Gender and Language

Question 1

Stereotypes?

Answer 1

A widely held but fitted and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Question 2

Gendered adjectives?

Answer 2

Male- Courageous, Daring, Rational, Dominant.

Female- Fussy, Sentimental, Flirtatious.

Question 3

A theory for gendered adjectives?

Answer 3

Julia Stanley- Compared lists- more positive words fot men.
220 for a a sexual promiscuous female- sexual undertones compared 20.
Grammar- he refer to all up till 20th.
Language embodies sexual inequality

Muriel Shultz

Question 4

Gendered terms of address?

Answer 4

Lord, Lady
Bachelor, Spinster
Master, Mistress

Question 5

Marked and unmarked terms?

Answer 5

Police Officer, Police man
Male nurse, Nurse.
Hero, Heroine

Question 6

A theory for umarked and marked terms?

Answer 6

Anne Bodine - ANDROCENTRIC LANGAUGE- ‘MAN’ is the generic term. ‘Guys’. Patriarchal order. Masculine terms and the norm.

sets a different standard for how men and women are described and defined.

Question 7

Deficit Theory

Answer 7

Robin Lakoff 1975 (she) in an article called 'Woman's Language'.
Women:
Hedges
(Super) polite forms
Tag questions- confirmation- status vs support
Speaking in italics
Empty adjectives
Hypercorrect grammar and spelling
Direct quotations
Special lexicons- colour
Less frequently
Overuse qualifiers
Apologies
Less expletives 
Lack a sense of humor
Indirect requests
Modal Constructions
Intensifiers
More 'w' imperatives- 'why don't we go out?'

Question 8

Dominance Theory

Answer 8

Dale Spender, Pamela Fishman, Don Zimmerman and Candace West. 1975.
Men are more dominant and likely to interrupt than woman when engaged in a mixed-sex conversation (small limited sample- under 35, white, middle class- criticized) (Uni of Cali). 11 conversations.

Men-46
Women-2

Question 9

Difference Theory

Answer 9

Deborah Tannen- You Just Don’t Understand Women 1990.- Book

Series of contrasts between how men and woman communicate.

Question 10

Status vs support

Answer 10

Men grow up in a world where conversation is competitive and therefore strive to ensure others don’t dominate them.

Women use language to gain support and confirmation rather than status.

Question 11

Independence vs intimacy

Answer 11

Men- concentrated with status so focus more on independence. A single person in a relationship, not dependant on partner.

Women- think in terms of intimacy, seeking support and closeness from their partner. Lean into partner and rely on them. The concept of women being dependant on men.

Question 12

Advice vs understanding

Answer 12

Men- like to find solutions.

Women- seek sympathy and understanding.

Question 13

Information vs feelings

Answer 13

Men- exchange info briefly e.g. meeting time.

Women- spend an hour on the phone talking about feelings and emotions.

Question 14

Orders vs proposals

Answer 14

Men- make orders by using more direct imperatives.

Women- suggest things in more indirect ways.

Question 15

Conflict vs compromise

Answer 15

Men- more likely to voice their opposition to a suggestion in the workplace.

Women- less likely to object and assert themselves. They might delay their opposition to the suggestions and complain later.

Question 16

Peter Trudgill

Answer 16

1970s.
Subjects grouped social class and sex- see different in pronunciation while reading a passage.

Women- hypercorrectness and prestige pronunciation.
Men- low prestige pronunciation- seeking covert (hidden) prestige by appearing tough and down to Earth.
Could depend on region and elision links/slang.

Question 17

Deborah Jones

Answer 17

1990 study of women’s oral structure. Split women’s communication into 4.

It is outdated and sexist and a traditional view.

Question 18

House Talk

Answer 18

Exchange of info and resources with female role as occupation

Question 19

Scandal

Answer 19

Considered judging of the behavior of others (esp. women)- terms of domestic morality of which women have been appointed guardians.

Question 20

Bitching

Answer 20

Result of this is as someone doesn’t have social standing to be heard (private)- overt expression of woman’s anger and restricted role. Aim not to change but be understood by others and it is expected.

Question 21

Chatting

Answer 21

Most intimate form- a mutual self-disclosure, a transaction where women use language to own advantage of their role as nurturing.

Question 22

Gender and parent and child relationships

Answer 22

Fathers- do most of the interrupting.
Daughters- interrupted more than sons by both parents.
Age- might change it.

GRIEF

Question 23

Women in business organizations

Answer 23

Interrupted less when they are managers than when subordinates (power).
Overall- still interrupted more than men.
Environments and social factors- could change this.

Question 24

Where do stereotypes come from?

Answer 24

Media
Parents/family/friends and comments made, values, opinions
What morals they are taught
Advertising 
Childhood activities and toys.

Question 25

What gender stereotypes are present in childhood?

Answer 25

Colour- pink v blue or white v yellow
Toys:
Boys- cars, building blocks, toy guns/ police kit
Girls- dolls, creative jewelry kit, princess dress

Question 26

History- Key facts bank

Answer 26

Men were superior to woman and had more rights.
Key facts:
1860s- Suffragettes- mocked by media (men)- hysterical
August 1920- over 30
1928- 21
1969- 18 both men and women.

Politics very much still male dominated.

1920- female lawyers
1922- could inherit property
1929-'persons' by law
1960s- married- contraceptive pill (abortion legal)
1970- Equal Pay Act
1980-allowed to borrow in name
1994- Marital Rape

Question 27

Key statistics

Answer 27

1 in 3 girls experienced sexual violence from a boyfriend and sexually bullied on a daily basis.

20% of girls pull out of science due to stereotypes.- connotations- influential power 1989

90% of nurses are female.

Girls- 16% avoid going to school and 20% giving an opinion publicly. Using language as women are criticised so much.

Boys- 20% concerned about weight- depression and drug use.

70% of minimum wage jobs- women

Women earn 10% less (full time) and 34% (part time) due to name title sometimes.

55% of women take part in the labour market.

Question 28

Report talk

Answer 28

Men:

Get more air time.
Speak in public.
Negotiate status/avoid failure.
Speak one at a time.
Speak asymmetrically.

Question 29

Rapport talk

Answer 29

Women:

Talk too much.
Speak in private contexts.
Build relations.
Overlap
Speak symmetrically.

Question 30

What does it mean to speak asymmetrically? What does it link to?

Answer 30

an imbalance in the relationship between speaker and hearer (s) as a result of social and institutional factors. Links to Gendered Terms of Address.

In many lexical pairs the male term suggests a positive attribute while the female term suggests a negative one. Also known as LEXICAL ASYMMETRY

Question 31

What does it man to speak symmetrically?

Answer 31

balance in the relationship between speaker and hearer (s) as a result of social and institutional factors

Question 32

Muriel Shultz

Answer 32

Muriel Schultz 1975 In many lexical pairs the male term suggests a positive attribute while the female term suggests a negative one. Also known as LEXICAL ASYMMETRY.