英語文化隨身帶

電臺節目“英語文化隨身帶”文章短小精悍，內容包羅萬象。將英語文化裝進口袋里，利用閑散的時間隨身翻閱，英語學習者可以在潛移默化中了解當代英語世界的生活和文化。

男人就要陽剛，女人就要陰柔；藍色是男孩子的顏色，粉紅色是女孩子的顏色……這種性別刻板印象也叫性別偏見，是人們對男性或女性角色特征的固有印象，表明了人們對性別角色的期望和看法。但你知道嗎，在不同的社會或年代，這種刻板形象有著不同的表現——男人流眼淚才是真漢子，女人則是主動求婚的一方。神奇吧？一起聽聽本期節目——

The very mention[提及] of the gang’s name， The Forty 1） ， sent shivers down the spines[脊骨] of shop owners all over London. A mere glimpse of a 2） sent chaos exploding through a store， as cashiers and shoppers ran. But this fearsome gang wasn’t your typical[典型的] pack of villainous men. The Forty Elephants was a young， all-female gang of thieves. They were called the Forty Elephants because they came from a part of London named “Elephant and Castle.”

Their most infamous leader was 20-year old Annie Diamond. Her gang called her the queen，but the police called her Diamond Annie， because she punched people with a hand full of diamond rings. The Forty Elephants carried out some of the biggest 3） crimes Britain has ever seen. Many said that they were 4） and faster than the strongest male thieves at that time.

The Forty Elephants aren’t the only group of people who’ve turned gender[性別] stereotypes[模式化形象] upside down.

In North East India， there is a matrilineal tribe[部族] called the Garos. Traditionally， in this society， a woman proposes[求婚] marriage to a man， but 5） accepting the proposal[求婚] the groom-to-be is 6） to run away. The bride’s family is then supposed to“capture” him and return him to his potential bride’s village. He then has another opportunity to accept or reject the proposal.

Many things that we might think of as naturally male or female， like 7） colors， are products of social conditioning. We often think of blue as a color for a male， while pink is seemingly more feminine[女性的]. But did you know that in 1918， it was concluded that pink was a stronger color more 8） for the boy； 9） blue， which was more delicate[雅致的] and dainty[秀麗的]， was prettier for the girl？

Even the idea that women are more emotional[情感的] than men is one that can change depending on the culture. In ancient Greek culture， men were expected to cry as a sign of true manliness to protect their family’s honor[榮譽]. That’s why in many Greek dramas and plays， the male character often sheds[流出] a few tears during the show.

In society there’s often pressure[壓力] to be “manly” or“ladylike.” But I wonder how often we’re just trying to fit in with gender stereotypes. Have you ever felt trapped by gender roles？ Can you remember a time when you did something （like wore a dress or joined a football team） just 10） it was expected of someone of your gender？

一聽到“四十大象”這一團伙的名字，全倫敦的店主便不寒而栗；一瞥見該團伙成員的身影，收銀員和顧客就要逃跑，店鋪隨之陷入一片混亂。然而，“四十大象”這一令人聞風喪膽的團伙并非人們所熟知的那種典型男性歹徒集團，而是一個全部由年輕女性組成的盜竊團伙。團伙名為“四十大象”，是因為她們來自倫敦一個名叫“大象與城堡”的片區。

團伙中最臭名昭著的頭目是年僅20歲的安妮·黛蒙德（鉆石），她在團伙中被稱為女王，警方則叫她“鉆石安妮”，因為她用戴滿了鉆石戒指的手揍人。“四十大象”制造了英國史上最大的幾宗入店行竊罪案。許多人說，她們比當時最強壯的男竊賊還要強悍敏捷。

“四十大象”盜竊集團并非唯一顛覆人們傳統性別印象的人。