第八讲：American-Way-of-Life

TheUnitedStatesofAmericaUnit11&12AmericanWayofLife任课教师：席晓青ContentsAmerica’sSelf-image1Women’sMovement3Stereotypes4AmericanDream2IWhat‘sAmerica’sSelf-imageHowdoyouunderstandthefollowingsentence?Onecouldsaytheyagreeaboveallaboutthevalueofdisagreeing.(P169)WhatwordcanbebestusedtodescribeAmerica?IWhat‘sAmerica’sSelf-imageMeltingPotSaladbowlMosaicKaleidoscopeInternetRacialAssimilationTheMeltingPotTheUnitedStatesisanationofmanyethnicgroups,makingita“meltingpot”,meaningimmigrantsfromdifferentnationsallovertheworldhavecombinedtomakeonenation,theAmerican.TheyspeakalmostthesamekindofEnglishwithfarlessclassorregionalvarietythaninBritain.Theyhavesimilarhabitsandmanner.Audio:Multi-culturalSocietyTheSaladBowlSince1960s,alotofscholarsopposeagainsttheterm“meltingpot”.TheythinkAmericaissimilartoaSaladBowl,everyculturecanfinditspositioninAmericansociety.MulticulturalismisthesymbolofAmerica.TheUnitedStatesasamosaicmeansthatthewholenationismadeupofdifferentcolorsandshapes.Theyweregluedtogetherandneverdecay.What’stheflawbyusingthismetaphor?KaleidoscopeAkaleidoscopecanovercomethebigproblemwiththemosaic.Thepatternwerenotatallfixed.ThedifferentbeadsreflectedthemanydifferentgroupsthathavegoneintomakinguptheAmericanpopulation.NowwecanusetheInternettodescribetheUSA?Doyouthinkit’smoreexact?Why?IIAmericanDreamLiberty/FreedomEquality/SocialJusticeThecentralimplicationoffreedomcanbeexpressedasfreedomfromexternallyimposedrestrictions.Libertyinthepastmeansthatpeoplehavethecivilandpoliticalrightsforvoters.Nowitmaymeanthefreedomtodoasonechooses.Socialjusticeimpliesthateventhelowestclassesmustbetreatedfairly,ideallywithequality.Equalityimpliesthatthereisnooneclassofcitizenswitharighttomorefavorabletreatmentunderthelaw.levelplayingfield/KarlMarxIIIstereotypeAllAmericansarerichAmericansocietyisviolentAmericanfamiliesareindisarrayAmericansareallreligiousAmericansareoptimisticWomen’sLiberationSenecaFallsmeeting（1848）beganthefirstwaveofthewomen’smovement.LucretiaMott/ElizabethCadyStantonplayedanimportantpartinthismeeting.TheSenecaFallDeclarationisregardedasthesinglemostimportantdocumentofthenineteenth-centuryAmericanwoman’smovement.Womeninthe1950swereactuallyunhappyandtheyknewtheyhadnorighttobehappy.WomenandNegroesinferior(needingmastery)/childlike(needingcontrol)/withoutintelligence(nottobetrustedtovoteortoexercisejudgmentinpublicaffairs.)BothNegroesandwomenwerebasicallyunthinkingandthusinferiorcreatures,theywereactuallyhappierunderthedominationofmasters.Whatistheimprovementintheconditionsofwomen’slives?Women’svotingright(1920)TheconditionsofAmericanwomenweregenerallyimprovedbecauseofthedevelopmentoftechnology.Americanwomenwerebecomingmoreeducated.Whitemiddle-classwomenwerelivinglongerandhavingfewerchildren.Bythelate1950s,marriedwomenhadonaverage3.58children.Doyouthinkwomenarereallyequalasmen?Whatdoyouthinkofthecurrentstatusofwomen?FewadvanceshavebeenmadeinthestatusofAmericanwomen,despitetheirincreasingparticipationintheworkforce.Whatdothinkofthephrase,“glassceiling”and“promisekeeper”?PromiseKeepers（守信者）(P194)“守信”二字，指的是“对上帝、家庭和社会信守诺言”。其宗旨是“让男子承担对妻子和子女的责任”。守信者”运动快速发展在于它看起来正在设法填补一个空白，就是“社会伦理危机”，glassceiling(P194)玻璃天花板(通常专指女性所遭遇的在工作中升级时遇到的一种无形的障碍,使人不能到达较高阶层)TheFeminineMystique《女性的奥秘》waswrittenbyBettyFriedanandpublishedin1963.Inthebookthewritercalledthesenseofpointlessness（模糊的不安情绪）“theProblemwithoutaName.”(无名的问题)Fromthe1960sonward,learningfromthetacticsofthegreatblackleader,MartinLutherKing,Jr.,feministsmostlytookthepeacefuldemonstrationsandsit-ins,initiatedlettercampaignstotheirpoliticiansandorganizedvotingdrives.NationalOrganizationforWomen(NOW)全国妇女组织istheirownorganization.Bythetimeofthe1980electionoftheRepublicanpresident,RonaldReagan,thebacklashagainstfeminismwasinfullswing.(对女权主义的强烈抵制达到高潮)FewadvanceshavebeenmadeinthestatusofAmericanwomen,despitetheirincreasingparticipationintheworkforce.(60%---75%).Today’sAmericanwomancanexpectamarriageisconductedbetweenequals.(spouse---partner)