Other consequences of being a woman

Role overload is not the only disadvantage women of today may expe­rience. A negative self-concept and lack of self-confidence are other dis­advantages. In a study in which women and men were told they were incapable of performing a mental task, the women were more likely than the men to believe that they were incapable. Another study showed that women are more likely to think their suc­cess is due to luck than to their own ability. A further problem for many mothers is the difficulty they have in finding new interests and activities when their children leave home.

But there are also advantages to being a modern woman. One is the likelihood of living longer. In 1998 in the United States, average life expectancy for men was 73.9, whereas for women it was 79.4. Other advantages are being able to express emotions more easily, hav­ing a closer bond with children, and not having one's identity tied to employment. One big advantage today is that women have so many options. It is socially acceptable to work full-time if you have children, but it is also acceptable to be a full-time mother and stay at home, or to work part-time.

Avoiding the housework Jokes about men and housework are common in TV shows and newspaper comics. But research shows that there may be at least a little truth in these jokes. Mackay (Kissane 1990) revealed four tactics that men sometimes use to avoid doing household chores: Helplessness – he agrees to cook but asks directions for every step. Getting the kids to do it – he insists that they are old enough to help and he is not needed. Going slowly – he hopes that his wife will find it more trouble than it is worth to ask him for help again. The ‘black-cloud’ strategy – he does the chores, but so ungraciously that the wife feels angry and upset. Men in this study justified their tactics by claiming that women ‘want it both ways’. They also argued that they had never agreed to the concept of sharing housework.

Task 4. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the point of Rachel's story?

§ that you should not work full-time if you are a woman with children

§ that it can be difficult to combine full-time work and raising a family

§ that women do most of the housework even if they work full-time

2. What does research tell us about the way most men and women share housework?

3. What information can you find in the text to suggest that governments will never pay people to do housework?

4. Make a list of all the disadvantages and advantages of being a woman mentioned in the text.

5. How do some men try to get out of doing housework?

Task 5. Work with a partner. Find these figures of speech in the text and work out what they mean from the context and the words themselves. Then complete the sentences below using one of the words or expressions.

a) stretched (par. 2)

b) the lion's share (par. 2)

c) shoulder the main burden (par. 2)

d) iron out (par. 4)

e) want it both ways (boxed text)

1. Kathy and Jim fought about the housework again. I hope they can ________ their differences.

2. She's working at two jobs, raising a son, and going to night school. She must feel so _______.

3. Julia wants to be successful, and she wants to be a perfect mother. Women like Julia ______________.

4. In traditional families, the man is expected to _________ of supporting his wife and children.

5. Mark and Lola decided to switch roles in their marriage. Now she does most of the gardening and repair tasks, and he does ____________ of the cooking and cleaning.

Task 6. Insert the expressions from the list into the gaps.