BusyTeacher.Org: Bette Midler’s “I’m A Woman” Politically Incorrect…???

Busy Teacher has deemed Bette Midler‘s/Peggy Lee‘s I’m A Woman politically incorrect and sexist and have a worksheet for you to write an article about it.  You have to register to get the worksheet which you can do and submit it to them for fun….they do have some pics you can match to lines of the songs for fun (for kids only, I’m sure), but I decided to post the main gist of the assgnment if you wanted to play around with it.  Hell, maybe you could use if for your own English class.  Hell, I’d love to see Divine Grace write something on it…LOL!!!.   So here’s the video and then the assignment…:

This worksheet is to be used with Bette Midler’s highly politically incorrect song “I’m a woman”. It intends to generate a discussion concerning the stereotypical view of men and women portrayed in the song. The worksheet includes a vocabulary/reading activity in which students match pictures of house chores to lines from the song. Good for the international women’s day.

1. You are going to listen to a song in which a woman says women are superior to men in several ways. Can you predict what she is going to say?
2. Check with the song while you match her underlined chores to the pictures.

a)     Are you good at those housechores? Which ones are easier/more difficult for you?

b)     Which housechores do you love/hate doing?

c)     Who does the housework at your house? Do you think the chores are divided equitably?

1. Do you think this song is politically incorrect? If so, is it unfair to men, to women or both?

I’m a woman

Bette Midler

Well I can (1) wash out forty four pairs of socks
And have ’em on the line.
You know I can (2) starch and iron two dozen shirts
‘fore you can count from one to nine.
I can (3) slip up a great big dip up of lard
From a drippings can.
Throw it in the skillet, do my shopping,
And be back before it melts in the pan.

‘Cause I’m a woman…
W-O-M-A-N.
Let me tell ya again.
I’m a woman…
W-O-M-A-N.

Well I can (4) rub and scrub
’til this house shines just like a dime.
(5) Feed the baby, grease the car,
(6) Powder my nose at the same time.
You know I can (7) get all dressed up,
Go out swinging with the M-A-N,
Jump in bed at five, sleep ’til 6,
And start all over again.

CHORUS

Well now if you (8) come to me sick,
You know that I’m gonna make you well.
And if you come to me all hexed up,
You know I’m gonna break the spell.
And if you come to me hungry,
You know I’ll feed ya full of my grits.
And if it’s loving you want,
I can (9) kiss you and give you the shivering fits.

CHORUS

Well, I got a twenty dollar gold fee
That says there’s nothing that I can’t do.
Well, I can (10) make a dress out of feeding sacks,
And I can make a man out of you.

In small groups, imagine you’re her man and prepare a comeback, i.e. show her how men can be superior in several ways.

Here’s the link, if you want to register to download to do the picture matches, submit article, etc: Click Here