上次我们讨论了Social Injustice，今天我们来了解其中一个非常尖锐的话题——性别不平等和女性主义（Gender Inequality and Feminism）。

Gender Inequality可能的原因（结合大作文report题里的causes题目）:

• Unfair laws and policies

- Not providing necessary recognition and/or support for biological differences

e.g. in some countries, women are not allowed to have abortions or buy condoms/ contraceptives（天主教国家堕胎是非法的；在没有宗教世俗化的阿拉伯国家女性不可以买避孕产品）.

e.g. reproductive health (maternity leaves 产假; facilities for breastfeeding in public 公共场合的哺乳), women’s lack of property and inheritance rights (女性没有产权或继承权), etc.

• Gender stereotypes 对于性别的刻板印象 — gender roles (jobs, abilities, characteristics, etc.)

Masculine 男性的；阳刚的。名词：masculinity （男性的）刚毅；男子汉气概。

Feminine 女性的；娇柔的。名词：femininity （女性的）温柔；女子本性。

 [应对各种stereotype的一句万能论点: However, individual differences are much more significant than (e.g. gender) differences]

• Discrimination  

- Unfair treatment based on prejudice held against females

- Glass ceiling (玻璃穹顶)

- In-group out-group divide (圈内人对圈外人歧视)

• Toxic societal norms: misogyny (仇女症) [mɪˈsɒdʒɪni]

e.g. date rape (acquaintance rape)

女性主义是如何回应的？What should feminism do：

1. Provide a space for the most vulnerable

A. Movements: #Shoutyourabortion, #Metoo （美国2017年的反骚扰运动，影响力很大）, “Women’s press”

References：

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1607141169675324868&wfr=spider&for=pc

https://baike.baidu.com/item/Metoo/22270164?fr=aladdin

2. Academic purity (market place of discourse — limited attention)

A. Postmodern feminist theories

B. Gender discourse

3. Popular support — is it enough?

4. Policy change

E.g. quota system (规定女性职位百分比), affirmative consent act (positive discrimination 逆向歧视)

But it might face backlash （backlash: 对社会变动等的强烈抵制、集体反对 e.g. Harvard’s admission）

5. Attitudinal shifts among women 女性态度上的转变：

Awareness, liberation, empowerment (前两天讲过), etc.

6. Attitudinal shifts among men男性态度上的转变：

A. recognize women’s freedom and ability, offer political support (e.g. enfranchisement)

B. E.g. #HeForShe movement （明天单独拎出来讲一下这个HeForShe运动）

Reference：https://www.heforshe.org/en

https://www.flitto.com.cn/content/1653 

另外大家知道“hashtag #”这个井号的意思吧？twitter之类的社交平台上（微博也有），用#贴个标签，引话题。

女子参军

Many females join the army in some countries. Some people think women should not be allowed to serve as soldiers. Do you agree or disagree?

Women in many countries have already enrolled in the army, on which current issue has been aroused subsequently. Some people hold an approval attitude towards this phenomenon，whereas the opposition contend that women entering the army should be forbidden. Personally thinking, I side with the former.

First and foremost，the primary problem where the view that women cannot be qualified to be soldiers settles is the stereotypes to females embedded in the masses’ mind. We used to associate women with the words like dedicated, sensitive and weak. meanwhile，it was decided by genes that man get ascendancy over women in physical stamina, which may be essential when fighting in the battle field. With these traits，women seem not be eligible reach the threshold of the army. 

Although the gap between female and male is intrinsic, there are advantages of women in some particular spheres，such as medical treatment and technological development，as they are more careful and patient than men. troops maintaining their function need not only the soldiers to fight against enemies ，but also the reserve force in support of the medical treatment etc. Therefore，women are not as incompetent as some people think，so allowing women to join the army is reasonable and conducive.

Nevertheless, if the prohibition came to reality, there would be a detrimental impact on the process of gender equality, potentially damaging the social stability. This is because this kind of prohibition actually means the discrimination on the ground of women’s capabilities，and as women have been claiming at being place in the same arena with men，it must be  triggering the rage of female and even cause the conflict between the two genders.

In conclusion，it makes no sense to ban women from entering the army. Conversely, women need to be encouraged to take up the jobs as their expectations.

类似话题：

Some people believe that women should play an equal role as men in a country’ s police force or military force, while others think women are not suitable for these kinds of jobs. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Thus, it is necessary to appoint women to suitable positions (e.g. ....) rather than exclude them from the police or military force indiscriminately.