Gender Flashcards
What were societies beliefs of women?
- weaker sex
- language will be weaker
- features of language represents weakness
What is lexical asymmetry?
Male words and their female equivalents are often unequal in their associations and connotations
For example- spinster is associated with being unattractive, frail and old, on the other hand Bachelor is associated with being young, wealthy and attractive
What does marked and unmarked terms mean?
Terms for women are often marked by the addition of a suffix to the male term which is unmarked e.g. Actor / actress
This suggests that male roles are more important because the standard unmarked term refer to them.
E.g. Lady doctor is used where the assumption is that this high status position is usually held by men
What are the gender differences in insults?
There are a lot of negative words for women which often have no equivalent for men
E.g. Slag is linked to promiscuity and bitch which is linked to animals
There are more patronising usages for women, give example
“Honey” is used which is a type of food and gives pleasure
What are gender differences in inanimate objects ?
Ships are often referred to as “she” this implies that men are looking after and owning the object
Give reasons why features in women’s language are different to men’s language
- women are more status conscious than men
- societies expect women to be better behaved
- women have a subordinate role in society
- men associated non standard forms as masculine and being tough
What does the deficit model argue?
Argued that male language forms were the norm and the language of others was deficient
What are the principle ideas of the deficit model?
Lakoff sees the language of women to be weaker. Indirect requests and the use of apologetic forms do suggest women’s language is less powerful than men’s
Evaluate the deficit model?
The use of tag questions may not necessarily be seen as a weaker form
The research was in 1975 and society has changes so may not be able to apply to nowadays
She didn’t use any quantifiable evidence - based on her impressions
What is the dominance model?
Focuses on how men are so dominant in speech
What are the principle ideas of the dominance model?
Men speak more, interrupt, hold the floor and initiate and shift topics
Fishman- males are reluctant to do this conversation shitwork because of what they believe to be their dominant role
Evaluate the dominance model?
Research carried out in 70’s and 80’s which does not reflect social trends today
In mixed sex conversations, there has been little evidence of any significant difference between the male and female speakers
What is the difference model?
The theory that men and women do speak differently
What are the principle ideas of the difference model?
Tannen- there are gender differences in ways of speaking and we need to identify and understand them Status vs support Independence vs intimacy Advice vs understanding Orders vs proposals
