englisch - Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG
Transcription
englisch - Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG
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 (ab Jahrgangsstufe 10) 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 Erscheinungsweise: vier Ausgaben pro Jahr Abonnement pro Jahr: 42,— € unverb. Preisempf. inkl. MwSt. zzgl. 3,— € Versandpauschale (innerhalb Deutschlands) (ab Jahrgangsstufe 11) MEDIA Ute Ritzenhofen Gender Roles Down Under Die australische Fernsehserie McLeod’s Daughter Impressum Herausgeber: Dieter Hermann Düwel Jennifer von der Grün (ab Jahrgangsstufe 9) 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 @ Abonnentinnen und Abonnenten 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 (ab Jahrgangsstufe 11) Verlag: Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG Karl-Friedrich-Straße 76 52072 Aachen DEUTSCHLAND T 0241-93888-123 F 0241-93888-188 E kontakt@buhv.de www. buhv.de Illustrationen: © ideen archiv, Bergmoser + Höller Verlag AG, Aachen (soweit nicht anders angegeben) 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” (ab Jahrgangsstufe 9) -- 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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: ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Conclusions: Conclusions: ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- The Mouse The Nerd Description: Description: ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Conclusions: Conclusions: ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- 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. -- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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“ (ab Jahrgangsstufe 10) - 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- E ENGLISCH 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 - E ENGLISCH 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 = E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles 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 -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- B Note down the gender characteristics that appear in the personal ads in T1. New Man New Woman -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- 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? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles 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)? E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 (ab Jahrgangsstufe 10) - 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 E ENGLISCH b e t r i f f t u n s 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: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles WORKSHEET 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles 18 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? ---E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles TRANSPARENCY 1 (for use see page 1) OH1 Visualization: Typical Body Language Jochen Baier, Odenthal E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 Gender Roles TRANSPARENCY 2 (for use see page 1) OH2 Role Play: Shopping The Vamp The Macho The Mouse The Nerd Jochen Baier, Odenthal E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 (ab Jahrgangsstufe 11) - 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 - 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 - E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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) E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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- E ENGLISCH 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 E 31 ENGLISCH betrifft uns 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 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 2 · 2009 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 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? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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.” E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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”? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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. E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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 (ab Jahrgangsstufe 11) - 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 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- 2 · 2009 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 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 E ENGLISCH betrifft uns 2 · 2009 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. 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