Gender and Language Flashcards
Sex and Gender
sex refers to biological differences, chromosomes. hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs.
Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture defines as masculine or feminine.
Gender and Sex differences
Gender differences: those that we attribute to our socialisation. These are differences that are caused by our upbringing our interactions with our society and culture and our environment.
Sex differences: Sex differences are defined by our biology.
Gender representation
How men and women are portrayed in books, advertisements the media etc. This may reinforces stereotypes and our perceived ideas pf male and female roles. They may also challenge our stereotypical attitudes.
Robin Lakoff 1975
Language and Woman’s place has influenced the study of language and gender. at the time it was met with widespread criticism.
There are no statistics inn the book but often uses phrases such as “many men” and “men tend to”.
Despite this, Bucholtz argues that “it launched a far reaching program of research on language and gender whose effects we still feel today”. It is often quoted today and lists the main features of female speech which remains an integral part of the gender and language debate.
Lakoff’s list of features of female speech
• hedges: “sort of”, “kind of”, “it seems like”
• empty adjectives: “divine”, “adorable”, “gorgeous”
• super-polite forms: “would you mind”, “is it ok if”
• apologises more: “I’m sorry, but I think…”
• speak less frequently
• avoid coarse language or expletives
• tag questions: “you don’t mind, do you?”
• hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation: use of prestige grammar and clear articulation
• indirect requests: “I’m so thirsty”
• speaking in italics: use tone to emphasise certain words- “so”, “very”, “quite”
Lackoff and Deficit Approach
Lackoff’s research is seen as the deficit approach or deficit model to language and gender.
The deficit approach is attributed to Otto Jespersen 1922: male language forms were the norm and those of others and women were deficient.
Apologetic forms and indirect requests are seen as less powerful than that of males
Jenny Cheshire 1982 on Gender
looked specifically at certain grammatical variations in speech of young children. She considered frequency of use of:
* Non standard s (she calls me)
* Non standard has (you has to)
* Non standard was (you was)
* multiple negation
* Non standard never
* Non standard what (are you the boy what hit)
* Non standard do (she do)
Jenny Cheshire’s findings
Overall, boys use more non standard forms more frequently
Cheshire concluded that “variation is controlled by both social and linguistic factors. In boy’s speech, variation is governed by norms that are central to the vernacular culture, and are transmitted through peer groups.”
girls speech is less so
language variation can begin at a young age.
The Dominance Model
Pamela Fishman 1983: Interaction: the Work Women Do, looked specifically at aspects of language that can be linked to Lackoff’s research, but concluded that tag questions are used to start conversations with males and sustain dialogue after recording young American couples. women use tag questions 4 times more than men
Men do not always respond to a declarative (or will do minimally) so tag questions gain conversational power rather than tentativeness or uncertainty.
she calls this “conversational shitwork” and accepts that males are reluctant to do this because they perceive themselves to have the dominant role
Deborah Tannen 1990 on Gender
The Difference Model
originally a student of Robin Lackoff. advocates that me and women do speak differently (the difference model).
“the desire to affirm that women are equal has made some scholars reluctant to show that they are different”. there are differences in speech and these should be identified and understood.
Tannen recognises six contrasts between males and females
- status vs support
- independence vs intimacy
- advice vs understanding
- orders vs proposals
- conflict vs compromise
Difference Model offers an alternative view to the deficit model and the dominance model. language is not used by men for dominance, but it is certainly different.
“raport talk” (women), “report talk” (men)
Jennifer Coates 1989
argues children tend to form same sex friendship groups and develop different styles of speaking. Coates theorises that female language is cooperative in single sex conversations. She views yag questions and modality as characteristics that help to make women’s talk supportive and cooperative.
Jane Pilkington 1992
found women in same-sex conversations were collaborative and used positive politeness strategies. She found that men in same sex talk were less collaborative, less complimentary and less supportive than women.
Deborah Cameron 2008
criticised the idea that there are innate differences between male and female speech, arguing, “The idea that men and women…use language in very different ways and for very different reasons is one of the great myths of our time”
Cameron outlines how these myths have evolved around ideas such as that women pay more attention to being good communicators than men; that men have a desire to be competitive that results in aggressive speech style.
Cameron challenges Lackoff, Fishman and Tannen and offers a re-evaluation of the stereotypes and discourses around male and female talk.
these myths shape our expectations and then continue to promote the myth
More recent studies in gender
represented by Cameron’s theory: have moved away from categorising males and females as polarised and driven by biological differences instead of focusing on how speakers construct themselves which may either draw on or challenge stereotypes.
the idea that we ‘do’ gender through language is critical to the deficit and difference models.
ties in with Janet Hyde
Janet Hyde 2005
actually proposes gender similarities hypothesis claiming that where there are differences they are due to a number of other variables such as age, class, ethnicity, education etc.
Gender as a factor in language
It would be wrong to dismiss gender as a factor in language as it is part of our identity. research should be recognised and challenged. we should not try to fit theories to any form of data but use the data as a starting point.
Judith Butler
gender “performativity” theory argues that it is a mistake to reinforce a binary view of gender and to assert that women are a group with common characteristics and interests.
Schulz and Lackoff: Gendered Terms 1975
Lord and Lady, gendered terms at there simplest, imply difference between status of genders. Gendered terms also include any lexeme with ‘-ess’ suffix which implies either that women belong to men or are lesser than them. Gendered terms also imply the female version of something male, according to Schulz.
‘Semantic derogation’ occurs when the female equivalent also takes on negative connotations.
Julia Stanley 1977
Sexist language generates unequal representations and presents stereotypes, sometimes to the disadvantage of both, but usually women
complied similar inventories of words and found tat there were more words for men but also that there were more positive words. She also discovered that many words for women had sexual overtones (220 for sexually promiscuous female compared to only 20 for a sexually promiscuous male).
Therefore, language embodies sexual inequality.
Described a negative semantic space for women
Muriel Shulz 1975
it is not an accident. It represents patriarchal order and is rule governed. Words that are ‘marked’ for females become pejorated.
In western cultures, the largest dominant group is middle class white men. Power has rested with men and has been handed on to men. This is a patriarchy.
Janet Holmes 1992
language discriminates against women, mainly in semantics.The metaphors to describe women include more derogatory images than those used to describe men.
Animal imagery: bitch and cow compared to stud and wolf. Imagery for men usually has some positive component (willingness or prowess) while for women ‘bird’ is feather brained and ‘chick and kitten’ sweet but helpless
Food imagery: sugar, honey, sweetie are mostly used for addressing women. More insulting terms like ‘crumpet’ or ‘tart’ is restricted to female referents.
These terms were probably originally neutral or affectionate eventually acquire negative connotations as they increasingly only refer to women and their meaning becomes focused.
Lexical asymmetry
Male titles have retained original positive meanings whereas female titles have frequently undergone a downhill slide, often with a sexually debased meaning.
Words for women assume negative connotation even when they are designated for the same thing.
Unmarked terms examples
Chairperson, firefighter, postal worker, server, salesperson
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
protects from sexual discrimination and harassment, especially at work and school.
• reflected the work of feminist campaigners, who wanted to promote equality
• was a push to get rid of sexist language
• idea is lang doesn’t just reflect sexist attitudes, it helps to perpetuate them
• if you change discriminatory language then people’s attitudes might change too
• his is called political correctness
• sexist terms can be avoided by replacing them with gender neutral ones
Gender and standard English
Studies such as Peter Trudgill in Norwich 1983 and Jenny Cheshire in Reading 1982 found that women tend to use more standard English speech forms than men. This pattern seems to exist across all social classes and different languages.
• examples include: dropping ‘h’ at start of the word, dropping ‘g’ sound in ‘-ing’, use of ‘ain’t’, double negatives etc
Covert and Overt prestige
Covert prestige: going against the accepted norms of society by using non-standard forms of English pronouncing words with a strong accent and perhaps lowering one’s lexis.
Overt prestige: conforming to socially respectable behaviour by using standard English, toning down one’s accent and perhaps raising one’s lexis.
Trugill 1983 on Gender
-Men’s higher use of non-standard forms is due to association with masculinity and toughness.
Men tended to claim to use more non-standard forms than they actually used, suggesting they consider such language to have prestige attached to it
-Women desire overt prestige to secure place in society, women are said to be generally more conscious of their social status and make effort to conform and demonstrate this
links to research on politeness and cooperation which tends to be demonstrated more by women
Fishman 1990 on Gender
-found hat in an average mixed sex conversation, men speak for approximately twice the amount of time as women
-further research conducted in the classroom has also found that boys talk more in front of the whole class than girls do
Language and Sexuality
Sexuality may influence language use, could be use of non-gender specific pronouns
• Sweden had introduced a gender neutral pronoun
• English uses the invented ‘ze’ and ‘thon’, some transgender people may feel uncomfortable being addressed by ‘he’ or ‘she’,
• ‘thon’ was suggested by Charles Crozat in 1858
Brighton 2012
‘mx’ suggested by local council, the local newspaper The Argus reported in that October under headline “proposal to scrap Mr and Mrs from Brighton and Hove county Council”
• met with criticism and national newspapers reported on it
• Sunday express with headline, “Now the PC brigade want to stop calling us Mr and Mrs”
• Daily Telegraph: “Council proposes scrapping “Mr” and “Mrs” from forms”
Polari
• 1950s and 60s, British gay men (especially London) spoke Polari, a coded form of language that allowed men to speak publicly about their sexuality, written about by Paul Baker in The Guardian
• developed from various languages outside of the norm: rhyming slang, sailor’s slang etc
• appeared from necessity, to be able to talk in public while sodomy was a capital offence
• surviving words include ‘camp’ and ‘butch’
• anti-language (Halliday): language developed by stigmatised subcultures
• homosexuality was decriminalised in 1970s, so the necessity was lesser and it died out
Language, identity, and sexuality
- Lackoff makes reference to it in Language and Woman’s Place but it is far less specific than the use of a lexicon, compares gay male speech traits to those of women and argues that gay men consciously imitate these
- such views reinforce stereotypes and make assumptions that all gay men speak effeminately
- Bill Leap co-ordinator of 10th Lavender Languages conference: LGBT community do communicate with each other in ways that are “different from the linguistic practices of non-lesbian/gay identified persons”
- Paul Baker: the language is characterised by acronyms, plays on words, double meanings and a range of lexis used to be understood only by the gay community. these often relate to appearances of men or sexual practices
Reasons for Polari
majority of language variations are used by gay males rather than females, perhaps because of the stigma surrounding gay men
• the gay community, as other social groups do, use language to converge with each other
• it may also be used to exclude
Zimmerman and West 1975
96 of interruptions in mixed sex conversations are by men
“doing gender”: we talk according to what behaviours we have learned are acceptable, no innate hardwiring
