Gendered verbal behaviour

Question 1

Gendered Verbal Behaviour – Francis 2005.

Discuss

Answer 1

Dominate talk in mix-sex classrooms, drowning out girls and often ridiculing girl’s contributions. Boys therefore take up more teacher-time, but usually for discipline rather than supporting with work. Boys use verbal abuse to reinforce their masculinity, such as denigrating those who they see as ‘gay’ or ‘girly’, showing contempt for all things female and often using terms of abuse relating to women’s female body parts. This reinforces male identity as well as patriarchy as it defines men as better than women. Girl’s identity is dominated and controlled by boys as they control the language usage within the classroom.