Girl Power for ESL: Readings on Gender and Future Tense

Just in time for Wonder Women's new opening!

I.            Songs

1. “Try” by Colbie Caillat (Lyrics)
2. “Grown Woman” by Beyoncé (Lyrics)
3.  "Roar" by Katy Perry (ESL Lesson, lyrics)

II.          Grammar: Future Tense

1.     Functions, Forming and Contractions

2.    Practice, 2

3.    Conversation Questions, 2, Dialogues

4.    Writing

Example: We (clean) will clean on Tuesday. (We just decided to clean.)

Example: (drive) Will you drive on Sunday? (A decision about driving is being made.)

Example: Governor Taylor (sign) is going to sign the new law.

Example: Stan (share) is going to share a room with Tim next year.

5.    Games

6.    Extra Activity: Creating a Time Capsule + More

III.       Readings

Pre-Reading Discussions and Introduction:

 What is gender? Does Taiwan have sexism?

Handouts: A Class/B Class

Europe’s First Top Female Referee (B Class)

This reading is about Bibiana Steinhaus 畢碧安娜·施泰因豪斯:  

13 minute version here

 B Vocabulary

1.     Female

2.    Referee (n.) referee (v.)

3.    Look forward to something

4.    Media

5.    Pressure

6.    Get used to something

7.    Experience

8.    Speechless

9.    curious

After you read, answer the questions:

1.     Why is she happy?

2.    Why does she have a lot of experience?

3.    Why is it rare (not common) for a woman to be a referee?

4.    What is your dream? How would you feel if it came true?

5.    What can you do to make your dream come true?

Highschool changes Sexist Women’s Study婦女問題研究 Course 課程  (B Class)

[For more on body image click here]

Vocabulary (B):

1.     criticize (v.)

2.    critic (n.)

3.    online

4.    sexist

5.    subject

6.    polite

7.    etiquette

8.    enhance

9.    reproductive

10.  positive

A school in Canada has been criticized online for its women's studies course課程. Critics thought it had sexist subjects that were unfit for women in the 21st century. These included 'polite conversation,' dinner party etiquette, and 'nail application skills' (敷 指甲油). There was also a course on how to "enhance your style…face and body shape". The course did also have lessons on web design, reproductive health, the role of women in history, and beauty in the media.

A leading critic was actress Siobhan Bryn. She wrote: "This is unbelievably sexist. Women's studies is not fashion流行款式 and putting on a lunch." She said the course looked like it was from the 1950's. Another critic said it was very "offensive冒犯的  and disrespectful". The school has now removed the subjects. A spokesman said: "It looks like we're supporting stereotyping girls….We want [our kids] to have a positive image身體意象  and build self-esteem 自尊,…to analyze分析 things critically."

Answer the questions:

1.     What was wrong with this course?

2.    Who do you think wrote the course?

3.    How has stereotypes for women changed?

4.    Do you have a positive or negative body image? Explain why:

Mothers Get Less SleepThan Fathers (B)

Pre-reading Questions: What is the difference between a father who “helps with childcare” vs a father who fathers? Should a Dad be more than a babysitter? What kind of father do you have? What kind of parent do you want to be?

Vocabulary :

1.     Affect  影響 It's a disease that affects mainly older people. 這是一種主要侵擾老年人的疾病                                 

2.    Negatively                                

3.    Unaffected 未受影響的；未受傷害的；未被打斷的 The west of the city was largely unaffected by the bombing.該城西部基本上沒有受到轟炸的破壞。       

4.    Cause  原因，起因      She had died of natural causes.她是自然死亡                                   

5.    Lack 不足  Lack of sleep had made him irritable.睡眠不足令他煩躁易怒。                               

6.    Increase (v,) 增大；增加；增強  Incidents of armed robbery have increased over the last few years.持械搶劫案近幾年增多了                                

7.    Risk (n.) 風險；危險 In this business, the risks and the rewards are high.這個行業的風險和回報都很高。

8.    Diabetes 糖尿病

9.    Heart disease 冠狀動脈疾病

10.  depression 抑鬱症 Tiredness, loss of appetite, and sleeping problems are all classic symptoms of depression. 乏力、沒有食慾和失眠都是抑鬱症的典型症狀。

Mothers will not be surprised by a study that says that they get less sleep than fathers. Researchers looked at data on the sleeping habits of 5,800 men and women. They wanted to find out what affects their sleep. They found that having children in the house leads to less sleep for mothers. This negatively affects her daytime energy levels. The study found that fathers' sleep was mostly unaffected by having kids in the house.

Children are the biggest cause of mothers not sleeping. Dr Kelly Sullivan said each child increased a woman's risk of not sleeping by 46%. Just half of mothers under 45 with kids at home said they got seven hours of sleep a night. This figure was 62% for mothers with no kids at home. A lack of sleep is harmful. It increases the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression. Dr Sullivan said we needed to help mothers get the rest they need.

Post Reading Questions:

1.     What is the #1 reason for mothers not getting enough sleep?

2.    What are the negative effects of not getting enough sleep?

3.    Why do men’s sleep remain unaffected regardless不管怎樣 if he has children or not?

4.    Is it sexist that women do most of the parenting?

5.    What else about traditional family life is sexist?

6.    Even when a mother’s kids are not at home, how much sleep does she lose?______ Why?

7.    In your home is housework and parenting shared equally?
8.  How is fatherhood 父親的身分 and manhood 男子氣概 important for erasing sexism against women?

EXTRA:

Wonder Woman gets women-only screening, angering certain men 《神力女超人》女性專場放映會引男性不滿

Rise of young women going 'au naturel' as nearly a quarter now don't shave their underarms 自然解放浪潮來襲 近四分之一女性不再剃除腋毛

男士理想身材：想擁有"倒三角"？但你其實是"矩形" The IDEAL male body shape revealed: How men want to be 'inverted triangles' like sports stars Bolt and Ronaldo… but most are 'rectangles' like Becks and Harry Styles Egg Freezing For Female Employees  (B) Trial of Female Traffic Symbol  (B)

IV. Writing

Writing about Gay Marriage: How will Taiwan look like in a few years?

Using your new vocabulary words, write a paragraph about how the new ruling on gay marriage will affect Taiwan in the future. Will Taiwan be the same or different? Will people's ideas about gender, gender stereotypes, gender equality be different? Will people from other Asian countries come to Taiwan to get married? 

Use the FUTURE TENSE, think about the paragraph Hamburger (Topic sentence, details, closing sentence.)

Sources:

https://spinditty.com/playlists/Girl-Power-Playlist-Songs-About-Female-Empowerment

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-future-tense/

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/index.html
https://freeenglishlessonplans.com/2017/03/10/conversation-topic-everyday-sexism/

Winter Week Social Justice Videos

If we have extra time after finishing our last gender reading we can watch any of the following:

1. Chou Tzuyu's apologyWhy was her apology big news?

2. From 'Iron Girls' to 'Leftovers' - Independent Women in China

Matchmaker 媒人，紅娘

1. Why is the social status of women in China declining?

2. How did the one child policy create gender inequality?

3. Why aren’t “left over men” experiencing any discrimination, but the women are?

4. Are Taiwanese women who pursue a career rather than family also stigmatized? What happened recently with the presidential elections in Taiwan?

5. Why do so few independent women in China call themselves feminists? Why is it dangerous to be a feminist in China?

6. How does the declining social status of Chinese women, negatively affect men? 

3. Freddie Lim

What kind of society does Freddie want?

4. Meet Verena Mei

How is she not the stereotypical Asian girl?

How has Mei penetrated a male dominated industry? 

5.The Pink Gang Rebellion 

Have you heard about the rape crisis in India?

How does the patriarchal system (父權社會) influence how rape is handled in India?

Who is the Pink Gang Rebellion? What is their agenda (事項)?

Gender Equality in Taiwan: 8 Issues

1. Pay Inequality
In  2003 Taiwanese women made 20.1% less than men.

In 2014  Taiwanese women made 16.1% less than men.  Women who are paid 16.1 percent less on average than men in Taiwan means that women need to work 59 days more than men per year to earn the same level of income.

In 2015 Taiwanese women made 15% less than men. Women who are paid 15 percent less on average than men in Taiwan means that women need to work ____ days more than men per year to earn the same level of income.

2. Low % of Female Managers
A recent survey conducted by a local Chinese-language magazine shows that only 23 percent of high-ranking executives in local companies are women, even if their education levels are now higher than their male counterparts. (China Post)

Despite the growing female political representation in Taiwan, the share of women managers in the private sector is still low. According to government statistics, 25 percent of managers and administrators were female in 2014. But, because this percentage included female legislators and administrators in the public sector, in which women’s share in managerial positions was more than one third, the female representation among private-sector managers is actually lower than 25 percent. Although 25 percent was higher than the 11 percent in Japan and Korea, it was much lower than the female share in managerial and administrative occupations in the United States (43 percent) or Singapore (34 percent).[15] So clearly, there is much room for improvement. 

Interestingly, the increase in Taiwanese women’s share in managerial positions has accelerated during the past five years. From 2009 to 2014, this share rose by 6 percent, whereas it took 14 years for it to increase the same amount before 2009. Whether this acceleration will continue remains to be seen. (Brookings Institute)

3. Lower % of Working Women
Taiwan’s female labor force participation rate is not unusually high among East Asian countries. At 51 percent today, Taiwan’s rate is roughly comparable with Japan (49 percent) and South Korea (50 percent in 2013), while lower than the rates of Singapore (59 percent) and China (64 percent) in the same year.[2] Both Singapore and China have a much smaller proportion of the population enrolled in higher education. This lower enrollment allows more single young women to be available for employment, thus contributing to greater female labor force participation rates. China’s high female employment rate also has to do with the legacy of full employment during the socialist era, which provides ideological support for women to hold paid jobs. (Brookings Institute)

4. Division of Labor Inequality
Caring for children or elderly family members remains the main responsibility of women in 74 percent of households. They also do all the housework in more than 60 percent of cases. Even among double-income families, data show that men share housework with women in just 10 percent of couples. (China Post)

5. Bias Towards Sons
Among newborns, as late as 2010, the male to female ratio was still near 110:100, higher than the natural birth ratio (105-107:100). This ratio suggests evidence of sex-selective abortions and continued prevalence of a son preference among current Taiwanese families. Although this son preference no longer leads to fewer years of schooling for girls,[16] parents’ gender biases are likely to continue to affect their support for sons and daughters to enter customarily male or female fields of study, which in turn perpetuates gender inequality at work.  (Brookings Institute)

6. Teen Pregnancy
According to a study dating from 2011, there are only 1.67 teenage pregnancies out of a thousand Dutch girls (15-19 years old), while the birth rate among Taiwanese teen moms is about 3.68 percent. (China Post). But it has decreased from 4.12% in 2013. (Taipei Times).

7. Adultery Law
Women in Taiwan still suffer for the Adultery Law that was meant to protect women in the first place. In recent years, the percentage of women charged of adultery has been increasing, not because they are more unfaithful, but because Taiwanese society keeps pointing the finger at "unfaithful women." In other words, wives are more likely to drop the case against their husbands but not against the mistress, who is often still charged with adultery. In order to get evidence of adultery, women sometimes commit more serious crimes such as trespassing and infringement of digital privacy. In many countries, adultery is legal and just a matter of morality. Legal equality doesn't mean equal treatment to women. (China Post)

8. Inheritance
According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance from 2011, 63.3 percent of women waived their right to an inheritance while only 36.7 percent of men did the same. Among those who paid their inheritance tax, female heirs only account for about one-third of the total. Why? According to tradition, only males can pass down property and the name of the family. Even though Taiwanese males and females are equal before the law and have an equal right to inheritance, females are often under pressure from relatives to waive their right to an inheritance. (China Post)

Important Dates in Taiwan:
February 28 Equal Pay Day
March 8 International Women's Day

Resources:
 Brookings Institute Women and Employment (September 2015)
Gender Equality in Taiwan has a long way to go ( China Post March 2014)
Gender Pay Gap Improves Slightly This Year (Taipei Times February 2015)
Teen Pregnancies Threaten Mother and Child (Taipei Times July 2013)