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READING TEXT

A stereotype is a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified
conception or image.
(The American Heritage College Dictionary)
A stereotype is a generalized belief that all members of a
group are the same in some way. It is a an exaggerated or
oversimplified belief and image about certain groups of people.
Stereotypes about men and women vary across cultures. In
some cultures, women are considered very powerful. They hold
the most important government positions and control the wealth.
In many cultures today, however, women are not viewed as
powerful…

Text 1

A WOMAN’S PLACE

(By Jane Wood
1
From "BBC English" )

"Why can't a woman be more like a man?" So sang Professor
Higgins in "My Fair Lady", the musical based on Bernard Shaw's
play "Pygmalion". The poor professor was baffled. He could not
understand Eliza, the young girl he has saved from a life of poverty.
All that was wrong was that she was in live, but he accused her of
being a typical woman - irrational, illogical and never thinking
properly. Today, many women are asking the same question as
Professor Higgins but in a differernt way. Why aren't women thought
of as equal in intelligence to men and able to do many of the same
tasks? Are men and women really so different or has conditioning
made us think there is a difference?
Biologically, of course, there is - there has never yet been a
man who bore a child - but the theory that there is a "male" character
and a "female" character is not easy to prove. In Chinese philosophy

1
Текст друкується за виданням Синько Л.В. Пахомова Г.В. Американский
английский язык. – Киев: Экспресс, 1992, с. 240-241.

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