Language and Gender Flashcards
Robin Lakoff (1975)
An example of the deficit model, the idea that women use weaker language due to social conditioning (denied social power and opinions not valued)
What are examples of “weaker” language? - Deficit model
(asymmetrical discourse in a conversational power dynamic)
Hedging - uncertain language e.g. modal verbs such as “may” “might”
Tag Questions - adding a question after a statement
Empty Adjectives - qualitative adjectives such as “lovely” that don’t contain any real meaning or opinion behind them
Zimmerman & West (1975)
Dominance Model - men interrupt more than women in conversation - studied 11 mixed sex conversations, men interrupted 46 times and women only twice
What are the issues surrounding Zimmerman & West’s study?
Each participant was a middle age white person under 35 resulting in issues with population validity hard to generalise
Study is also outdated by 50 years meaning it is hard to apply to modern contexts
Pamela Fishman (1983)
Dominance Model - studied 32 hours of mixed gender conversation - determined that women do conversational chores (shit work) which emphasises the amount of unpaid labour women do
Dale Spender (1980)
Dominance Model - published the book “Man Made Language” discussing the idea that women are trapped by a male dominated language
What did Dale Spender reference in her writing?
Etymology of “cunt” associated with magic, fertility and life
Vagina meaning sword sheath, just something to be used be a male appendage
The “cunt” is now incredibly taboo
Deborah Tannen (1990)
Difference Model - male/female cultures has their own rules and understandings and mixed sex groups have misunderstandings
What else does Tannen focus on?
She evaluated simultaneous speech between people of different genders and ethnicities and concluded that not every instance of simultaneous speech is an interruption
How did Tannen claim that men and women approached and interpreted conversations differently?
Status vs support
Independence vs intimacy
Conflict vs compromise
Advice vs understanding
Orders vs proposals
Deborah Cameron (2008)
The consideration of cultural background, education, and personal experiences that can significantly influence an individual’s communication style - opposes difference/deficit theory
Jeffrey Beatty (1982)
Direct contrast to Zimmerman & West - studied 557 conversations that showed evidence that men and women interrupt each other the same amount of times
William O’Barr and Bowman Alkins (1980)
Diversity theory - observed a courtroom for a 30 month period and determined that weak or uncertain language was dependent on your duty in the courtroom
