No putting on make-up on trains, says rail company  

A 30-second video from a railway company in Japan has made many women angry. The video is aimed at stopping women from putting on make-up while riding on trains. It is from the Japanese railway operator Tokyu Corporation. It has the lines: "Women in the city are all beautiful. But they are ugly to see, at times….Please refrain from putting on make-up on the train." 

A spokesman for Tokyu said that the no-make-up video campaign is part one of an eight-part video series aimed at educating passengers on train etiquette. It wants people to follow rules and be well mannered on the trains. Tokyu said it had received more positive feedback about the make-up video than negative feedback, and that it would continue showing it.

Many women have criticized the video on social media as being sexist. A Twitter user wrote: "I can understand if Tokyu's ad asks me to stop putting make-up on because powder might spill or its smell bothers others, but a train company has no right to tell me whether I look beautiful or ugly." 

Another wrote: "If Tokyu wants to clamp down on people who make others uncomfortable, it should create a video targeting people with body odors, or people who smell of alcohol or vomit." In a survey, passengers said watching women put on make-up was number eight on a list of the biggest nuisances on trains. Other nuisances included men groping women and people talking loudly on smartphones.

Source: Breaking News English
 

Comprehension

How long is the video the train company made?
What is the name of the railway company?
How many videos will the rail company make?
What does the rail company want people to follow?
What has the company received more of?
What did women criticize the video as being?
What did a woman say might spill?
What did a woman say had no right to tell her about beauty or ugliness?
When was there a survey on nuisances on trains?
Where on a list of nuisances was women putting on make-up?

Discussion

What springs to mind when you hear the word 'make-up'?
How necessary is make-up?
What do you think about what you read?
Is it annoying to watch someone put on make-up on a train?
Should people put on make-up at home or in a private area?
What do you think of the company saying women are 'ugly at times'?
How sexist is the video?
Should the video have asked men to stop combing their hair on trains?
What annoys you about passengers on trains?
Do we need videos to tell us how to behave on trains?
In what ways are you well mannered on trains?
What's the worst behavior you've seen on a train?

Vocabulary

refrain - stop oneself from doing something
sexist - prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender, especially against women and girls.
etiquette - decorum, propriety imply observance of the formal requirements governing behavior in polite society
well mannered - having or showing good manners; polite.
clamp down -suppress or prevent something in an oppressive or harsh manner.
nuisances - an obnoxious or annoying person, thing, condition, practice