WOMEN and MEN and vice versa  

Speaking skills: expressing and justifying opinions, role play

What do you think about these sentences below?

1. Women are more sensitive than men
2. Men rarely express emotions
3. Women are more faithful in relationships
4. Men think more logically than women and do not let emotions get in the way
5. Women mature more quickly than men
6. Men are more aggressive than women
7. Both sexes are born with identical natural abilities
8. Appearance is more important to women than to men
9. Men are highly competitive whereas women are more cooperative
10. Women gossip more than men
11. Men are better drivers than women

What’s the stereotype for your sex? And for the opposite sex?

How far are you influenced by stereotypes?

Certain jobs are labelled as feminine or masculine, can you think any? What do you think about that?

ROLE PLAY

A: Marriage Counsellors

You believe in the ‘different planet’ idea. Try to guess potential problems your clients may come up with; focus on the gender differences and devise solutions. Try and use pompous language and metaphors, such as ‘men prefer to go back to their caves…’ or ‘women prefer the hunter and gathered type of male!’

B: Couples

You are normal, rational people who have been facing some problems with your relationship. Think about the nature of the problems and their effects on you. Think about examples of your partner’s behaviour that particularly bothers you. You do not appreciate this ‘Rambo - bimbo’ distinction and cannot actually identify with any of the counsellor’s metaphors, but you are both wiling to stay together and work for solutions.