Section I : Language Development
Chapter:20 Power and Politics
Working with words
A. Find the words from the text for these meanings. The first letters have been given for you.
a. reluctance unwillingness or disinclination to do something
b. repressive preventing the expression or awareness of thoughts or
desires
c. mutilation the infliction of serious damage on something
d. ghettoized restricted to an isolated or segregated place, group,
or situation
e. history feminist history viewed from a female or specifically feminist
perspective
f. genital relating
to the human or animal reproductive organs
g. hysterectomies surgical operations to remove all or part of the
uterus
h. paranoid obsessively anxious, suspicious, or mistrustful
i. eventuation thrusting forward of abdominal organs through the
abdominal wall
B. Complete the chart.
|
Verb |
Noun |
Adjective |
|
commit |
commitment |
committed |
|
nurture |
nurturance |
nurturable |
|
legitimatee |
legitimization |
legitimize |
|
oppress |
oppression |
oppressive |
|
defense |
defensiveness |
defensive |
|
victimize |
victimization |
victimized |
C. Consult a dictionary and define these terms.
Racism : the belief that different races
possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to
distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
Lesbian : relating to gay women or to
homosexuality in women.
Radical : forming an inherent or
fundamental part of the nature of someone or something.
Feminist : the advocacy of women’s rights on
the ground of the equality of the sexes.
Patriarchy : a system of society or government
in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
D. Underline the consonant clusters in the following sentences.
a. Fluffy went flip-flop all
over the floor.
b. The whites sing a song about
the striking stars.
c. Here are some flowers and a flask of tea of
your favourite flavour.
d. Smita fell ill with flu.
e. My friend is frightened of frogs.
f. Thumbelina stumbled out
of the green bush.
g. She heard a rumble and
a cry.
h. ‘Climb up’, said Tom.
i. Freedom needs to
be strived for.
j. Children were munching crunchy French fries.
Comprehension
Answer the following questions.
a. Why does Audre Lorde think that Mary got a sort of
victory in the University of Boston?
Audre Lorde thought that
Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston because she becomes so
glad to find many women attending the speak out, and the show of joined power
will provide more space for them to grow and be within.
b. Why is Lorde thankful to Mary?
Lorde is thankful to Mary
because Mary has provided her a book named Gyn/Ecology that is full of import,
useful, generative, and provoking. The book is strengthening and helpful for
her.
c. What impression has the writer had about the way white
women looked upon black women?
The writer has had a very
bad impression about the way white women looked upon black women. According to
her, the white women were unable to hear Black women’s words or to maintain
dialogue with the black women. The act of white women is long and discouraging
for her.
d. Why did Mary not cast black women as goddesses in her
book according to Lorde?
According to Lorde, Mary
didn’t cast black women as goddesses in her book because she had made a
conscious decision to limit her scope and deal only with the ecology of Western
European women.
e. Why did Lorde think that she misused her words?
Lorde thought that she
misused her words because she utilized her words only to testify against Lorde
as a woman of colour.
f. For Lorde, how were women, especially from the black
community, undervalued?
For Lorde, women,
especially from the black community were undervalued as they were ghettoized by
a white woman dealing only out of a patriarchal western European frame of
reference.
g. How does Mary take white women as? Does Lorde agree
with Mary’s view?
Mary takes white women as
superior to non-white women. Her assumption is that the herstory and the myth
of white women is the legitimate and sole herstory and myth of all women to
call upon for power and background, and that nonwhite women and their
herstories are noteworthy only as decorations, or examples of female
victimization.
No, Lorde does not agree with Mary’s view.
Lorde does not liked the supremacy of white feminism over black feminism shown
by Mary in her views presenting blacks as decorative and useful things and
ignoring their pain and oppression.
h. What is Afrekete? How does it connect to this lesson?
Afrekete is the
collective voice to the tradition of black lesbian writing. It connects to this
lesson as the author wants to connect all the black women in the arena of black
writing.
Critical thinking
a. “The oppression of women knows no ethnic or racial
boundaries.” Do you agree or not? Justify with your reasons.
“The oppression of women
knows no ethnic or racial boundaries.” Yes, I agree with this statement.
Women have fought to be treated equal for many
years and deserve same pay as men. Men receive better treatment, jobs, and
better pay than women, which shows discrimination towards them. Women continue
to fight against the discrimination worldwide. The oppression of women getting
defined equality creates a form of intolerance. Women not having the rights
they deserve can lead to uncertainty within oneself.
In history, women did not have equality rights
which connects to why some still face sexist discrimination against men.
Despite the tremendous progress made in the struggle for gender equality, women
still face violence, discrimination, and institutional barriers to equal
participation in society. Women are treated less than men because of gender
inequality, this show how women are not looked on the same social status. It
should be equal pay for equal work, but unfortunately women are looked as less
than men. Many countries do not give women the right to education because they
believe women should not be educated. Many poor women cannot afford to pay for
education, limiting them to receiving it. Many times it is not an option
because governments prevent women from achieving their goal of education. Thus,
due to all these things, women have been suffering a lot. Their oppression
knows no ethnic and racial boundaries and they have been the victims for ages.
b. Why is it important to question our beliefs and values?
How are they set up in a person’s mind?
It is important to
question our beliefs and values because it builds character, honesty,
compassion, acceptance and strength. People usually tend to avoid questioning
their own beliefs because they assume that it will diminish their beliefs. If
we think this way it’s because we already doubt the veracity of our claims, and
we are being dishonest with ourselves. Questioning beliefs through objectivity
and observing as a third party/person helps us to gage not only if our beliefs
are true, but what are the logical consequences of our ideas in the world
(positive and negative). As soon as we question another person’s beliefs on a
topic, we should evaluate our own. If we discover we are wrong, this fosters
acceptance. If we discover we are wrong and modify our beliefs and admit our
error, this fosters strength. Thus, it’s important to question our beliefs and
values.
Writing
B. Write an article for a national daily on “The Status of
Women in Nepali Society.”
The Status of Women in Nepali Society
2021-01-26 : Nepal is a country of great
geographic, cultural, ethnic, religious diversity. Across the diversity, the
majority of communities in Nepal are patriarchal. A women’s life is strongly
influenced by her father, husband and son. Such patriarchal practices are further
reinforced by the legal system. The status of women is determined by the
patriarchal social system, values, and women’s right preserved and protected by
the state, and state policy for the development of women.
Women’s relative status, however, varied from
one ethnic group to another. The economic contribution of women is substantial,
but largely unnoticed because their traditional role was taken as for granted.
The health status of Nepal’s people is one of
the lowest in the South Asian region and this is particularly true for females.
One fifth of women get married in the early age of 15-19. As a result of their
premature pregnancy the deaths of women have been occurring in a very high.
National statistics shows that women’s
literacy rate is 30 percent while 66 percent to male. The enrollment of women
in higher education is only 24.95 percent. Women’ involvement in technical and
vocational education is also lower than men. This is due to the social norms
and culture that we follow also. As in rural areas girls are considered as
“paraya dhan”(others property) and they don’t get the opportunity to get
education.
A large part of women’s work is not considered
as economic activity. As a result only 45.2 per cent of women as compared to
68.2 per cent of men are classified as economically active. There are very few
women working in professional work in Nepal. They may study the law, but few
are able to enter the profession.
Grammar
B. Choose the correct alternative.
a. an old foreign car/a foreign old car
an old foreign car
b. a beautiful white dress/ a white beautiful dress
a beautiful white dress
c. a nice tall young man/a tall nice young man
a nice tall young man
d. a big black wooden desk/ a black wooden big desk
a big black wooden desk
e. a delicious Italian pizza/ an Italian delicious pizza
a delicious Italian pizza
f. a huge brown bear/a brown huge bear
a huge brown bear
g. a purple cotton sleeping bag/ a cotton purple sleeping
bag
a purple cotton sleeping
bag
h. a beautiful old Indian village/an old beautiful Indian
village
an old beautiful Indian
village
i. a cute little kitten/ a little cute kitten
a cute little kitten
j. an expensive antique /an antique expensive table
an antique expensive
table
C. Put the adjectives in the following sentences in the correct order.
a. I bought (red/ a /comfortable/new) scooter.
I bought a comfortable
new scooter.
b. She reached home and sat on (relaxing/old/her/wooden)
chair.
She reached home and sat
on her old relaxing wooden chair.
c. We ate (Chinese/delicious/some) food.
we ate some delicious
Chinese food.
d. I need (golden/delicious/some/round) apples.
I need some delicious
round golden apples.
e. We like to live in a (calm/unmediated/remote) place for
some time.
We like to live in a calm
unmediated remote place for some time.
f. She is wearing (silver/beautiful / a(n)/ old) ring.
She is wearing an old
beautiful silver ring.
g. I am looking for (golden/stylish/a/Japanese) watch.
I am looking for a
stylish Japanese golden watch.
h. She dropped (old/china/attractive/a(n)) cup and smashed
it.
She dropped an old
attractive China cup and smashed it.
i. He wants to marry (young/pretty/educated/a(n)/rustic)
girl.
He wants to marry a pretty young educated rustic girl.
j. We stayed in a (luxurious/five star/new) hotel in
Dubai.
We stayed in a new luxurious five-star hotel in Dubai.
