Gender and Communication Flashcards
Theory of Otto Jesperson
-1922 - Stated that women:
- Talk more than men
- Link sentences with “and” because they’re more emotional than grammatical
- Use many intensifiers such as “so”
- Use adverbs too much and tend towards hyperbole
- Use half-finished sentences as they speak without thinking more than men
- Have a smaller vocabulary than men
- Prefer indirect expressions
- “Shrink from coarse expressions”
Criticisms of Otto Jesperson
- Didn’t conduct any studies
- Based his work largely on fiction and literature
- Quoted others who didn’t do any studies either
- Falls under Deficit Theory – claims “male” language is the norm and “female” language is different and therefore deficient
Gender Theory of Robin Lackoff
-1975 - Stated that women:
- Use hedges such as “sort of” and “kind of”
- Are excessively polite
- Speak in a tone equal to the use of italics
- Use empty adjectives
- Use direct quotation more so than men
- Have a special lexicon, eg. use more words for things like colours
- Turn declarative statements into questions by raising the pitch of their voices at the end of a sentence
- Use hypercorrect grammar
- Use “wh-“ imperatives such as “why” and “who”
Robin Lackoff’s Types of Prestige
- Overt Prestige: striving for something that is recognised by society in an open way
- Covert Prestige: striving for recognition and credit from a more closed and subtle group
Criticisms of Robin Lackoff’s Gender Theory
- Dated socialised concepts (1975)
- Observation with no real evidence (similar to Jesperson)
- Still emphasises “male” language as “normative”
- However, her view is that of a descriptivist (describes language patterns / evolutions / history) – is not setting rules but mainly explaining observations
Zimmerman and West
- 1975
- Interruptions in mixed-sex conversations are evenly distributed among the participants
- 96% of interruptions are from men and only 4% from women in mixed-sex conversations.
- These statistics were evidenced using only 31 segments of conversation and a lot of them were between intimate mixed-sex partners
Fishman
- 1990
- The amount of time a man will speak in mixed-sex conversations is twice as long as the average time a woman does
- Women often have to do the “shit work” (moving along the conversation)
Theory of Keith and Shuttleworth (Women)
-2000
- Talk more than men and talk too much
- Are more polite
- Are indecisive
- Nag and gossip
- Ask more questions
- Support each other (more cooperative)
- More likely to use “we” than “I”
- Use more adjectives
Theory of Keith and Shuttleworth (Men)
-2000
- Swear more
- Don’t talk about emotions
- Talk about sport more
- Talk about women and machines in the same way
- Insult each other frequently
- Are competitive in conversation
- Dominate mixed conversation
- Use more imperatives
- Interrupt more
- Speak with authority even if they don’t have any
- 1990
- The amount of time a man will speak in mixed-sex conversations is twice as long as the average time a woman does
- Women often have to do the “shit work” (moving along the conversation)
Fishman
- 1975
- Interruptions in mixed-sex conversations are evenly distributed among the participants
- 96% of interruptions are from men and only 4% from women in mixed-sex conversations.
- These statistics were evidenced using only 31 segments of conversation and a lot of them were between intimate mixed-sex partners
Zimmerman and West
- Dated socialised concepts (1975)
- Observation with no real evidence (similar to Jesperson)
- Still emphasises “male” language as “normative”
- However, her view is that of a descriptivist (describes language patterns / evolutions / history) – is not setting rules but mainly explaining observations
Criticisms of Robin Lackoff’s Gender Theory
-1975 - Stated that women:
- Use hedges such as “sort of” and “kind of”
- Are excessively polite
- Speak in a tone equal to the use of italics
- Use empty adjectives
- Use direct quotation more so than men
- Have a special lexicon, eg. use more words for things like colours
- Turn declarative statements into questions by raising the pitch of their voices at the end of a sentence
- Use hypercorrect grammar
- Use “wh-“ imperatives such as “why” and “who”
Gender Theory of Robin Lackoff
-1922 - Stated that women:
- Talk more than men
- Link sentences with “and” because they’re more emotional than grammatical
- Use many intensifiers such as “so”
- Use adverbs too much and tend towards hyperbole
- Use half-finished sentences as they speak without thinking more than men
- Have a smaller vocabulary than men
- Prefer indirect expressions
- “Shrink from coarse expressions”
Theory of Otto Jesperson
Julia Stanley - 1973
- There are around 200 terms for sexually promiscuous females and only 20 for males
- There are more words in the English language relating to male roles than female roles
Julia Stanley - 1977
Marked female forms create negative semantics because the modification makes the term sound unequal or different (represents the female as an “other”)
Marked expressions
- The act of marking suggests deviation or difference from the norm, which is the unmarked term
- Lexical terms that denote females are more often marked to differentiate them from those that denote males
Generic masculine
When male pronouns are used to refer to both genders (eg. “zeitgeist”)
Sarah Mills - 1995 - Semantic derogation
Some paired words have connotations that are unequal or strongly negative for the female lexene (eg. “bachelor” and “spinster”)
Margaret Talbot - 1992 -“Synthetic Sisterhood”
In trying to create empowerment for a female reader, the media can also unintentionally reinforce negative female stereotypes
Perjoration
Semantic deterioration - connotations become negative over time
- There are around 200 terms for sexually promiscuous females and only 20 for males
- There are more words in the English language relating to male roles than female roles
Julia Stanley - 1973
Marked female forms create negative semantics because the modification makes the term sound unequal or different (represents the female as an “other”)
Julia Stanley - 1977
- The act of marking suggests deviation or difference from the norm, which is the unmarked term
- Lexical terms that denote females are more often marked to differentiate them from those that denote males
Marked expressions
