Women in politics

6 Minute English

语言学习

2023-04-27

6 分钟

单集文稿 ...

  • Beth: I'm Beth.

  • Neil: And I'm Neil.

  • Differences between men and women have existed forever,

  • but in modern times imbalances in the opportunities for men and woman have widened.

  • One area where this imbalance is widest is politics.

  • Beth: When we think of female politicians,

  • the names Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Indira Gandhi, or Jacinda Ardern all come to mind.

  • But, while women make up over half the world's population,

  • only 26% of the world's politicians are women.

  • Neil: How much of this is because of misogyny – hatred and prejudice against women?

  • It seems that the surprise resignation of New Zealand's prime minster,

  • Jacinda Ardern, was partly because of the misogynistic abuse she received online,

  • so in this programme we'll be asking:

  • why is life so hard for women in politics?

  • And, of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

  • Beth: But before that, I have a question for you, Neil.

  • Britain has had three female prime ministers, all from the Conservative party.

  • First was Margaret Thatcher, who was followed in 2016 by Theresa May,

  • and after that by Liz Truss, who resigned after only a short time in office.

  • But for how long, exactly, was Liz Truss prime minister?