王蓉

What does being a housewife mean？

Step 1? ?感知·閱讀導(dǎo)航

[話題導(dǎo)入]

這篇文章的作者是Lizzy Acker，她是《俄勒岡報》的記者。在美國俄勒岡州，一位叫Katrina Holte的女性辭職回家做家庭主婦，過起了50年代的復(fù)古生活。本文是對這一現(xiàn)象發(fā)表的評論，在閱讀過程中要注意識別作者的態(tài)度、觀點，以及原因。讀完文章，你是否同意作者的觀點？如果你是Katrina Holte的話，你會愿意放棄你的學(xué)業(yè)或者工作回家做家庭主婦嗎？

全文約683詞，建議用時11分鐘。

[閱讀目標]

1. 梳理文章結(jié)構(gòu)，識別作者的觀點、態(tài)度及理由。

2. 通過分析和推斷，體會作者的寫作目的。

3. 分析段落關(guān)聯(lián)，品味語篇連貫。

4. 剖析社會中存在的男女不平等現(xiàn)象，并找到解決方法。

閱讀掃障

1. cosplay /k?sple?/ v. 角色扮演

2. kudos /?kju?d?s/ n. 榮譽;威信

3. vintage /?v?nt?d?/ adj. （尤指過去某個時期）最佳的;最典型的;經(jīng)典的

4. literally /?l?t?r?li/ adv. 按字面;字面上

5. vinyl /?va?nl/ n. 黑膠唱片

6. smother /?sm???（r）/ v. （用某物）厚厚地覆蓋

7. captive /?k?pt?v/ n. 囚徒;俘虜

8. illusion /??lu??n/ n. 幻想

9. Stockholm Syndrome 斯德哥爾摩綜合征（又稱為人質(zhì)情節(jié)，指人質(zhì)對綁匪產(chǎn)生情感依賴的一種心理狀態(tài)）

10. gross /ɡr??s/ adj. 令人不快的;令人惡心的

A story posted by the New York Post Monday tells the tale of Katrina Holte， a woman who quit her job to cosplay a 1950s housewife.

Let me start by saying kudos to Katrina for using her 2019 freedoms to follow her 1950s dreams. Everyone should be so lucky as to get to decide what they wear and how they spend their time. Thats the future our foremothers fought for.

But as much fun as I am sure she is having living a vintage life， which literally includes watching shows like I Love Lucy and listening to vinyl recordings， I think its important to remember that being a 1950s housewife was actually totally awful， and something our grandmothers and mothers fought against.

For example， once I called my grandma and asked her for her recipe for Cloud Biscuits. She used to make these delicious biscuits which we would smother in butter and homemade raspberry jam on Thanksgiving.

“Why would you want that？” she said. “Go to the store. Go to the freezer section. Buy some pre?made biscuits and put them in the oven.”

She straight?up refused to give me the recipe， because it was hard and took a long time to make. In her mind， it was a waste of time.

Getting off the phone， it occurred to me that spending every day of your life serving a husband and five children wasnt fun at all. And then there are the grandchildren who eventually come along demanding Cloud Biscuits， a whole new expanded set of people to feed.

She was basically a captive to those hungry mouths， cooking scratch meals three times a day. When she wasnt trapped in the kitchen， she had to keep the house clean， make sure she looked good enough to be socially acceptable， and make sure her kids and husband looked good enough to be socially acceptable. And she had no days off.

I know my grandma loves her kids and her grandkids， as well as her husband and the life she led， but man， it must have been a lot of thankless， mindless labor.

No wonder everyone went all?in on processed foods when they came around. Imagine the nice break something like a microwave dinner would give a woman working， unpaid， for her family every single day？

I also had another grandma. She was a scholar who helped found the Center for the Study of Women in Society at University of Oregon. She was a pioneering second?wave feminist who wrote books， gave lectures and traveled the world.

But， she did all of that after divorcing my grandpa， when most of her kids were out of the house.

Back then， in the 1950s and the 1960s， there were no illusions about women “having it all”. How could that even possibly happen？ If you were taking care of a family and waiting on your husband， you would have no time to follow your dreams， unless you made that your dream.

A lot of women took that approach. We call it Stockholm Syndrome now.

And of course， these women I am talking about are/were upper?middle?class white women. Romanticizing the 1950s is especially gross when you think about how women of color and poor women were treated back then， and the lack of education and choices available to them.

Because the women in this country demanded something approaching equality， Katrina has the chance to live out her fantasy. Not every woman in America is so lucky.

We still dont have pay equity and in many states， we still dont have autonomy over our own bodies. Poor women and women of color still lack the opportunities of their wealthy and white peers.

And while its getting better， women are still expected to be responsible for the emotional labor of running a household and raising the children.

But at least we can get jobs. At least we dont have to sew our own clothes， wear a full face of makeup every day and spend hours mak?ing Cloud Biscuits some ungrateful kid will gobble up， barely remembering to say thank you.

Step 2 理解·文本解讀

Ⅰ. Understand the main idea.

1. Whats the type of writing？

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2. How many parts can this article be divided into？ Whats the main idea of each part？

（1）Para. 1～3

（2）Para. 4～12

（3）Para. 13～18

（4）Para. 19

Ⅱ. Sort out the authors opinion and supporting details.

1. What happened to Katrina Holte？ Try to express it in your own words.

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2. Whats the authors attitude towards Katrinas behavior？ What words show us the authors attitude？

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3. What is the authors opinion about being a 1950s housewife？ Whats the evidence for her opinion in the text？

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4. What might womens life in the 1950s and the 1960s be like based on the two grandmothers life？

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5. What does the author want to show by citing the examples of the two grandmothers？

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6. What problems facing women are mentioned in the passage？

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Ⅲ. Analyze the authors writing purpose and form your own opinion.

1. Why does the author write this article？ Who might be the reader of the article？

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2. What do you think of the authors writing？ If you are asked to add something to make the article more thorough， what kind of contents do you want to add？

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3. Do you support the authors opinion？ Why？

________________________________? 【點石成金】通過設(shè)計不同層次的問題，引導(dǎo)學(xué)生思維由低階向高階發(fā)展。展示型問題引導(dǎo)學(xué)生梳理文章框架和大意。參閱型問題引導(dǎo)學(xué)生透過表層關(guān)注本質(zhì)，識別作者的觀點、以及尋找支持性細節(jié)。評估型問題則引導(dǎo)學(xué)生關(guān)注作者的寫作意圖，訓(xùn)練學(xué)生推斷、評價和質(zhì)疑的能力，深化對主題意義的認識。

Step 3 運用·讀寫整合

Ⅰ. Supposing you were a supporter of Katrina Holtes behavior， what would you write down？

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Ⅱ. What are the present problems facing Chinese females nowadays？ What can we do to solve these problems？ （Try to illustrate from different perspectives.）

________________________________

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【點石成金】此環(huán)節(jié)有兩個輸出任務(wù)。第一個任務(wù)，通過角色帶入，讓學(xué)生提出不同的觀點及論證理由，對原文內(nèi)容進行補充;第二個任務(wù)旨在引導(dǎo)學(xué)生遷移創(chuàng)新，在學(xué)完本文之后關(guān)注中國社會存在的男女不平等現(xiàn)象，并提出解決措施。通過這兩個任務(wù)，學(xué)生能學(xué)會多角度、多層面分析問題，解決問題，并提升其思維品質(zhì)。

Step 4 提升·素養(yǎng)建構(gòu)

視野拓展

文學(xué)作品中女權(quán)主義的思想

不少文學(xué)作品中體現(xiàn)了女權(quán)主義的思想，諸如Gone with the Wind（飄）、 Pride and Prejudice（傲慢與偏見）、Jane Eyre（簡·愛）、Little Women（小婦人）、The Woman Warrior（女勇士）等。

《小婦人》的作者路易莎·梅·奧爾科特是美國文學(xué)史上最突出的作家之一，她的觀點與想法具有明顯的女性主導(dǎo)傾向。通過《小婦人》，奧爾科特成功地展現(xiàn)了她的女性觀：強調(diào)婦女的獨立和與男性同等的地位。

小說中有不少涉及愛情、金錢、婚姻和育兒的一些觀點，富有哲理，發(fā)人深省，下面我們一起來欣賞：

Work is wholesome， and there is plenty for everyone. It keeps us from ennui and mischief， is good for health and spirits， and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion. 工作是有益健康的，每個人都可以做很多工作。工作能讓我們遠離無聊和惡作劇，對身心大有裨益，給我們一種力量感和獨立感，勝過金錢和時尚。

My dear girls， I am ambitious for you， but not to have you make a dash in the world—marry rich men merely because they are rich，or have splendid houses， which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing， and when well used， a noble thing， but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. Id rather see you poor mens wives， if you were happy， beloved， contented， than queens on thrones， without self?respect and peace. 我親愛的女兒們，我對你們充滿期待，但是我并不想你們在世界中跑得太快——僅僅因為金錢或豪華的大房子而嫁個有錢的男人。這些豪華的大房子不能稱之為家，因為其中缺少愛情。錢是必需和珍貴的東西，如果好好使用，則是高貴的東西。但我絕不想讓你們把金錢視作生活第一或唯一珍貴的東西去付諸努力。如果你開心、被愛且滿足，我寧愿你做個窮人家的妻子，而不愿你做個王座上的女王，卻失去了自尊和安寧。

He does not let business wean him from the little cares and duties that affect us all， and I try not to let domestic worries destroy my interest in his pursuits. Each do our part alone in many things， but at home we work together， always. 他不會讓工作抽離他對我們的關(guān)心和責(zé)任，我試著不要讓家里的煩惱摧毀我對他的追求的興趣。我們在很多事情上各司其職，但在家里我們總是共同合作。

Dont neglect husband for children， dont shut him out of the nursery， but teach him how to help in it. His place is there as well as yours， and the children need him. Let him feel that he has a part to do， and he will do it gladly and faithfully， and it will be better for you all. 不要因為孩子而忽略丈夫，也不要在照顧孩子方面把他拒之門外，而是要教他如何幫忙。他在照顧孩子方面的位置和你一樣，況且孩子需要他。讓他感覺到他有要做的一部分，他會高興且忠誠地去履行它，這樣對你們都有益。