Gender and Sexuality

Question 1

Phallocentricism

Answer 1

Male dominance

Question 2

Semantic derogation

Answer 2

Refers to the process by which words may acquire negative connotations.

Question 3

Lexical asymmetry

Answer 3

Where a word should mean the same for the genders but actually has different connotations e.g. bachelor/spinster, cook/chef.

Question 4

Marked and unmarked terms

Answer 4

Here the male term has a suffix added to form the female term. Implies that men are the norm.

Question 5

Deborah Cameron

Answer 5

Criticises the idea that there are innate differences in male and female speech.

Cameron argues: “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.”

Question 6

Lakoff’s female speech

Answer 6

Hedging 
Super polite forms
Tag questions
Speak in italics
Empty adjectives
Hypercorrect grammar
Direct quotations
Question intonation
Avoid coarse language
More intensifiers

Question 7

Janet Holmes

Answer 7

“Tag questions – not a sign of uncertainty but a sign of politeness. They also help keep conversations going.”

Question 8

Covert prestige

Answer 8

Prestige that derives from behaviour that goes against the norms and conventions of ‘respectable’ society.

Question 9

Overt prestige

Answer 9

Prestige that attaches to respectable, socially desirable behaviour.

Question 10

Pamela Fishman

Answer 10

Argues in Interaction: the Work Women Do (1983) that conversation between the sexes sometimes fails, not because of anything inherent in the way women talk, but because of how men respond, or don’t respond.

Question 11

O’Barr and Atkins

Answer 11

The differences that Lakoff and others supported are not necessarily the result of being a woman, but of being powerless

Question 12

Dominance Theory

Answer 12

Women occupy a less powerful position in society than men.
Less assertive and less confident.
Men dominate mixed sex conversations.
Women used to this as a result of social conditioning – will often be polite and respectful when talking to men.

Question 13

Zimmerman and West

Answer 13

Dramatic imbalance: 96% of interruptions from men, and only 4% from women.

Question 14

Geoffrey Beattie (against Zimmerman and West)

Answer 14

“The problem with this is that you might simply have one very voluble man in the study which has a disproportionate effect on the total.”

Question 15

Deficit Model

Answer 15

The theory that the male way of speaking is the normative, and the female departs from the norm.

Question 16

Difference Model

Answer 16

Men and women belong to different sub-cultures and preferences.
This approach avoids “blaming” men for being dominant, and avoids suggesting women’s speech is inferior.

Question 17

Deborah Tannen

Answer 17

Status vs. Support Independence vs. Intimacy
Advice vs. Understanding
Information vs. Feelings
Orders vs. Proposals
Conflict vs. Compromise

Question 18

Koenraad Kuiper

Answer 18

Studied all-male talk amongst a rugby team.

Men pay less regard to the need to save face and use insults as a way of expressing solidarity.

Question 19

Julia Stanley

Answer 19

26 nouns that refer to promiscuous men- some have approving connotations
220 nouns for promiscuous women and all these have disapproving connotations

Question 20

Geoffrey Leech

Answer 20

The use of ‘ess’ or ‘ine’ to language that refers to females implies inferiority of women.