Gender theorists

Question 1

What was Lakoff’s theory? (2)

Answer 1

• Women’s language is subordinate to men’s

- Deficit theory

Question 2

What are Lakoff’s features in her theory? (12)

Answer 2

• Hedging
• Tag questions
• Super-polite forms
• Empty adjectives
• Hyper-correct grammar/pronunciation
• Direct quotations
• Apologising more
• Speak less
• More Intensifiers
• Indirect requests
• Avoid taboo lexis
• More precise colour terms

Question 3

What features did Zimmerman and West study? (4) Also, what model do they fit under?

Answer 3

Interruptions, silences, overlaps and delayed minimal responses
Dominance

Question 4

What did Zimmerman and West find? (2)

Answer 4

• Women were more silent

- 95% of interruptions in mixed-sex convos were by men

Question 5

What was Fishman’s theory called, and what model does it fit under?

Answer 5

Conversational shitwork, dominance

Question 6

What is ‘conversational shitwork’?

Answer 6

Women use tag questions to gain conversational power instead of from lack of conversational awareness

Question 7

What did Beattie do and what did he believe?

Answer 7

He challenged Zimmerman and West and believes that men and women interrupted equally

Question 8

What did Beattie find? (2)

Answer 8

• He conducted a bigger study; found 557 interruptions

- The interruptions were almost equal, however men interrupted more by a minimal amount

Question 9

What are the features in Trudgill’s theory and what model does it fit under?

Answer 9

• Covert and Overt prestige

- Difference

Question 10

What is covert and overt prestige?

Answer 10

• Covert; men use non-standard features to fit into a group

- Overt; women use standard features to be seen as a higher social class

Question 11

What was Tannen’s theory and what model does it fit under?

Answer 11

• Men are competitive; report. Women are cooperative; rapport
• Difference

Question 12

What are the 6 features of Tannen’s theory?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What was Jones’ theory and what model does it fit under?

Answer 13

Gossip theory (female subculture), dominance

Question 14

What were the 4 features of gossip talk and what do they mean?

Answer 14

House talk; their role as a woman
Bitching; how they are treated in society
Chatting; sharing thoughts/feelings
Scandal; talking badly of other women

Question 15

What did Kuiper say (2) and what model does it fit under?

Answer 15

• Men use insults to show dominance and solidarity
• Women use language for emotional relationships
• difference

Question 16

What did Coates say (3) and what model does it fit under?

Answer 16

• ‘Bitching’ - venting without wanting a solution
• Men = hierarchial, bigger friendship groups
• Women = non-hierarchical, smaller friendship groups
• Difference

Question 17

What did Butler say and what model does she fit under?

Answer 17

• Gender is performative/how you show yourself within society
• Diversity

Question 18

What was the name of Cameron’s book and what model does it fit under?

Answer 18

• The Myth of Mars and Venus

- Diversity

Question 19

What did Cameron say in her book and what did she say people should focus on?

Answer 19

• Context and individual differences are important when collecting evidence (i.e an interruption may be to agree with someone instead of challenging them)
• We should focus on how speakers construct and perform gendered identities for themselves

Question 20

What did Bing and Bergvall suggest (their book) and what model does it fit under?

Answer 20

• Beyond Binary thinking
• Gender is a continuum not a dichotomy
• Diversity

Question 21

Who did O’Barr and Atkins challenge and where did they do their study?

Answer 21

• Challenged Lakoff

- Courtroom case

Question 22

What conclusion did O’Barr and Atkins come to?

Answer 22

Power is due to social authority, not gender

Question 23

What is language asymmetry?

Answer 23

An imbalance in a relationship between speakers through language

Question 24

What is a marked term? Provide an example

Answer 24

When an unmarked term is changed to a marked term, sometimes by using diminutive suffixes or gendered adjectives; implies a different connotation to the word
Example; “Male Nurse”, “Kitchenette”

Question 25

What are Semantic fields? Provide an example

Answer 25

Offensive terms often relate to women in a negative way

Example; A wide variety of taboo lexis are related to women (bitch, wench, etc)

Question 26

What are Generic terms? Provide an example

Answer 26

A word used to describe a group

Example; “Mankind” means “Humans” or “People”

Question 27

What is Semantic Derogation? Provide an example

Answer 27

When words have demeaning connotations

Example; “master” means boss, whereas “mistress” means lover. They used to mean the same

Question 28

What are Address terms? Provide an example

Answer 28

“Ms, Mrs and Miss” - show society’s attitudes towards gender and marital status for women only

Question 29

What does the surname “Hodgson” imply?

Answer 29

That the English-Speaking world use patronyms; highlights a patrilineal and patriarchal society (because of the “son” in “Hodgson”)