Exercises

5 The text contains quite a few words whose pronunciation could pose difficulty. Transcribe the following words to avoid possible mispronunciation and miscommunication in future.

nurturing, iconoclast, rogue, archetypes, caricatures, scallywags, plausible, paradigm, slothful, quiescent, catatonic, belligerently, misanthropic

6 Explain the meanings and give examples of usage of the following words from the text above. Use the chart below.

Word

Meaning(s)

Example of usage other than in the text

Wimp, lout, lark-about, rogue, archetype, caricature, scallywag, plausible, incarnation, upbeat, sturdy, lassie, mainstream, paradigm, slothful, inert, credulous, wily, sly, boor, icon

7 The text contains a number of compound adjectives. Explain the meaning of those below:

cold-eyed, rock-jawed, lager-swigging, middle-class, having-it-all, well-intentioned, mainstream, five-star, iron-bodied, red-misted, straightforward

8 Match the words in the left and right columns to restore the collocations from the text. Give the context where they are used.

e.g. “shorthand male identities” – The researcher explained that all those shorthand male identities have become clichés, caricatures and jokes.

1.	shorthand	into instability	a.	1.	gender	jokes	a.
2.	perspective	rosy	b.	2.	keep them	disorder	b.
3.	come in	professional woman	c.	3.	made	fool	c.
4.	slip	the wake of	d.	4.	accommodate	the notion	d.
5.	acres	of media space	e.	5.	five-star	of icons	e.
6.	having-it-all	this backdrop	f.	6.	popularity	explicit	f.
7.	far less	male identities	g.	7.	camp	in line	g.
8.	against	on the world	h.

9 Now let's clarify some points regarding the text above.

a. How did the researcher explain his problem?

b. Why did the use of those male archetypes in advertising not necessarily bring companies profits?

c. How is the New Lad perceived nowadays?

d. What was it that the researcher wanted to know about Ideal Man?

e. What is the situation with "men, masculinity and what we think they ought to mean" nowadays?

f. What were the two shifts in the social order that produced the two latest varieties of male image?

g. How did the mentioned changes affect gender relations?

h. What kind of situation have modern women found themselves in?

i. What perspectives for future gender order are there for men and women?

j. How are young men reached by advertising nowadays?

k. How do you understand the sentence "Trying to find an Ideal Man these days is like searching for fool's gold"?

l. Does advertising catch the mood of the times and reflect life?

m. Why is it claimed that the whole of popular culture seems to have given up on Ideal Man?

n. What are Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger criticised for?

o. How are more balanced types of men being described?

p. What is the last question asked in the text?

Talking and Writing

10 Above is some scorching criticism of present standards of masculinity. Answer the questions below to find out if things are universally so bad?

A. Can you see the same evolution of man’s image in domestically made films?

B. What male archetypes do national TV and advertising propose?

C. The author of the text refers to a number of male TV and advertising incarnations in rather abusive terms (wimps, scallywags, losers, louts, etc.). Do you find similar portrayals on our television?

D. Are there examples of “men fussing over other men like old mother hens and podgy characters in the kitchen wearing the little lady's apron”?

E. What is the position with "men, masculinity and what we think they ought to mean" in our country?

F. To what extent is our television male chauvinistic or militant feministic?

11 Consolidate the class discussion in a written review of Ukrainian commercial advertising and TV programmes in the part of prevailing male role models and their impact on gender self-awareness and relations.

12 Reversely, Is there a credible female Ideal that young girls and women aspire to, giving them a paradigm for femininity? Again, is trying to find an Ideal Woman on the TV screen these days equally like searching for fool's gold? Develop the topic into a home-written argumentative essay.

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