贯通六级词汇的文章(24)
[00:00.00]UNIT13 [00:14.10]Sex Role Stereotypes [00:16.51]During my career [00:18.91]as a Canadian female teacher, [00:20.77]I observed many instances [00:22.96]of sex role stereotyping [00:25.04]throughout the western culture. [00:26.68]I was always amazed [00:28.76]how quickly young children [00:30.29]adopted the cultural values. [00:31.71]The topic is one of major concerns [00:34.45]in the western world, [00:35.56]yet there are those people [00:37.09]who would ask you to believe [00:38.62]that it is not a major issue. [00:40.15]People who wish to ignore the situation [00:42.89]do not welcome discussions [00:45.18]on the topic of gender bias. [00:46.94]This type of person evokes [00:50.11]an analogy of an ostrich [00:51.53]that buries its head in the sand [00:53.50]to ignore a problem by avoiding it. [00:55.25]Although many of my comments may seem cynical, [00:59.19]I give you assurance [01:01.27]that they are based on my observation [01:02.91]of western society for a number of years. [01:05.31]It might be interesting and informative [01:08.27] to compare the western world [01:09.80]in this respect with eastern cultures. [01:12.54]Many studies have been done [01:15.38]and the breakdown of reasons examined [01:17.68]to determine why gender roles play an important part [01:20.63]in the selection of successful candidates [01:22.50]for positions in many vocations. [01:24.90]These studies have made little impact [01:28.07]on diminishing the prevalence of candidates [01:30.37]being selected more for their gender [01:31.90]than their qualifications. [01:33.43]Since the people responsible [01:36.28]for hiring people to work with them, [01:37.92]often hire people similar to themselves, [01:40.65]it seems like they are looking for [01:42.95]a clone or a duplicate of themselves. [01:45.36]Females often become quite indignant [01:49.19]when positions that they are well suited [01:51.48]for are awarded to males [01:53.23]and ambiguous reasons given to explain why. [01:55.97]Is it any wonder that attempts [01:58.59]to sue corporations for using unfair hiring [02:01.33]and promotion practices are applauded? [02:03.74]On the other hand, [02:05.92]companies who exhibit fair hiring practices [02:09.10]need to be commended for doing so. [02:11.07]It has been common in the western world [02:14.35]for people to presume that [02:16.21]certain professions belong almost exclusively [02:18.84]to one gender or the other. [02:20.59]The work of an electrician, [02:22.99]or work with electronics, [02:24.63]or repairing of air-conditioning equipment, [02:26.82]might be considered to be [02:28.35]masculine fields of employment. [02:30.10]Nursing and childcare vocations [02:32.84]are considered feminine occupations. [02:35.03]Aviation is another field [02:38.31]where people would usually assume [02:40.06]that the pilot would be male [02:41.26]and the flight attendant would be female, [02:43.02]a premise that many times will be invalid. [02:46.08]It will be a major breakthrough [02:49.50]when both genders are equally represented [02:51.47]in the workforce especially in higher level positions. [02:54.53]Some individuals would lead you [02:57.60]to believe that it would [02:59.24]result in the breakdown of society, [03:00.66]as we know it today. [03:01.97]At times an attempt to prevent subjective views [03:05.26]being used to preclude only males [03:07.33]being hired by males has been attempted. [03:09.52]Laws or policy that attempt to rectify the situation [03:13.57]have not been successful in diminishing the problem. [03:16.96]An attempt to numerically control [03:20.35]the number of positions in a corporation [03:22.10]by using a quota system [03:23.74]to require equal numbers of males [03:25.71]and females to be hired usually [03:28.34]meets with little success [03:29.76]if the attitudes of the people [03:31.62]doing the hiring are subjective [03:33.92]and preclude the possibility of fair practises being used. [03:37.85]The empirical evidence shown by the numbers [03:41.03]makes it easy to show [03:43.00]which companies exemplify fairness [03:45.08]and would hinder those [03:46.94]who only make a feeble attempt to do so. [03:48.91]If a company does endeavour to incorporate fairness [03:54.05]in their hiring practises, [03:55.80]they should be eligible for commendation. [03:58.31]A diligent attempt to choose the best person [04:01.93]for the position regardless of their gender [04:04.44]is only inherent in those companies [04:07.18]that can envisage a future [04:09.36]with the best possible work force. |