女性问题或男女平等问题是全世界由来已久的社会问题。雅思大作文也涉及女性话题。考题的出题方向大致为三个：职业性别歧视；职场不公平待遇；以及家庭结构转变。本文还会讨论与女性问题相关的其他话题如：晚育问题等。

一、职业性别歧视问题。我们通过先讨论题：

Women and men are commonly seen as having different strengths and weaknesses.

Is it right to exclude males or females from certain professions because of their gender?

本题话题为是否应该把男女分开就业。要回答这个问题之前可以先思考：男女差异有哪些？这些差异如何影响工作？首先我们可以梳理一遍男性和女性公认刻板印象(gender stereotype)。男性特征通常有：

· physically stronger

· emotional stable

· rational

· sensible

而女性通常被认为：

· physically weaker

· vulnerable

· emotional

· sensitive

· approachable

· prudent

· scrupulous

那么我们可以用分类讨论的方法来解这一题。首先我们可以思考应继续保持单一性别的行业。我们的思路又可以进一步分成两条线：

1.避免性别差异带来的不方便如隐私等。

2.女性生理上无法胜任的工作如体力不够等。

性别带来的不方便最明显体现在某些只有单一性别特别是女性场合如：妇产科、女子监狱、女宿舍等。这些场合下毫无疑问女性工作者会比男性工作者更受欢迎。而女性生理上无法同等胜任的工作我们想到的应该是体力要求高(physically demanding)的工种如挖煤、伐木工、工地建筑工等或某些高危工种如高空作业等

下面展示例文：

There may indeed be good arguments for allowing certain posts to remain predominantly male or female. Where all-male or all-female groups exists, there may be a need for related posts to be held by men and women respectively. Patients in all-female hospitals wards, for example, would probably appreciate having female nurses to look after them. It could also be argued that certain jobs requiring a great deal of physical strength, coal mining or logging, for example, should continue to be done mainly by men.

接着我们进入另一种分类，即鼓励男女同时参与的工作。在回答这个问题之前，我们需要思考：哪些工作之前几乎全男性或女性，现在却出现了越来越多对立性别加入? 我们通过电影电视剧可以发现，现在越来越多的女性同胞加入警察行业。这是什么原因呢? 女性警察在执行任务过程中可以发挥哪些优势呢？首先我们会发现，相对比男性的高大魁梧，女性身体上的娇小会降低她们给人的威胁感，让人更容易亲近(approachable), 犯罪分子更可以对女性警察卸下防备。其次，女警察作为女性，对女性受害者会有更深的共情力(the sense of empathy)，更容易站在女性角度去思考和解决问题。这对维护女性权利和自由更有利。那男性在传统女性职位上的优势呢？我们会发现在低年级教育阶段男性教师更受青睐。其一可能是“物以稀为贵”；其二更重要的是男孩子需要男教师引导，特别是学前教育如幼儿园的小男孩需要培养男子气概。我们看参考例文：

However, in the vast majority of situations, making occupations more open to both genders has distinct advantages. Men and women can bring slightly different perspectives and approaches to a job. Female police officers, for example, may have a greater understanding of domestic violence and a better range of strategies for dealing with this problem. Male primary school teachers probably have a better understanding of the needs of young boys and can serve as good role models for them.

二、职场不公平待遇问题。我们先看例题：

In spite of the many advances women have made in education and employment, they continue to be at a disadvantage when it comes to pay and promotion.

In your view, what should be done to promote equality of opportunity for men and women in the workplace?

在思考如何促进职场男女平等之前，我们需要承认这个问题的存在。由于男尊女卑思想残留，以及女性生育带来的弊端，女性在职场依然受到不平等待遇，甚至遭遇歧视。如果想改变这种现状，最强有力的方式应该是政府强制手段如：规定公司必须男女同工同酬，否则查出歧视女性问题将面临惩罚等法律后果。除此以外，我们还可以采取其他措施如：增强女性维权意识，完善女性维权渠道和体系等。

下面提供参考段落：

A more feasible approach would be for governments themselves to take the lead by ensuring that their male and female employees earn the same for equivalent work and that women are promoted fairly. This would help to establish gender equality as a norm and set a good example for companies in the private sector. Countries, such as Sweden and Iceland which have done this are often regarded by others as socially-advanced models.  

三、家庭结构转变。我们先看例题:

In many countries, more and more men are staying at home to look after their children when women work full-time. What are the reasons? Is it a positive or negative development? [2017.12.14]

现代社会越来越多家庭颠覆了传统社会“男主外女主内”的家庭结构。越来越多的女性进入职场，甚至出现女性赚钱养家、男性照顾家庭的现象。特别是在社会环境更为宽松的北欧国家，这种新型家庭模式愈发常见。为什么呢？我们可从客观条件和主观意向两个方面考虑。客观条件主要有：女性解放所带来的更宽松的社会氛围；更多对女性开放的就业机会；女性有了受教育的机会且受教育程度越来越高等。这些都为女性走入职场奠定了基础。另一方，女性独立意识提高以及当代新型女性自强自立的意识形态也是重要原因之一。

下面我们看另一个例题：

In many countries, women are allowed to take maternity leave from their jobs during the first month after their baby is born. Do you think the advantages of maternity leave outweigh the disadvantages? [2018.10.13]

产假制度如今已经在全球范围内广泛普及。产假对职业女性无疑是福音。因为它保障了女性产后回归的权利。但产假也有弊端。如，产假结束后女性回归工作，新生儿缺乏母亲照顾等。

最后我们在来看看当代社会的晚育现象：

In many countries, women are allowed to take maternity leave from their jobs during the first month after their baby is born. Do you think the advantages of maternity leave outweigh the disadvantages? [2017.4.8]

晚育现象在很多社会已成主流。与传统社会女性早育多育不同的是，现在女性婚育延迟。这个现象是多方面因素的共同结果。我们可以主要从两个方面考虑: 被动晚育和主动晚育。从客观上讲，现代人晚育主要原因是形势所逼。现代年轻人，特别是在大城市生活的上班族生存压力大（房价高、生活成本高），生育孩子会进一步加剧经济压力。其次，高等教育普及导致现代人无法像过去那样很早结婚生子。过去那种男性赚钱养家、女性生儿育女的家庭结构转变了。大量女性进入职场也是晚育的重要原因之一。从主观意思层面看，当代年轻人有职业目标，女性并不把生育当作要务。这就导致了生育的推迟。女性思想意识的进步也使得女性不再倾向于过早开始母亲身份。医疗技术的进步也使得高龄女性生育风险降低。