Has gender equality finally been achieved?

Private sphere and public sphere

ANGLAIS

39

ang1_2000_00_04C

Private sphere and public sphere

Has gender equality finally been achieved?

compréhension de l'écrit et expression écrite

1 h 30

20 points

Intérêt du sujet • Les femmes ont longtemps été cantonnées à la sphère privée avant de se battre
pour leurs droits. Sont-elles enfin les égales des hommes ? N'est-il vraiment plus nécessaire de
poursuivre le combat ?

DocumentGender stereotypes

I often make the mistake of thinking that something that is obvious1 to me is just as obvious to
everyone else. Take my dear friend Louis, who is a brilliant, progressive man. We would have
conversations and he would tell me: “I don't see what you mean by things being different and harder
for women. Maybe it was so in the past but not now. Everything is fine now for women.” I didn't
understand how Louis could not see what seemed so evident.

I love being back home in Nigeria, and spend much of my time there in Lagos, the largest city and
commercial hub of the country. Sometimes, in the evenings when the heat goes down and the city
has a slower pace2, I go out with friends and family to restaurants or cafés. On one of those evenings,
Louis and I were out with friends. There is a wonderful mixture in Lagos: a sprinkling of energetic
young men who hang around outside certain establishments and very dramatically “help” you park
your car. Lagos is a metropolis of almost twenty million people, with more energy than London, more
entrepreneurial spirit than New York, and so people come up with all sorts of ways to make a living.
As in most big cities, finding parking in the evenings can be difficult, so these young men make a
business out of finding spots, and – even when there are spots available – of guiding you into yours
with much gesticulating, and promising to “look after” your car until you get back. I was impressed
with the particular theatrics of the man who found us a parking spot that evening. And so as we were
leaving, I decided to give him a tip3. I opened my bag, put my hand inside my bag to get my money,
and I gave it to the man. And he, this man who was happy and grateful4, took the money from me,
and then looked across at Louis and said, “Thank you, sah!”

Louis looked at me, surprised and asked: “Why is he thanking me? I didn't give him the money.” Then
I saw realization dawn on Louis's face. The man believed that whatever money I had ultimately came
from Louis. Because Louis is a man.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We should all be feminists, 2014

1. obvious: évident; 2. pace: rythme; 3. a tip: un pourboire; 4. grateful: reconnaissant.

Compréhension de l'écrit 10 points

Answer the following questions in English, using your own words.

▶ 1. Who is the narrator?

▶ 2. Focus on paragraph 1 and pick out information about Louis:

how he is related to the narrator;

the kind of person he is;

what he thinks about gender equality at the beginning of the text.

▶ 3. Focus on the situation in paragraph 2:

where is the action set?

Who is the new character involved?

How does he react when the narrator gives him a tip?

▶ 4. How does Louis react to the man thanking him? To what extent does it illustrate the narrator's
point?

Expression écrite 10 points

Vous traiterez en anglais l'un des deux sujets suivants au choix. Répondez en 120 mots au moins.

Sujet A

Two students receive an award from the mayor for an article they wrote about women's rights. Write
the mayor's speech.

Sujet B

Do you agree with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that we should all be feminists? Why (not)?

Les clés du sujet

Compréhension de l'écrit

Comprendre le document
Préparer sa réponse à la question 4

Notez bien les deux temps de la réaction de Louis : d'abord étonné, il comprend ensuite le sens de ce
qui vient de se passer.

Pour répondre à la deuxième partie de la question, interprétez ce que Louis vient de comprendre
(relisez les dernières lignes du texte) en le reliant à l'introduction du texte : contrairement à ce
qu'affirme Louis, Chimamanda y explique qu'il lui paraît évident que beaucoup reste à faire pour
l'égalité des sexes.

Expression écrite

Sujet A

Key ideas. The speech you have to write is delivered by the mayor of the city. He addresses the
students and their school community for an event and a cause they are all proud of: the tone must be
formal, benevolent (bienveillant) and laudatory (élogieux) at the same time.

A few tools. Organise your speech: you can first present the students and their article, then focus on
what they fight for (for example, girls'education). Find at least one argument to illustrate why this
cause is worth supporting. To conclude, you can encourage other people to get involved and
congratulate the students.

Sujet B

Key ideas. You have to write an argumentative essay about feminism. You must answer the question,
give your opinion and justify it with convincing (convaincant) arguments.

A few tools. Start with your personal definition of “feminism”. Then organise your arguments in
paragraphs, using link words: one paragraph about the reasons why feminism is still a worthy cause
(pay gap, sexual harassment…) and one explaining why everybody (including men) should be
feminists.

Compréhension de l'écrit

▶ 1. The narrator is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian feminist author of the essay.

des points en +

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie a écrit We should all be feminists après une conférence en 2012. Vous
pouvez visionner la conférence dans son intégralité : cutt.ly/AueJrE4.
▶ 2. Louis is a friend of the narrator's. He is a smart and open-minded man. He thinks gender
equality is now achieved (“Everything is fine now for women” l. 6).

▶ 3. The action is set in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria.

The new character is a young man who earns some money helping people find a parking spot and
looking after their car. He has just helped the narrator and her friend find a parking spot.

When Chimamanda gives him a tip, he doesn't thank her for the money she has just given him: he
thanks Louis, the narrator's male friend instead.

▶ 4. At first, Louis is surprised: he doesn't understand why the man thanked him. Then, he eventually
realises that the young man thinks it is his money since he is the man. This makes Louis understand
that Chimamanda was right: gender prejudices and stereotypes are still very present and gender
equality is far from being achieved yet.

Expression écrite

Sujet A

Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

I have the honour to be here today to reward two of your fellow students, Clara and Aïcha, whose
article about women and education in Africa was awarded several prices for its quality and its
truthfulness.

In this article, Clara and Aïcha show that, today, education is still not available to everyone. In sub-
Saharan Africa, for example, more than 30 million girls of primary and lower secondary school age are
out of school. Clara and Aïcha believe that if African girls can get an education, they will marry later,
invest in their children's education, resist gender-based discrimination… and eventually change their
community.

vocabulaire

gender-based : sexiste

on behalf of : au nom de

heartfelt : sincère (du fond du cœur)

Like them, I think girls'education can change the world! That is why I'm proud to give them, on behalf
of the city council, this £3,000 prize to help the girls'education programme they support. And I'd like
to encourage young people like you to fight for girls'education and women's rights all over the world.

Clara and Aïcha, you are changing the world. Your implication deserves our heartfelt admiration.

(177 mots)

Sujet B

Although the word “feminism” has somehow become unpopular, I like its true definition: the belief
that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. That is why I do believe we
should all be feminists.

vocabulaire

somehow : d'une certaine manière

the gender gap : l'écart hommes-femmes

narrow : étroit

Indeed, it is easy to find evidence that gender equality hasn't been achieved yet. Women are still the
main victims of sexual harassment, abuse and violence. The gender gap is also visible in terms of
power and pay: everywhere, women are paid less than men, even for the same job, and few of them
occupy leading positions in big companies or in the political sphere.

Besides, gender stereotypes are not a women's problem only; they affect men too. Indeed men are
expected to be masculine and strong and not show any sign of emotion or weakness. And since both
women and men feel pressured to fit into narrow gender roles, they should all act as feminists. I hope
that, eventually, when we are all feminists, we will all live in a fairer society.

(170 mots)