[00:00.00]Unit 4 Unusual interests
[00:05.69]3 While you read
[00:11.94]It’s a man’s world?
[00:15.70]For the last thirty years,we’ve been told that the war of the sexes is over
[00:21.76]and that women now have equal rights with men.
[00:26.23]To try to prove this,
[00:29.57]some have pointed to the way in which women have reached the highest offices.
[00:35.53]Mrs Thatcher,for example,led Britain for thirteen years,
[00:41.27]whilst many other countres have also recently elected their first female leaders.
[00:47.44]In the traditionally male-dominated world of sport,
[00:53.29]women have also made great progress.
[00:57.55]In kick-boxing,for instance,two young Scottish women
[01:03.32]have forced their way into the British team.
[01:07.58]Whilst many conservative commentators may disapprove,
[01:13.04]kate Kearney and Teresa Dewan
[01:17.40]are proud of the fact that they can not only take on men,
[01:22.68]but can even beat them.’We usually give them a good fight,’said Teresa,
[01:29.52]’but a man never likes to be beaten buy a woman.
[01:33.78]They usually go off in huff afterwards.You should see their faces!’
[01:39.66]However,several recent news stories
[01:45.12]have highlighted the fact that women are still being discriminated
[01:50.37]against in all areas of life.
[01:54.00]A survey last year showed that on average
[01:59.33]women earn 30% less than men and that in many companies,
[02:03.90]there is still a glass ceiling,prevening women from getting the top jobs.
[02:11.06]As if this wasn’t bad enough,
[02:15.50]evidence also suggests
[02:19.65]that women do more than their fair there of the work in the home.
[02:25.21]Women today have the burden of having to go out
[02:30.49]and fight for their rights in the workplace-
[02:34.54]and are then still expected to come home and cook and clean.
[02:39.87]Sadly,despite the success of women like the Scottish kick-boxers,
[02:46.53]sexism is also still alive and well in sport.
[02:51.99]The unofficial world women’s lightweight boxing champion,Jane Crouch,
[02:58.47]is today waiting to hear whether the British Boxing Board of Control
[03:04.11](BBBC)will allow her to continue her career.
[03:09.68]The BBBC is deciding whether women boxers will be allowed to box officially
[03:16.91]or whether they will have to remain in the shadowy world of inofficial boxing.
[03:22.76]Miss Crouch could expect to earn around $100,000 a year if she is given a licence.
[03:30.42]However,there has been much opposition to the spectacle of women in the boxing ring.
[03:37.78]There was laughter at the BBBC inquiry this week
[03:43.43]when it was suggested that women should not be licensed to box
[03:49.07]because they were biologically and emotionally unstable.
[03:54.53]To counter these arguments,Miss Crouch’s lawyer,Dinah Rose,
[04:00.48]said sarcastically:’We are all taking a hell of a risk allowing women to pilot aeroplanes,aren’t we?
[04:08.53]Perhaps all women airline pilots should be tested to see if they suffer from emotional instability.’
[04:15.48]’I would certainly want research on that,if I were responsible for them.’
[04:21.83]replied Adrian Blackson,the BBBC’s chief medical officer.
[04:28.17]’And perhaps we should also say that only men are stable enough to look after children.’
[04:34.70]Miss Rose asked,
[04:38.18]to which Mr Blackson could only respond by saying,’That’s an interesting question.’
[04:44.73]Miss Rose went on to suggest that it was men who were more likely to be unstable,
[04:51.89]to commit violent crimes or commit suicide.
[04:54.97]Mr Blackson told the inquiry that until further research had been done,
[05:01.92]the BBBC should not allow Miss Crouch to box.
[05:07.49]1 Boxing joke
[05:14.04]When I was a kid,we couldn’t afford a TV,so one day,
[05:19.82]my dad drilled a hole through the wall.
[05:23.58]which meant we could look into the house next door.
[05:27.94]After that,we used to watch the boxing and the wrestling every night...
[05:33.69]until we finally realised that the neighbours didn’t have a TV either.