Press review

Hello everybody!

I was reading an article some time ago in the online edition of “Business spotlight” and it talks about gender stereotypes, especially at work.

I thought you might be interested because we’ll all be part of the working life and we’ll be confronted with this topic. Therefore, I think it is important to be aware of the existing gender issues.

Basically, what it says is that there are differences between how women and men are treated in negotiations, or generally in working life.

It is also said that success at work is usually associated with male traits of aggression, but if women show these behaviours, they are seen as disagreeable. Negotiating is harder for women, because the traits needed for negotiating go against the expectations of feminine behaviour.

The author also mentions that studies show that when women negotiate on behalf of others, they do not face a sexist backlash. Being demanding and assertive on behalf of others is seen as protective and caring, which are qualities typically associated with women. A successful female negotiator needs to combine positive male characteristics with positive female stereotypes.

It is also mentioned in the text that Catherine Tinsley, who is an expert on gender issues offers advice on how to act in business, so that women feel treated equally. One of those would be, highlighting their multiple roles, for example, employee, manager, mother or community worker.

What surprised me most was that paradoxically, political correctness prevents women and men from discussing the existing gender problems, because in my mind it is a very important issue, which we have to talk about.

What do you think about this topic? Are there still gender issues in working life?

Roberta. 

traits – Charakterzug

backlash – Gegenreaktion

assertive – durchsetzungsstark

negotiator – Verhandlungsführer

paradoxically - seltsamerweise

Fair Trade

Hello everybody!

In our last English lesson, we were talking about the brand or the logo “Fair Trade”. For me personally it is very important that products are fair trade, cruelty free or anything that assures that people and animals haven’t been harmed or exploited.

However, there are split opinions on the logo fair trade, because they are a brand and do more marketing than what they proclaim.

I value every move or action against people and animal exploitation, therefore I support the “Fair Trade” Logo. Of course, as everything else, it has some aspects which you could criticize. If no one criticize something, everything would stay the same. Therefore, it is important, that things are spoken out but as many others, I wouldn’t say it is completely wrong to promote this brand. It is a step in the right direction.

Roberta.