Gender Flashcards
Jespersen’s book title
Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin 1922
Jespersen’s examples of women’s language (3)
- don’t use expletives
- have a smaller vocabulary
- are more emotional
Jespersen’s theory conclusion
male dominance in language reflects the patriarchal society of 1922
Deficit Model conclusion
Lakoff 1975
male language is considered the ‘norm’ and female language is ‘deficient’
Deficit Model language features of women (7)
- detailed vocab for colour
- hedging
- tag questions (used when uncertain)
- apologetic
- avoid expletives
- indirect requests
- hyper-correct grammar
Dominance Model
Fishman 1981 analysed couples conversations women used 4x more tag questions used to gain conversational power start and sustain conversation 'conversational shitwork' = male dominance
Jenny Cheshire
1982
grammatical variations in speech amongst children
boys used NS form more than girls- variation governed by norms of vernacular culture
Vernacular
lang spoken by ordinary people in a particular region
Difference Theory
Tannen 1990
no dominance of either gender but there are still differences
Difference Theory contrasts
Status VS Support Independence VS Intimacy Advice VS Understanding Information VS Feeling Orders VS Proposals Conflict VS Compromise
Zimmerman and West
1975 conversations between genders
men- 46 interruptions
women- 2 interruptions
women are more likely to fall silent due to uncertainty of male interest (male dominance)
Spender
language is an embodying structure that sustains male power
view of male = norm
difficult to challenge dominance due to reinforcement in society and the way we think
Coates
1989
boys and girls grow up in same-sex friendships
develops different style of speech
tag questions- cooperative and supportive
Cameron
verbal hygiene is used by women
Verbal Hygiene
being politically correct with language
O’Barr and Atkins
language in the courtroom 1980
situational factors rather than gender
female lawyers were assertive and aggressive
male witnesses also shared ‘female language’
should be called ‘powerless language’
Beattie
1982
men interrupt more than women by an insignificant amount- this is due to other factors e.g. status
Pikington
1992
women talk collaboratively and use positive politeness
support and build on each others points
women talk to affirm solidarity and maintain social relationships
womxn
used on twitter by Wellcome collection- received huge backlash and mocking criticism
what is the purpose of womxn
avoids relying on ‘men’ to emphasise the inequality of genders
women are not an extension of men (as suggested in the bible)
pro vs con Womxn
- moves away from patriarchal society and shows freedom and independency
- forces women to change- viewed as ‘other’ and defeats purpose of being equal
ms
used in early 20th century to avoid embarrassment of wrongly assuming marital status
taken up by feminists in 1960s
connotes dovorcess or lesbians/ aggressive ‘non of your business’
