2009
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
145
Republicans acknowledge that it is
unlikely John McCain would have chosen Palin without Clinton having been
a candidate in the first place. Palin
herself suggested her candidacy would
help make up for Clinton being passed
over as a vice-presidential candidate
for Joe Biden. “It was rightly noted in
Denver this week that Hillary left 18m
cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America,” Palin said. “But it
turns out the women of America aren’t
finished yet, and we can shatter that
glass ceiling once and for all.”
But Palin also provoked a ferocious
backlash from leftwing and liberal
women. One hockey mom, swathed in
a team jersey, went to the extent of
making a video of herself singing an
aria, to the tune of Evita: “Don’t speak
for me, Sarah Palin.”
At the very least, Clinton and Palin
forced Americans to get used to the idea
of seeing and hearing women at national
debates and at mass rallies.
That has yet to pan out this election
year. The Centre for American Women
and Politics reports that fewer women
are running for Congress and elected state office than in other years.
But Marie Wilson, the director of the
White House project which trains
women for leadership, argues that
Clinton’s candidacy had already forced
Democrats to be more responsive to
the concerns of women voters. “For
the first time in at least a decade,
women are talked about, women voters are sought after with a different
kind of passion and purpose than just
getting us to vote. Everyone realises
that we are a force.”
The Guardian 4 November 2008
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited
2009
Gender Roles
TEXT
25
ANNOTATIONS
appalled — very shocked and upset
backlash — a strong negative reaction
by a number of people against recent
events, especially against political or
social developments
to backstab — to attack s.o’s back
with a knife (here: metaphorical)
to bill sth. as sth. — to advertise or
describe sth. in a particular way
breed — here: type or sort
Camille Paglia — an American author,
teacher and social critic
campaign trail — Wahlkampftour
concession speech — the speech in
which Hillary Clinton admitted that she
had lost the fight for the nomination of
the Democratic presidential candidate
to Barrack Obama
cracks in the glass ceiling — Conceding defeat to Barrack Obama in the
Democratic
nomination
campaign
2008, Hillary Clinton said: “Although
we weren’t able to shatter the highest, hardest glass ceiling this time,
thanks to you it’s got about 18 million
cracks in it.”
to dissect — to examine sth. carefully
ferocious — violent, dangerous, and
frightening
to be a fixture — to be always present
and not likely to move or go away
glass ceiling — reference to the invisible barriers which are said to prevent
women from rising to the top jobs in
various spheres of life
Gloria Steinem — an American feminist, journalist and political activist
gritty — showing determination and
courage
to hail — to greet
to heckle — to interrupt and try to
embarrass s.o. who is speaking or performing in public
hockey mom — a mother who regularly takes her child to hockey practice
by car
to join a presidential ticket — to be
nominated as a party’s candidate for
vice president
to laud — to praise
Lipstick on pitbulls — a phrase taken
from a quotation by Sarah Palin: “I
love those hockey moms. You know
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they say the difference between a
hockey mom and a pitbull — lipstick.”
lofty — high
maverick — an adjective describing an
unusual person who has different ideas
and ways of behaving from other people, and is often very successful
Moose-hunting hockey moms — reference to Sarah Palin who really does
shoot moose and who sees herself as a
hockey mom
to morph into — to develop a new appearance or change into sth. else
on a national ticket — as a candidate
for vice-presidency in a national election
net plus — (taken from the economic
field) here: despite all the drawbacks,
women have profited from Clinton’s
and Palin’s campaigns
overweening — exaggerated
to pan out — to happen or develop in a
particular way
populist — sb. who relates or represents ordinary people, rather than rich
or very highly educated people
proverbial — sprichwörtlich
rally — large public meeting
rogue — a person not behaving in the
usual or accepted way and often causing trouble
to shatter — to break suddenly into
very small pieces, or to make something break in this way
shop-till-you-drop … — reference to
Sarah Palin who is said to have spent
over $150,000 on clothes and accessories after her vice-presidential nomination in 2008, $25,000 more than her
annual salary before tax
special needs baby — handicapped
baby. Palin’s son has Down’s syndrome
spouse — here: wife
to swathe — to wrap or cover sth. or
sb. in sth.
Tears in New Hampshire — reference
to Hillary Clinton who was seen to be
close to tears in New Hampshire during
the Democratic nomination campaign
2008. This allegedly won her the New
Hampshire votes
Tina Fey — an American comedian
known among other things for her impersonation of Sarah Palin
2 · 2009
in tow — following closely behind s.o.
or sth.
trajectory — a chosen course or strategy
undented — here: showing no signs of
weakness
wardrobe divas — women who spent a
lot of money on new clothes
Gender Roles
26
WORKSHEET
 W1 Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin — Their Role in the US Presidential
Election Campaign
Assignment
A After reading the text carefully, note down the information you have gained about the two female American politicians. What do they have in common?
What conclusions can be drawn from their prominent roles in the American presidential campaign?
Hillary Clinton
Sarah Palin
Facts
Evaluation
Similarities between Clinton and Palin
Conclusion
Assignment
B The conclusion you have noted down in the table above can be seen as the journalist’s message. Examine how she has
structured her text and what language she has used to convey her message to the reader and to make it convincing.
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Gender Roles
SOLUTIONS
 S1
27
Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin — Their Role in the US Presidential
Election Campaign
[cf. W1, page 26]
Facts
Evaluation
--
Hillary Clinton
lost the Democratic nomination to Barrack Obama
(paragraph 3)
one of the “best-funded and well-connected candidates in history” (paragraph 6)
developed from the former first lady to a “streetfighting populist” (paragraph 6)
only became aware of the significance of her candidacy for women in the course of her campaign
(paragraph 10)
lost control of her emotions, which was seen and
criticized as a weakness by the media
(paragraph 11)
sexist attacks on Clinton made young female voters
aware of some difficulties faced by female politicians
made Democrats take greater notice of the interests
of women voters (paragraph 18)
--
Sarah Palin
was criticised (even betrayed?) by her own campaigners (paragraph 3)
a mother of five children (paragraph 7)
first female vice-presidential candidate since 1984
(paragraph 7)
the first female Republican candidate in a presidential election (paragraph 7)
was accompanied during her campaign by her baby
(paragraph 13)
considered to be a person who could bring in new
ideas; “Arctic fresh air”: reference to her home
state Alaska (paragraph 7)
considered by some to be a strong, tough female
fighter (paragraph 7)
helped to destroy prejudices against working mothers (paragraph 13)
the fact that the Democrats had a female candidate
for a high office put the Republicans under pressure
to do the same (paragraph 14)
evoked negative criticism from left-wing and liberal
women (paragraph 15)
Similarities between Clinton and Palin
both prepared the way for future generations of women in politics in spite of the fact that in the end both failed this time (paragraphs 2/3)
both are claimed to be “victims of sexism” (paragraph 4)
both are willing to fight and show staying power (paragraph 9)
both forced Americans to become accustomed to women standing for high political office (paragraph 16)
Conclusion
Despite the differences between these two female candidates and the parties they represent, the fact that they
were nominated for high political offices has led to a greater readiness in the minds of Americans to accept women as a real political force.
 S2
The Journalist’s Message and the Devices She Uses
[cf. W1, page 26] HK: Bitte Zeilenangaben nach Korrektur prüfen
 Structural Devices:
 Stylistic devices:
first paragraph: the writer begins the text with snappy references to previous news items — intrigues some readers and
makes them think/makes them interested
second paragraph: the journalist expresses her main idea
third to penultimate paragraphs: the writer presents various
concrete facts to underline her thesis and a number of opinions
of experts, who consider different aspects of the subject
final paragraph: the quotation of an expert which confirms
the thesis stated in paragraph 2
Catchphrases, short snappy sentences at the beginning
Alliteration: “sexism and silliness” (l. 9); “maverick mother”
(l. 49)
Metaphor: “paved the way for …” (headline), “was backstabbed by her own campaign staff” (ll.20—21); “there is a
change in the molecules in the air” (ll. 34—35); “undented
self-confidence” (ll. 66—67)
Simile: “hailed as a breath of Arctic fresh air” (ll. 50—51)
Quotation of the metaphor “cracks in the glass ceiling” (in
various paragraphs)
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Gender Roles
28
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
Ute Ritzenhofen
Gender Roles Down Under
Die australische Fernsehserie McLeod’s Daughters
(Sekundarstufe II)
-
Ziele
-
Die Schüler/-innen lernen die Fernsehserie McLeod’s Daughters kennen und erhalten Einblicke in das
Leben auf einer australischen sheep
and cattle station,
mittels ausgewählter Folgen der
Serie lernen sie die australische Varietät der englischen Sprache kennen und üben sich durch gelenkte
while-viewing activities darin, Filmen gezielt Informationen zu entnehmen,
Sie analysieren und vergleichen das
Verhalten der Charaktere und denken über traditionelle geschlechtsspezifische
Rollenvorstellungen
nach.
richtet werden. Wenn man die Behandlung der Serie McLeod’s Daughters zu
einer längeren Unterrichtsreihe über
gender roles in Australien ausbauen
möchte, bieten sich dazu u.a. folgende
Materialien an:
der Anfang des Spielfilms Crocodile
Dundee, dessen Protagonist das
Stereotyp des australischen Macho
verkörpert,
die Kurzgeschichte The Drover’s
Wife von Henry Lawson, die die
Schwierigkeiten eines Frauenlebens
im ländlichen Australien im 19.
Jahrhundert schildert (z.B. zu finden in der Viewfinder-Sammlung:
Australia and New Zealand. Stories
from Down Under, Hrsg. Karin Ikas
und David Carter, München: Langenscheidt, 2004).
-
Zum Inhalt
Die seit 2001 laufende australische
Fernsehserie McLeod’s Daughters erzählt die Geschichte der ungleichen
Halbschwestern Claire und Tess McLeod, die nach dem Tod ihres Vaters dessen Besitz, die Schaf- und Rinderfarm
Drovers Run, übernehmen. Die äußerst
traditionelle Gesellschaft des ländlichen Südaustralien macht ihnen dies
nicht leicht. Vor allem in der ersten
Staffel der Serie wird gezeigt, wie die
beiden jungen Frauen den Männern der
Umgebung beweisen, dass sie in der
Lage sind, die Schaf- und Rinderfarm
zu übernehmen.
Die hier vorgeschlagene Unterrichtseinheit bezieht sich auf die erste Staffel. Sie führt anhand der ersten drei
Folgen in die Thematik der Serie ein.
Diese Unterrichtsreihe kann als Teil einer Reihe über Australien, über das
Thema gender roles oder auch als eigenständige Unterrichtsreihe unter-
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Vorschläge für den Unterrichtsverlauf
Step 1
Als Einstieg in die Unterrichtseinheit
kann ein Bildimpuls dienen, wozu sich
z.B. die Abbildung auf der englischsprachigen DVD-Hülle der ersten Staffel anbietet, die die beiden McLeodSchwestern Claire und Tess vor einem
ländlichen Hintergrund zeigt (http:/
/www.amazon.com/McLeods-DaughtersComplete-First-Season/dp/B000GNOH
82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=12
24152806&sr=1-1). Die Schüler/-innen
können darüber spekulieren, wer die
beiden Frauen sind, wo sie leben, welche Berufe sie haben etc.
Step 2
Danach kann ohne weitere Vorbereitung die erste der immer etwa 40
Minuten langen Folgen der Serie angesehen werden. Sie führt die beiden
2 · 2009
Protagonistinnen und den Handlungsort
Drovers Run ein. Claire ist bei ihrem
Vater Jack McLeod auf dem Land aufgewachsen und mit Leben und Arbeit
auf einer sheep and cattle station vertraut, während Tess mit ihrer kürzlich
verstorbenen Mutter in der Stadt lebte
und erst jetzt nach Drovers Run zurückkehrt, weil ihr Vater ihr die Hälfte
des Besitzes hinterlassen hat. Da die
starke Hand Jack McLeods fehlt, versuchen die Farmarbeiter und der Aufseher sich zu bereichern, sodass Claire
keine andere Wahl hat, als alle zu entlassen und zu versuchen, den riesigen
Besitz ohne männliche Hilfe zu bewirtschaften.
Als while-viewing-activity füllen die
Schüler/-innen eine Tabelle aus, um
die beiden Halbschwestern Claire und
Tess systematisch zu vergleichen (W1).
(Für Lösungsvorschläge s. S1.)
Step 3
Im Anschluss an die Besprechung der
Ergebnisse wird ein Zeitungsartikel
über die Serie gelesen, der 2004 in der
New York Times veröffentlicht wurde,
kurz nachdem die australische Serie im
amerikanischen Fernsehen angelaufen
war (T1). Der Text kann zunächst mithilfe einer auf Adjektive fokussierten
Vokabelübung sowie mithilfe einiger
Verständnisfragen besprochen werden
(W2) und sollte dann als Ausgangspunkt für eine erste Diskussion der
Frage dienen, ob McLeod’s Daughters
eine feministische Botschaft besitzt.
(Für Lösungsvorschläge s. S2)
Step 4
Im nächsten Arbeitsschritt wird die
zweite Folge, Ducks on the Pond, angesehen, in der die Frauen der Serie in
Gender Roles
NOTES
FOR
eine traditionelle australische Männerdomäne einbrechen. Die Scherer, die
nach Drovers Run kommen, um eine
zum Verkauf anstehende Schafherde zu
scheren, versuchen, die Notsituation
der McLeod-Töchter auszunutzen — ihr
Anführer Marty glaubt durch Manipulation und Druck die Stelle des Aufsehers
auf Drovers Run ergaunern zu können.
Da Claire darauf nicht eingeht, sind die
Frauen gezwungen, die Schafherde allein zu scheren. Der einzige männliche
Scherer, der ihnen dabei zur Seite
steht, ist bezeichnenderweise der
Außenseiter Vernon, der als Homosexueller ebenfalls gegen traditionelle
Rollenvorstellungen verstößt. Als while-viewing activity soll die Lerngruppe
einige markante Zitate und deren Kontext identifizieren (W3), die anschließend Grundlage eines Unterrichtsgesprächs sind. Dabei sollte mit gezielten
Fragen herausgearbeitet werden, was
die Zitate über die Ansichten und Werte der Charaktere aussagen:
A Explain what these statements tell
us about:
the characters’ values and beliefs,
the way they see Australia and the
society of rural Southern Australia,
male and female roles.
(Für Lösungsvorschläge s. S3)
--
THE
TEACHER
dem sie es bis in die Endrunde geschafft hat, verzichtet sie jedoch
kurzentschlossen auf eine weitere Teilnahme, um der jungen Becky zur Seite
zu stehen, die in der Nacht zuvor vergewaltigt wurde und sich daher nun in
einer sehr bedrohlichen Situation befindet. Becky zieht daraufhin nach
Drovers Run, um dort als farmhand zu
arbeiten. Am Ende der dritten Folge
haben fünf Frauen auf Drovers Run zusammengefunden: die Halbschwestern
Claire und Tess, die Haushälterin Meg,
deren Tochter Jodi und schließlich die
junge Becky, die hier nicht nur eine
Arbeitsstelle, sondern auch ein neues
Zuhause findet. Um das Schicksal dieser fünf Frauen geht es im weiteren
Verlauf der Serie.
Als while-viewing activity sollen die
Schülerinnen und Schüler, während sie
sich die dritte Folge dieser Staffel
ansehen, eine Reihe von Fragen beantworten. Diese Fragen sollen ihre
Aufmerksamkeit zum einen auf die
traditionellen Rollenvorstellungen der
ländlichen australischen Gesellschaft,
zum anderen auf die Vorgeschichte
und die Folgen der Vergewaltigung Beckys lenken (W4). (Für Lösungsvorschläge s. S4)
29
-
“Mateship” is an Australian concept
that can be traced back to early
colonial times. The difficult environment in which convicts and setctlers found themselves meant that
they relied on each other for all
sorts of help. “Mateship” is a term
traditionally used among men and
it is used to describe the relationship between men during times of
challenge. Discuss the role of
“mateship” in McLeod’s Daughters.
Creative writing assignments:
Claire explains to Tess why she has
offered Becky a job and a home.
Write down their dialogue.
Jodi and Becky talk about the
events of the Gungellan rodeo.
Write down their dialogue.
-
Step 7
Step 5
Als post-viewing activity können die
Lernenden überlegen, wie die Serie
weitergeht. Sie können Ideen für die
nächste Folge formulieren sowie u.U.
auch den Anfang eines Drehbuchs
schreiben.
Step 6
In der dritten Folge, Don’t Mess with
the Girls, besuchen die Frauen von
Drovers Run ein Rodeo in der nahgelegenen Kleinstadt Gungellan. Claire
möchte durch ihre Teilnahme an einem
der Reitwettbewerbe, dem sogenannten campdraft, beweisen, dass sie bereit und fähig ist, in die Fußstapfen ihres Vaters zu treten, der nicht nur ein
erfolgreicher Landbesitzer, sondern
auch ein Rodeo-Champion war. Nach-
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betrifft uns
Nach Besprechung dieser Fragen sollte
auf die eingangs bereits erwähnte und
im New York Times-Artikel angesprochene Frage zurückgekommen werden,
inwieweit es sich bei McLeod’s Daughters um eine feministische Serie handelt.
Um die in den behandelten Folgen angesprochenen Themen weiter zu vertiefen, bieten sich als Abschluss der
Unterrichtseinheit
analytische
und/oder kreative Schreibaufträge an:
Essay assignments:
Explain and discuss Anita Gates’s
statement that McLeod’s Daughters
is “about women’s empowerment.”
Describe the setting and draw conclusions on the role it plays in the
mentality of the inhabitants.
-
2 · 2009
Gender Roles
30
WORKSHEET
 W1 Welcome Home
McLeod’s Daughters, season 1, episode 1: “Welcome Home”
While watching the first episode, compare the two half-sisters
Claire McLeod and Tess Silverman-McLeod.
What do they look like?
How do they dress?
Where did they grow up?
Which parent did they
grow up with?
What type of car do
they have?
What do they like to
talk about?
What are they good
(and/or bad) at?
Describe their personality and behaviour.
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2 · 2009
Gender Roles
TEXT
 T1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Estrogen Rides Tall in the Saddle in the Australian Outback
Call it “Dallas” down under, “Bonanza”
with better hair or “The Thorn Birds”
with the sheep but not the priest. It’s
just nice that the first Australian western to hit American television screens
is something of an all-woman affair.
“McLeod’s Daughters,” an enormous
hit in its home country, is the Women’s Entertainment network’s first
prime-time drama series, and the reasons for its popularity are reported to
be multifaceted.
“For the rural audience, it’s having
their life and their environment reflected back at them,” said Lisa Chappell, who plays Claire McLeod. “For
the urban part of the audience, the
women love that there’s a whole
bunch of women running a ranch and
the men have a whole bunch of gorgeous gals on top of a horse. And everybody loves the landscape.”
They must. Since “McLeod’s Daughters” had its premiere in August 2001,
it has become Australia’s No. 1 drama
series. This year the series won awards
for most popular Australian drama series, most popular Australian program,
most popular actress (Ms. Chappell)
and most popular actor (Aaron Jeffery). The premise is a sister-act version
of the classic city mouse-country mouse encounter. In the first episode,
which had its [U.S.] premiere last
weekend, Tess Silverman-McLeod (Bridie Carter), whose mother has just
died, leaves her fast-paced urban life
in Melbourne for a visit to Drover’s
Run, a sprawling outback cattle ranch,
half of which she has inherited. (“I’m
fabulously wealthy,” she tells a friend
by cellphone.) There she finds her
half-sister, Claire McLeod, desperately
trying to keep the farm going since the
recent death of the girls’ father, Jack.
Claire isn’t in any position to buy out
Tess’s half, so neither of them is fabulously wealthy. The young women also
haven’t seen each other in 20 years,
but Tess, who was at loose ends back
in the city, decides to stay for a while.
Claire is not thrilled. Tess quickly demonstrates an unexpected knack for
home repairs, but also lets the cattle
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55
60
65
70
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escape by not fastening the snap-hook
on the gate. On the plus side, she is an
eyewitness to the hired hands, all
men, stealing fuel, and that’s the end
of them. Luckily, Claire and Tess can
count on three other women. Meg (Sonia Todd) is the attractive blond housekeeper, who may have been Jack’s
lover; Jodi (Rachael Carpani) is Meg’s
perky daughter, fresh out of boarding
school; and Becky (Jessica Napier) is
the flirtatious grocery delivery person,
who quits her job to be part of the
team. Luckily the women all ride and
look good in tight jeans and cowboy
hats.
In this week’s episode, a married pub
keeper commits rape, and in last
week’s […] one of the temporary sheep
shearers is suspected of multiple murders. But all the men in Claire and
Tess’s world aren’t useless, evil or
both. That’s just part of the setup, to
leave the women on their own. In fact,
as time passes, the series becomes a
full-blown romance. Mr. Jeffery plays
Alex Ryan, a neighbor and close friend
of Claire’s who is attracted to Tess at
first sight. To the show’s credit, it takes its own sweet time to let sexual
tensions build and simmer.
Posie Graeme-Evans, who developed
the series […], declares herself a complete romantic whose favorite films include “Notting Hill” (glamorous movie
star falls for humble bookseller) and
“When Harry Met Sally” (opposite-sex
pals finally realize they’re crazy about
each other). “I love nothing more than
to go to the movies and sit in the dark
and hold hands,” she said.
Ms. Carter is fine with that aspect of
the series. “At times it is absolutely
sentimental in its romance,” she said
in an interview from the set near Adelaide, where she was shooting the
show’s fifth season. “You embrace
that sentimentality with absolute
truth, so it’s been a great teacher for
me as an actor.”
But viewers don’t usually fall for just
any romance that comes along. And although the series had just begun when
the terrorist attacks of September 11
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150
made viewers everywhere yearn for a
simpler, more peaceful world, it
couldn’t be just the timing either.
“It’s about endurance and persistence,” said Ms. Graeme-Evans in a
telephone interview by cell phone
from the outback, where she was on
vacation with her husband. “I think it’s
about life-affirming things. I think it’s
about strength and community, the
enduring power of love, reconnecting
with one another and being loyal. People yawn when you say things like
that, but in the end it’s translated all
round the world.”
But surely it’s about women’s empowerment too.
“I hadn’t seen it that way; I’m fortunate enough to be of a generation —
see people as people,” said Ms. Carter,
who was born in 1970. “My mother was
a feminist.”
But, she added, “I’m so proud that the
two lead characters are women.”
Ms. Chappell, who was born in 1969,
also contends that this is not a feminist
show. “No, it’s a romantic drama and
unabashed about that,” she said in a
telephone interview from Auckland,
New Zealand, where she was visiting
her family and had just become an
aunt for the first time. But it is unique,
she said, that “the leads of the show
are five women — and women doing a
man’s job, living in a man’s world.”
“Feminist” must be a very bad word in
some parts of the world.
Ms. Chappell, unlike her co-star, does
not see her world as one of utopian
equality. “We are still second-class citizens,” she said, acknowledging pay
inequities, among other things. But she
sees hope in the success of many women, like Ms. Graeme-Evans, who is
“in an incredibly powerful position” as
head of drama at the Nine Network.
(c) Anita Gates, The New York Times, October 10,
2004
Assignment
A Read the text carefully and look
up the words you don’t know.
Gender Roles
32
WORKSHEET
 W2 Working on the Text
1. Vocabulary
12 lucky
A Read the definitions. Find the words in T1 that go with
them.
--------------------------------------------------------
1
having many different aspects to be considered:
-------------------------------------------------------
2
connected with or like the countryside:
-------------------------------------------------------
3
2. Questions
A Why has “McLeod’s Daughters” become Australia’s
most popular drama series?
--------------------------------------------------------
The opposite of 2:
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
4
B What does Anita Gates mean when she calls the show
“a sister-act version of the classic city mouse-country
mouse encounter”?
very beautiful and attractive:
-------------------------------------------------------
5
--------------------------------------------------------
very busy and hectic:
-------------------------------------------------------
6
cheerful and full of energy:
C Who is Posie Graeme-Evans?
-------------------------------------------------------
7
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
tending to flirt:
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
8
D What is the connection between “McLeod’s Daughters” and the terrorist attacks of September 11?
not permanent:
-------------------------------------------------------
9
--------------------------------------------------------
especially attractive and exciting:
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
10 having a low rank or social position:
-------------------------------------------------------
11 remaining faithful to sb.
E How do Lisa Chappell and Bridie Carter see the show?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
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Gender Roles
WORKSHEET
33
 W3 Ducks on the Pond
Quote
character(s)
1
“Who’s in charge of the place now?”
“That would be me.” “For real?”
2
“I’ve met more men here in three
days than in a month in the city.”
3
“Great! If he killed his wife, he must
be single.”
4
“Ducks on the pond.” “And that
would mean?” “Women in a shearing
shed … who might be easily offended.” “They’ll be opening doors
for us next!”
5
“Nice outfit! Where’s the rest of it?”
6
“This is so Aussie: sheep, stock, a
shed full of shearers.” “An ex-con
and a murderer … That’s Aussie!”
7
“The rifle is not in the house for
decoration.”
8
“What sort of plans? … An overseas
trip? Some new clothes? A car?”
9
“I could shear faster than you.”
10
“You never keep this place going by
yourself!”
11
“You wanna do it by yourself, do it
by yourself.”
12
“I know what you are going to say:
How do years of history and this
place compare with cappuccino and
cheesecake?”
13
“You gotta show them who’s oss!”
14
“There’s worse things in life than being taken for a mass-murderer.”
“There are?” “There are around here.”
15
“He looks so manly.”
16
“Do you know what’s really sad? He’s
the first bloke mum has looked at in
years, and he’s gay.”
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Context
Gender Roles
34
WORKSHEET
 W4 Don’t Mess with the Girls
McLeod’s Daughters, season 1, episode 3:
“Don’t Mess with the Girls”
1
What does Tess mean when she remarks to Alex that it is
“testosterone city around here”?
6
Why does Becky refuse to dance with Jed?
--------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2
Why does Claire participate in the
rodeo?
How does Tess find out who raped Becky?
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3
7
What did Jack McLeod and Harry Ryan plan for Claire’s
future?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8
Why does Bryan fire Becky?
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
9
-------------------------------------------------------
4
Describe Becky’s behaviour in the pub of the Gungellan
Hotel.
Why does Claire miss her chance to win the campdraft
competition of the rodeo?
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
10 Why does Becky cut off her hair at the end of the episode?
-------------------------------------------------------
5
Why does Tess laugh when the rodeo announcer calls
Claire a “brave little lady”?
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Gender Roles
SOLUTIONS
 S2
-
Welcome Home
[cf. W1, page 30]
What do they look like? Claire: medium-length dark
hair, attractive and athletic; Tess: long blond hair, beautiful and feminine, always wears earrings.
How do they dress? Claire: usually wears trousers, often
jeans and shirts, generally darker colours like blue,
green, grey, always a cowboy hat; Tess: dresses and
blouses, often brighter colours like orange, pink, red,
more fashionable than Claire.
Where did they grow up? Claire: in the country; Tess: in
the city.
Which parent did they grow up with? Claire: with her
father, Jack McLeod; Tess: with her mother, Ruth Silverman-McLeod, Jack’s second wife.
What type of car do they have? Claire: owns a ute (Australian English for utility vehicle), but generally rides
everywhere; Tess: an orange VW beetle convertible.
What do they like to talk about? Claire: Drovers Run,
cattle, horses, practical things; Tess: relationships, feelings, people.
What are they good (and/or bad) at? Claire: good at
practical things, riding, taking care of cattle, not good at
talking about problems, Tess: good at fixing things
around the house (door), not good at riding and other
farm activities.
Describe their personality and behaviour. Claire:
tough, strong, direct, serious, sometimes confrontational, practical, hard-working, decisive, cool, passionate about Drovers Run; Tess: friendly, always smiling,
open, flirtatious, romantic, sentimental, sensitive.
 S2
Working on the Text
[cf. W2, page 32]
1. Vocabulary: 1. multifaceted, 2. rural, 3. urban, 4. gorgeous, 5. fast-paced, 6. perky, 7. flirtatious, 8. temporary,
9. glamorous, 10. humble, 11. loyal, 12. fortunate.
2. Questions:
1. McLeod’s Daughters has become so successful because it
has something for everyone: it appeals to rural and to
urban audiences as well as to men and women.
2. “A sister-act version of the classic city mouse-country
mouse encounter” sums up the show’s plotline: Tess and
Claire are half-sisters; Tess grew up in the city, Claire in
the country. It is also an allusion to the movie Sister Act
and to a fable by Aesop.
3. Posie Graeme-Evans is the person who developed the series and she is also the head of drama at Nine Network,
the Australian television station that produces McLeod’s
Daughters.
4. After the terrorist attacks television audiences wanted to
watch films about a simpler, more peaceful world, which is
(partly) true of the world presented in McLeod’s Daughters.
5. Both actors argue that the show is not feminist, but simply a romantic drama series. However, they also stress
the fact that all the leading characters are women.
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 S3
35
Ducks on the Pond
[cf. W3, page 33]
1. Marty and Claire, when Marty hears that Jack McLeod
has died.
2. Tess, when the shearers arrive.
3. Meg, joking about Vernon after she hears the rumours
about him.
4. Marty, Tess and Meg, after one of the shearers has used
bad language in the shearing shed.
5. Meg, about Jodi’s skimpy outfit in the shearing shed.
6. Tess and Becky, during the shearing.
7. Claire, when Meg, Jodi, Tess, and she talk about what
would be their reaction if somebody wanted to take
something irreplaceable away from them.
8. Claire, when talking to Tess about why she needs money.
9. Claire to Marty, when he claims that the shearers are
working as fast as they can.
10. Marty to Claire, when trying to get a job as station manager.
11. Marty to Claire, before the shearers leave.
12. Tess, when talking to Claire about her plans for the future.
13. Becky to Tess, about the sheep during the shearing.
14. Vernon and Tess, when talking about Vernon being gay.
15. Meg, when she hears Vernon is gay.
16. Jodi, when she hears Vernon is gay.
 S3
Don’t Mess with the Girls
[cf. W4, page 34]
1. The rodeo is a very macho environment where men show
off their physical skills.
2. Claire wants to prove that she can run Drovers Run on
her own by demonstrating her abilities as a rider.
3. Jack McLeod and Harry Ryan wanted Claire to marry Nick
(Harry Ryan’s younger son).
4. Becky flirts with lots of men and kisses several.
5. Calling Claire a “brave little lady” is condescending, sexist and typical of the attitude shared by many men in the
rural area around Drovers Run and Gungellan.
6. Jed is married. Although Becky flirts and dances with
many men, it is one of her principles not to do so with
married men.
7. When Tess talks to the pub keeper Bryan, he says several
things about Becky (e.g. that she always tells stories)
that make Tess understand that he is in fact the man
who raped Becky.
8. Bryan says that the pub is over-staffed, but it is obvious
— also to Becky — that he doesn’t want to have her
around because of the rape.
9. Although the rodeo is very important to her, Claire intuitively decides that helping Becky, who is in a difficult situation, is more important than winning the campdraft
competition.
10. Becky cuts off her long hair as a symbol of the fact that
she wants to leave her old life behind and to begin a new
life at Drovers Run.
Gender Roles
36
NOTES
FOR
THE
TEACHER
Peter Dines
Boy Crazy — The Best Type of School for
Boys and Girls
Excerpt from a press report
Ein Klausurvorschlag
-
Objectives
to test students’ reading, writing
and creative skills
to test their ability to summarise a
discursive text
to test their ability to analyse a
newspaper article in terms of its
structure and language
to give them the opportunity to describe their own experiences and
express their own opinions
The Topic
One of the central issues relating to
gender equality is the question of the
appropriate form of education children
should receive at school. School, like
the home and the work place, is seen
as a central environment (sometimes
also a battleground) that not only influences the ways in which men and
women ultimately come to perceive
themselves as human beings but also
determines their success or failure in
the field of employment.
Whereas for the most part of the 20th
century the struggle for equality between the sexes was based on the idea
of integration, especially in places
dedicated to school and higher education, in more recent years there has
been an increasing call for separation
of the sexes especially at secondary
level. The reasons given for this have
been that some parents and educators
feel that in co-educational schools girls
tend to be disadvantaged because
firstly boys frequently succeed in gaining teachers’ attention at the cost of
the girls, often by means of bad behaviour and secondly girls feel intimidated
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by boys in stereotypically boys’ subjects like maths and the sciences.
On the other hand, the arguments used
in favour of co-education, particularly
in the 1960s and thereafter, when
most schools in Britain became completely comprehensive both in terms of
academic ability and gender, was that
co-education gave young people a
more “natural” environment and a
more realistic view and experience of
the opposite sex — leading to an overall better standard of behaviour, especially as far as boys were concerned.
The Material
This extract from The Guardian discusses the apparent paradox that parents often wish their daughters to go
to single-sex schools and their sons to
co-educational schools. This leads the
writer to look more closely at some of
the factors that are involved in determining the success of boys and girls at
school. It appears that girls who go to
mixed schools end up learning less
than girls from single-sex schools. Girls
at the latter also choose subjects that
are less determined by gender stereotypes, since a higher percentage of
them choose “typical” male subjects
like maths and science.
At mixed schools boys tend to dominate the girls, which apparently leads
girls to under-achieve. Even worse, a
preponderance of boys also tends to
lower general achievement as girls
usually exert a positive influence on
behaviour and the learning atmosphere.
The text is written in a largely objective and scientific style. Facts are pre-
2 · 2009
sented and conclusions are drawn from
these, often not by the journalist herself but by the experts whose research
results are quoted; in other words, the
text is less journalistic and more scientific in style, although some colloquialisms are used.
Teaching Prerequisites
From the content point of view, pupils
should already be familiar to some extent with the gender issues associated
with the behaviour, attitudes and
achievement of adolescents, although
the article itself does address this
topic in some detail. They should also
be familiar in broad outline with the
British school system, i.e. the difference between private and state
schools and the fact that Britain
largely has a comprehensive school
system.
Pupils should have had some practice
at reading and analysing newspaper
texts and be able to determine or describe basic text types (fictional vs.
non-fictional for example) and written
styles (informal vs. formal, scientific
vs. popular or journalistic). They
should also have had some practice at
expressing their own opinions (phrases
of argumentation) and have done some
forms of creative writing (letters and
dialogues).
Gender Roles
TEXT
 T1
37
Boy Crazy
Parents want their daughters to go to single-sex schools, but not their sons. The result is that “mixed” schools are often anything but. Does the imbalance matter?
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Girls thrive in single-sex schools, but
boys do not. It is a common assumption and new research from London’s
Institute of Education (IoE) suggests, to
a certain extent, that it is true. Assessing the biggest ever [collection] of historical data on the issue, researchers
found that girls who go to girls’ schools
will later earn more than those from
mixed schools — partly because they
are less likely to make gendered decisions about their studies and are therefore more likely to take maths and science subjects. But the research also
found social problems in boys-only
schools. “Single-sex education seems
to have a negative social impact for
boys and a positive academic impact
for girls,” says Alice Sullivan, the IoE
researcher behind the report.
Parents had worked this out long before the research proved it: they want
their daughters to go to girls’ schools
and their sons to go to mixed schools.
In much of the country, there has been
a 40-year drift towards mixed-sex education in which boys’ schools have
been replaced with co-educational
schools far more readily than girls’
schools have. In some areas of the
country, this has created a quiet phenomenon in which girls are now outnumbered by boys in some mixed
schools by three to one.
Overall, in the state sector, 13% of
girls now go to girls’ schools and 10% of
boys attend boys’ schools; within
mixed schools, 51% are boys. But when
you drill down into some inner-city areas, the gender balance is tipped. In
outer London, 33% of girls attend girls’
schools, and 24% of boys attend boys’
schools. In co-educational schools, 53%
of students are boys.
But in inner London, the majority of
girls (52%) attend girls’ schools, and
just 27% of boys attend boys’ schools.
And 59% of students in mixed schools
are boys.
Camden in north London now has four
girls’ secondary schools, and only one
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60
65
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100
boys’ school. In Hackney, east London,
there are three girls’ schools and only
one for boys. One of the most extreme
imbalances in the co-educational sector occurs in Islington, north London,
where boys make up 71% of the mixed
secondary school population. The same
is true in other urban areas. In Liverpool, there are 31 schools, eight of
which are girls’ schools and five for
boys only. There are three schools in
the area with at least 60% boys on the
rolls.
“Parents increasingly feel there’s a
gender imbalance in mixed schools,”
says Paul Clein, a councillor in Liverpool. “The anecdotal feedback we get
is that they feel more like boys’
schools than mixed schools. Certainly
we’ve had letters from parents expressing concerns about this.”
Sullivan says that the area of boydominated mixed schools has not been
well researched. “Possibly because
people haven’t noticed that it’s become quite a big issue in some areas,”
she says. “It’s the side-effect of the
parental choice agenda: parents want
single-sex schools for their girls, but
not their boys. It’s one of those clear
incidences when individuals’ choices
don’t add up to a socially acceptable
outcome.” [...]
She adds: “Given that boys tend to
have more discipline problems and
lower academic attainment, my guess
is that those schools would have more
problems than schools that are closer
to 50—50. The question is, do these
schools have particular problems of
sexual harassment and bullying?”
There is no British research addressing
these particular questions. But a study
carried out last year in Israel offers
some perspective. It suggests that a
large proportion of boys in a class
worsens the outcome for both the girls
and boys.
The researchers, Victor Lavy at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem and
Analía Schlosser of Princeton Univer-
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sity, studied results from eight cohorts
in 280 Israeli high schools, some
425,138 students. No matter which
way they measured it, they found that
the higher the proportion of girls in a
class, the better the results for everyone.
“The positive female peer effect is related to a lower level of classroom disruption and violence, improved interstudent and student-teacher relationships, as well as to an increase in students’ overall satisfaction with their
school,” they wrote. “It also significantly lessens the teaching fatigue and
burn-out feelings of teachers, though
it does not affect their overall satisfaction from work.”
Diana Leonard, head of the centre for
research and education on gender at
the IoE, has conducted separate research: [...] She says, […] “People argue for the civilising effects of girls.
The reason there is more violence in
boys’ schools is because boys have a
code of honour and don’t tell when
there is trouble brewing. Girls will talk
to staff more. But I would think it’s
also quite hard on the non-aggressive
boys if there are more boys [...]. We
have got the paradox that we want
mixed schools because they are better
for boys and behaviourally easier. But
single-sex schools encourage girls to
have ambition and higher self-esteem,
and they do that not just for middleclass girls but for girls from lower socioeconomic and disturbed backgrounds. It seems a pity to lose that
for the girls and throw them into the
lions’ den.”
Polly Curtis, The Guardian, 10 April 2007
Gender Roles
38
TEXT
ANNOTATIONS
anecdotal feedback — information based on people’s reported experience rather than scientific research
to assess — to make a judgement about a person or situation
after thinking carefully about it
burnt out — unable to continue working because of longterm fatigue
cohort — a group of people of the same age, social class,
etc. — especially when they are being studied
disruption — something unpleasant that interrupts what you
are doing
disturbed background — from a family that does not function properly, particularly when the children are seriously
neglected
to drill down into — to examine more closely and carefully
fatigue — very great tiredness
incidence — a case or example
to make gendered decisions — to make decisions that are
based upon a person’s sex or gender
paradox — a statement that seems impossible because it
contains two opposing ideas that are both true
peer effect — the influence on a person by others belonging
to the same social group
self-esteem — the feeling of being satisfied with your own
abilities, and that you deserve to be liked or respected
the state sector — schools run and financed by the state and
not privately
there is trouble brewing — difficulties will soon arise or
happen
to thrive — to enjoy or be successful in a particular situation
to throw s.o. into the lions’ den — to deliberately put s.o.
into a very difficult or threatening situation
to tip the balance — alter slightly in favour of a person or
thing
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Assignments
1. Comprehension
A Summarise the main ideas in this newspaper article,
as far as possible in your own words. Concentrate on
only the main ideas. Your summary should have
about 200—250 words.
2. Analysis
A Looking at the paragraphs and their relation to each
other, describe the structure of the text.
B Describe the written style used by the author and indicate whether this is a typical newspaper text from
the language point of view. Suggest who the article
might be addressed to.
Choose one of the following tasks:
3.A
Opinion
A Having read the article and based on your own experience write a short letter to the editor of The
Guardian (about 300 words), saying whether you
think single-sex schools are a good or a bad thing. Try
to take into account the paradox mentioned by the
author.
OR
3.B
Creative writing
A Imagine that you are a parent and you have three
children, two boys (12 and 14) and a daughter (also
14); the 14-year olds are twins. Your daughter, called
Margie, has decided that she wants to go to an allgirls school; but you are against this. Write a dialogue between you and Margie, discussing the issue.
Aim to write about 150 words.
Gender Roles
SOLUTIONS
 Solutions: Assignments
[cf. T1, page 38]
 1. Comprehension
A. Summary
The article deals with the question of the relative merits of
single-sex or mixed schools in Britain and some other countries. The preferences of parents are somewhat paradoxical
because they often wish their daughters to go to all-girl
schools but their sons to co-educational schools. The paradox is made even stronger by the fact that as parents withdraw their daughters form mixed schools so the percentage
of boys in those schools increases.
Parents intuitively seem to know what is best for their children. Research conducted by the Institute of Education
shows that girls benefit from going to single sex schools.
First of all, they choose subjects which are traditionally regarded as “male” subjects, like maths and science; secondly, after leaving school they will earn more on average
than girls from mixed schools. On the other hand, boys seem
to benefit more from mixed schools.
Schools in which boys predominate tend to have more discipline problems with lower academic achievement and higher
rates of disruption and violence. This is probably because of
the different attitudes that girls and boys have towards
problems. Whereas girls tend to report difficulties that they
are having with their fellow pupils, boys obey a code of honour which stops them from speaking out about conflicts.
Teachers also benefit when there is a higher number of girls
than boys in a class or school. They suffer from less tiredness
and do not burn out so easily.
39
Paragraph ten and eleven describe the positive influence
that girls have on academic success, behaviour and classroom atmosphere. (ll. 100—120)
The final paragraph (paragraph 12) has a double function: it
explains why boys and girls behave differently and provides
the conclusion to the excerpt by re-stating the theme of the
first paragraph, that single sex schools are better for girls
and that they should be given the opportunity to attend
them. (ll. 120—143)
B. Stylistic analysis
The style used by the writer in this newspaper text is neutral
and scientific. This can be seen in the use of technical language like “state sector” (l. 35), “feedback” (l. 68), “academic attainment” (l. 87) and so on. The sentence structure
tends to be complex rather than simplex, with quite a large
number of subordinate clauses including an adverbial participle clause and relative clauses. Further evidence of scientific language is the use of qualifying expressions like “to a
certain extent” (l. 5), “less likely” (l. 11), “more likely” (l.
13) and so on. There is also a complete absence of subjective comment and colloquial language by the writer.
On the other hand, there is some evidence of the journalistic
style: the author uses rather informal quotations by scientists. We can conclude that the article is meant to be read
by educated people who are intellectually interested in social and educational issues but not necessarily experts; in
this sense it is probably not typical of everyday journalism.
 3.A Opinion
A. Letter
 2. Analysis:
A. Text structure
The first paragraph functions as an introduction presenting
the theme that research proves that girls do better in single
sex schools, boys in mixed schools (ll. 1—20).
Paragraphs two to eleven develop the argument and discuss
the topic in more detail (ll. 21—120).
The second paragraph develops the topic by describing parents’ attitudes and behaviour and the results of this: an imbalance between boys and girls in mixed schools.
(ll. 21—34)
The third, fourth and fifth paragraphs go into detail on the
imbalance and discuss the statistical evidence. (35—64)
Paragraphs six and seven reiterate the ideas of the introduction and stress the paradox in the parents' wishes for their
daughters and sons. (ll. 65—84)
Paragraphs eight and nine discuss the problem from the
male pupil perspective, showing that the higher proportion
of boys in a school/class the greater the discipline problems.
(ll. 85—99)
E
ENGLISCH
betrifft uns
2 · 2009
Possible solution:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I read with interest the article about single sex and mixed
schools in your issue of 10th April. I am a female 12th grade
pupil studying at a „Gymnasium“ in Germany. I can agree
with some of the points made in the article but must disagree with the conclusion at the end, although I appreciate
this is not necessarily the point of view of the journalist
herself.
Yes, it is true that boys are sometimes more disruptive in
school or class than girls. They are often more aggressive in
their behaviour; the language they use is sometimes worse
than that the girls use. When teachers do not interfere they
are also sometimes intimidating to girls. I remember once
that in a biology lesson a boy laughed at me because he
thought I had given a stupid answer (actually I was right).
But teachers can stop this kind of thing quite easily if they
want to.
I would like to refer to some aspects that were not mentioned in the article. Boys and girls often have different
perspectives on social, cultural and personal questions.
Gender Roles
40
SOLUTIONS
I think it is important that both sexes should know and understand the other’s point of view, even if they do not necessarily agree. When you have single-sex schools you only
get one point of view and therefore a one-sided view of the
world.
Another aspect that is not mentioned is the fact when boys
and girls are separated, they get distorted views of each
other. This view is often idealised because they have no real
experience, especially when they do not have brothers or
sisters, which is more and more the case in Germany. Then
when they do get to know a member of the opposite sex,
they are disillusioned.
Academic achievement is not everything. We should not underestimate the social benefits of having mixed schools.
Yours sincerely,
ronment. But the world outside school is different; when
you leave you will have to work together with men, cooperate and also compete with them. At your mixed
school your experience teaches you how to do this and
you’ll have no illusions about what men are like, both in
a negative and positive sense. And anyway, not all boys
are lazy and disruptive.
Margie: Mum/Dad, I think you’re just basing your views on
your own experience and forgetting that the world is different from what it was when you were my age. If I go to
a girls’ school, I’ll still mix with boys outside school.
When you were young, you wanted mixed schools because you wanted more equality between the sexes. But
that battle is over. We’re more relaxed about those
things now.
 3.B Creative writing:
A. Dialogue
Possible solution:
Margie: Mum/Dad, I don’t like going to my school anymore;
and I want to change.
Parent: Why is that?
Margie: Well, it’s the boys — they stop me from studying
properly. The subjects I’m interested in, they don’t like
and just sit around not doing anything or interrupting the
lesson. And the subjects they like, I’m not particularly
good at.
Parent: Well, Margie, that’s life I’m afraid. You’ll just have
to make the best of it. And anyway, you’ll find that at
the other schools round here there’s not much difference
probably.
Margie: That’s not quite right, is it? What about the Mary
Wollstonecraft School at Gatesbury.
Parent: But that’s a single-sex girls’ school.
Margie: Yes, so what?
Parent: But we always thought that mixed schools were better. Your mother/father and I both went to single-sex
schools and we detested it. And we always thought it
would be better for our children to go to a mixed school.
Margie: Why?
Parent: Well, school should be a reflection of society as a
whole. That’s also why we wanted you to go to a comprehensive so you would also get to know children from
different backgrounds and not just middle-class people
like ourselves. And society just happens to be made up of
both sexes.
Margie: Yes, but I’ve been doing some research and read an
article in The Guardian where it states quite clearly that
girls do better at single-sex girls’ schools, that they
choose subjects that they normally avoid like maths and
science AND that girls from single-sex schools get better
pay when they leave school and go to work.
Parent: Well, that might well be, but there are other aspects to think about. If you go to a girls’ school you will
be spending most of your time in a purely female envi-
E
ENGLISCH
betrifft uns
2 · 2009
Gender Roles
LITERATUR
WEBSITES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ge
nder
A section of the “Guardian” archive
offering a variety of newspaper articles dealing with gender issues.
http://www.wimnonline.org
The website of “Women in Media and
News”, an organization that works to
increase women’s presence in the public debate, emphasizing those who are
least often heard, including women of
colour, low-income women, lesbians,
youth and older women. The site offers a variety of media reports, essays
and background information.
http://www.media-awareness.
ca/english/resources/educational/less
ons/secondary/gender
_portrayal/exposing_gender.cfm
This lesson plan from the “Media Awareness Network” offers suggestions
how to deal with gender stereotypes in
the classroom. The objective is to encourage students to develop their own
critical intelligence with regard to culturally inherited stereotypes, and to
the images presented in the media —
film and television, rock music, newspapers and magazines.
BOOKS
David Gauntlett: Media, Gender and
Identity. An Introduction, New York:
Routledge 2008 (2nd edition)
The author examines the impact the
large number of stories about men and
women presented in the media have
on people’s identities. The second edition of the book includes new case
studies and considers a wide range of
research in the field of the media’s influence on gender and sexuality.
E
--
ENGLISCH
Rachel Alsop, Annette Fitzsimons,
Kathleen Lennon: Theorizing Gender: An Introduction, Cambridge: Polity Press 2002
The book gives a theoretical overview
of approaches to gender and explores
some of the most discussed issues of in
feminist theory and philosophy such as
male domination, identity politics, the
relation between gender and sexuality
and the equality/difference debate.
Craig Donnellan: Gender Roles, Cambridge: Independence Educational
Publishers 2001
The author deals with the issues of
gender equality in three contexts: in
education, in the workplace and in the
home. The information is based on a
variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, magazine articles and
surveys and different pieces of literature.
Leonard Sax: Why Gender Matters:
What Parents and Teachers Need to
Know About the Emerging Science of
Sex Differences, New York: Broadway
Books 2006
The author, a child psychologist, looks
at the controversial question of biologically based gender differences and
argues that these differences play a
key role in the development of a person’s intellectual and personal skills.
THE AUTHORS
OF THIS EBU EDITION
Jochen Baier is a Professor at the University of Education at SchwäbischGmünd. His teaching and research are
mainly focused on intercultural communication, English literature and modern media, especially on interactive
drama teaching.
Evrin Genç Christian Horsch, Simona
Höll, Julia Mittler, Sylvia Ulrich are
students at the University of Education
at Schwäbisch-Gmünd.
Dr. Peter Dines has been teaching
English at the Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg for many years. He has
been a co-author on a number of
school textbooks, most recently from
the Langenscheidt Viewfinder series:
Technology and the Environment,
Viewfinder Special an d Previews. He is
also Director of the Office of International Programmes in Ludwigsburg.
Dieter Düwel and Jennifer von der
Grün both teach at Ernst-BarlachGymnasium in Castrop-Rauxel. Publications: teaching material for Sekundarstufe II (London - A Changing Metropolis, Cornelsen English Senior Library;
Viewfinder Media and Viewfinder Special, Langenscheidt-Longman); advisors
for Camden Town, Diesterweg; regular
contributions to Englisch betrifft uns.
Dr. Ute Ritzenhofen teaches English
and History at Gymnasium MainzGonsenheim and Fachdidaktik Englisch
at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in
Mainz. Publications on bilingual education, film, and German-American relations.
Laurenz Volkmann worked as a teacher, language instructor and lecturer
at various grammar schools and universities in Germany and abroad. Since
2004 he has been Professor of EFL Teaching at Friedrich-Schiller-University of
Jena. Recent publications: The Global
Village and Tales from the Global Village (Langenscheidt).
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