Woman or Person

Kirsty Maxwell, Gill Patterson

This is not a book only for girls. It is intended to be studied and enjoyed by boys and girls alike. Gill Patterson and Kirsty Maxwell suggest to their readers that the whole compass of a woman's life, as it is likely to be lived between now and 2000 AD, should be examined, discussed and considered. Such consideration by teenage students in late twentieth century New Zealand has undeniable social relevance. Given the fact that the post industrial economy has little need for workers whose main job qualification is physical strength, and that the range of service employment opportunities widens whilst production becomes more and more computerised and less and less needful of human labour, the economic, emotional, sexual and social relationships between the sexes requires much rethinking. Sex stereotyped roles defined in late Victorian and Edwardian times are not necessary features of the economy and society in which we actually live. Woman or Person meets the needs of the 1978 Social Studies syllabus by raising questions and suggesting enquiries. It does not recommend apparently final answers to issues which puzzle us all. This addition to the Resource series is designed to stimulate pupils' discussion, research, reporting and evaluation skills. The authors have created a text suitable for use with mixed ability classes and shaped to lend itself to a teaching reading approach if classroom needs require this. This book will meet a long felt want in the secondary schools' social studies programmes in that it deals with the country's largest cultural minority group.