topic-specific vocabulary Men & women

1 Look at the w ords and phrases in bold in these sentences and decide if w e generally consider them
to have a positive connotation or a negative connotation.

1 Th e y w o u ld never a dm it it, b u t m en and w o m e n are in a continuous pow er struggle at w o rk .

Positive / N egative

2 M ost major com panies are male-dom inated. Positive / N egative

3 It's a fact that, w h e n it comes to p ro m o tin g th e ir employees, some com panies still discriminate on
the basis o f som eone's sex. Positive / N egative

4 A recent survey suggests th a t m any professional w o m e n w o rk in g fo r large com panies and

organisations often hit a glass ceiling at some p o in t in th e ir career. Positive / N egative

5 Professional businesswom en, especially those in senior m a na ge m en t positions, are m ore astute
than m en. Positive / N egative

6 In m y experience, th e y are also m ore versatile. Positive / N egative

7 W hat's m ore, th e y are better at multi-tasking. Positive / N egative

8 T h e y can also be m uch m ore ruthless w h e n necessary. Positive / N egative

9 M y elder b ro th e r is such a male chauvinist! Positive / N egative

10 As far he is concerned, w o m e n are little m ore tha n sex objects. Positive / N e ga tive

11 He is com pletely unreconstructed. Positive / N egative

12 Som e m ig h t say th a t he's a bit of a dinosaur. Positive / N egative

13 M y y o u n g e r brother, on the othe r hand, has egalitarian views. Positive / N egative

14 He believes in equality betw een m en and w o m e n . Positive / N egative

15 He doesn't th in k th a t w o m e n are the weaker sex. Positive / N egative

2 Use the w ords and phrases in the box to complete the conversation.

battle of the sexes breadwinner childrearing gender roles

household management male counterparts practical role division
Sex Discrimination Act social convention stereotypes

Chris: I th in k th a t cleaning and cooking are a w om an's job . A fte r all, m en are no good at
1....................................................

Sam: I disagree.

Chris: A n d in the w orkplace, w o m e n a re n't very 2 ............................................................. . are they?.

Sam: In w h a t w ay?

86
 topic-specific vocabulary
Men & women
Chris: In the w a y th a t there are a lot of things they can't d o as w ell as m en can . Such as, er, w ell, I
can't th in k of a nyth in g in particular at the m om ent.

Sam: Exactly.

Chris: W ell, let's face it, w o m e n never do as w ell as th e ir 3........................................... .................at w o rk .

Sam: I've never heard such unreconstructed rubbish. Thank goodness the 4.......................................................
exists to prevent your views being put into practice. A n d I suppose you think that w om en are only
good for changing babies' nappies, and other tedious aspects of 5.........................................................

Chris: No, b ut I do believe th a t in a m odern household, there should be a clearly defined

6 ................................................................ M en are go od at DIY, fo r exam ple. M ost w o m e n aren't.
A n d I'll always believe th a t it's the m an w h o should be the 7 ............................................................. ,
p ro vid in g fo o d and shelter fo r his family.

Sam: W ell, all I can say is th a t I'm glad yo u r ideas of 8 ...................................................... ...... are n o t shared
by most people.

Chris: Nonsense! A lot of people believe in traditional 9 ............................................ ................: the man
goes o u t to w o rk , the w o m a n stays at hom e. It's as simple as that.

Sam: M en at w o rk and w om en at hom e? Com e on, love, those are such typical
1 0 .................................................................... W ith people like you around, the
1 1...........................................................w ill continue to rage on and on.

Chris: O h give it a rest, Dad. I'm right, and you k n o w I am.

Sam: Sorry, Christine, but w e 're in the tw en ty-first century now. You need to m ove w ith the times.

3 Complete this essay w ith words and phrases from Exercises 1 and 2. In some cases, more than one
answer is possible.

A totally 1........................................................... society, in which sexual 2...........................................................

between men and w o m e n is the norm , is still a long w a y off. This is certainly the case if you watch
certain television programmes, w here men are often portrayed as the 3............................................................
bringing m oney hom e to the w ife, w h o is often depicted as the 4 ..........................................................., prone
to extrem e em otions and tem per tantrum s. But is this really the case? Is it still fair to create
5........................................................ such as this? A fte r all, as more w om en go out to w ork, and
more men stay at hom e to look after the house and children, it is becoming clear that so-called
6........................................................ are m erging and disappearing.

87
topic-specific vocabulary Men & women
Take the office w orkplace as an example. For years, businesses and com panies w ere
7 Th e directors, managers and othe r senior executives w ere always
male, the secretaries and personal assistants almost always female. This was probably because m en
w ere traditionally seen as m ore 8............................................................ . m ore able to deal w ith the cu t-an d -
thrust of business. However, n o w w o m e n are proving th a t they can be just as to u g h , if not tougher,
w hile sim ultaneously being m ore 9 ............................................................and caring. In fact, in m any ways,
w o m e n are m uch better at 10............................................................ . w hich is vital in m odern business w h e re
you are expected to do m ore than one job. A n d thanks to the 11............................................................ . w o m e n
are paid the same as m en. It w o u ld appear that, in m any cases, the 12............................................................ is
a dying breed (alth o ugh , unfortunately, there are still m any 13............................................................ men in
the w orkplace w h o think they can do everything and anything better than their fem ale colleagues,
and there are still cases w h e re w o m e n clim bing up th ro u g h the ranks ge t to a p oin t w h e re the y hit a
14............................................................ and cannot clim b any higher).

A t home, too, there is less evidence of 15....... ........................It is no longer the w om an w h o

does all the cooking, cleaning and 16................. ............ Such 17.........................................................
is n o w often shared equally. 18............................. no longer expects the w o m a n to stay indoors
all day w hile the man stays out until all hours.

The good news, therefore, is th a t w o m e n no longer need to feel the y are regarded as m ere
19.............................................................................................................................................. o r the underdogs in a 20.w ith
21.................................................................... In fact, m any believe th a t in the 22........................................................... ..
it is w o m e n w h o have com e o u t on top.

88