Examples For Gender

Question 1

Words for a sexually promiscuous male (Julia Stanley only found 20)

Answer 1

Stallion
Stud
(These have quite positive connotations for men)

Question 2

Words for a sexually promiscuous female (Julia Stanley found 220)

Answer 2

Slag
Slut
Whore
Bitch
Honey
Tart
(These tend to have negative connotations)

Question 3

Examples of lexical asymmetry

Answer 3

Spinster vs Bachelor

(Spinster means an unmarried woman)

(Spinster has negative connotations whereas bachelor is admired as someone keeping their options open)

Master (connotations of power and control) vs mistress (a woman with whom a married man is having a sexual affair)

Question 4

Addition of a bound morpheme

Answer 4

Actor vs actress

Question 5

An example of a marked vs unmarked term

Answer 5

MP vs Woman MP

Question 6

Examples of how male superiority is reflected in language

Answer 6

Men and women
Son and daughter
Husband and wife
Mr and Mrs

Question 7

An example of when the female title comes first

Answer 7

Mother and father

(Suggests that the role of bringing up children is for the female)

Question 8

What did a 1850 act of Parliament legislate?

Answer 8

“He” stood for “she” in texts

(The generic “he”)
Grammar

Question 9

Research into the generic “he” with children

Answer 9

Children didn’t process the terms “he” or “man” as referring to both sexes but only as referring to male figures.

Question 10

Family man

Answer 10

Suggests there are other kinds of men who don’t do this
(Marking to show a language item as distinctive or unusual)

Question 11

Family woman

Answer 11

Sounds like tautology because the traditional idea of a woman is that she is family oriented

Question 12

The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975

Answer 12

It became illegal to write a job advert in a way that implied a person of only one sex could apply (there is the odd exception to meet a particular need)

Question 13

Sweden (pronouns)

Answer 13

“Hen” is a neutral alternative to “han” (he) and “hon” (she)

Question 14

Examples of female names derived from male names

Answer 14

George/Georgiana
Oliver/Olivia
Charles/Charlotte

Question 15

Compounds about men

Answer 15

“Manbag” (more connected to women. Also suggests changes in attitudes towards men and fashion)
“Man flu” (used to mock men)

Question 16

Female oriented words (Goddard)

Answer 16

Flower
Love
Sweetheart
Honey

Question 17

Male oriented words (Goddard)

Answer 17

Mate
Lad
Son
Buddy

Question 18

Paul Baker (Dictionary equivalents of Bachelor and Spinster)

Answer 18

“Eligible bachelors” and “frustrated spinsters”

Question 19

Animal metaphors for women

Answer 19

Vixen
Bitch
Bird

Question 20

Animal metaphors for men

Answer 20

Rat
Stag
Stallion
Stud

Question 21

Food metaphors for women

Answer 21

Crumpet
Tart
Sweetie
Honey
Sugar

(A semantic field of sweetness which perhaps corresponds with desire)

Question 22

Uptalk

Answer 22

A high rising terminal or Valley Girl Speak, refers to where declarative statements end with a rising intonation that makes it sound more like a question.

Researchers at the University of California found that both men and women use uptalk but women use it almost twice as often. Uptalk acted as a confirming statement checking that people understood them and enables them to hold the conversational floor. Women may use it as a defence mechanism to stop being interrupted.

Question 23

Vocal fry

Answer 23

A vocal effect produced by the very slow vibration of the vocal cords and characterised by a creaking sound and low pitch,

The speaker adopts a creaky low-pitch speech style and features a vibration that elongates some words e.g. “whatever” becomes “whateverrrrrrr.” Some suggest that its low pitch is used to create a more serious persona, others believe it creates a stereotyped identity as slightly immature and lacking intelligence.

Question 24

Examples of double-voicing

Answer 24

“You have probably thought about this point already but…”
“I am not an expert like the rest of you but…”

Question 25

Asparagus (Folklinguistics)

Answer 25

In folk etymology “asparagus” comes from “sparrow-grass”
In reality, it is likely to come from the PIE root sp(h)er(e)g meaning “to shoot upwards”

Question 26

Examples for the dominance approach

Answer 26

• Taking on husbands’ surnames
• Sexual language is based on the male point of view e.g. “penetration”

Question 27

Quote from Judith Bulter

Answer 27

“We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate our impression of being a man or being a woman”

Question 28

Examples of masculine hegemony

Answer 28

• Straight
• Cisgender
• Muscular body
• Competitive sports
• Aggression
• Low voice
• Being a primary bread winner

Question 29

Examples of hegemonic femininity

Answer 29

• Gentleness
• Compassion
• Being emotional
• Dependent

Question 30

Quote from Janet Holmes (1995)

Answer 30

Women use language “to establish, nurture and develop personal relationships”