Language And Gender

Question 1

What are 4 kinds of lexical inequality in gender?

Answer 1

Marked terms, ‘generic’ he, sexism in word order and semantic derogation

Question 2

What are marked terms?

Answer 2

A term is marked when there are multiple variations of a word with one considered standard/’normal’, e.g. Actor/actress.

Question 3

What is lexical asymmetry?

Answer 3

Where two ‘equivalent’ words do not have similarly positive/negative connotations e.g. Bachelor/spinster

Question 4

What is the ‘generic’ he?

Answer 4

The phenomenon by which the unmarked term in a pair is typically male, applies to pronouns e.g. “Every student should bring his books to class”

Question 5

What is a potential solution to the generic he and what do critics say about it?

Answer 5

The use of “they/their”, which is objected to by prescriptivists as grammatically incorrect, despite the fact that it has a history of use in this way. Bodine says prescriptivists have argued that “number agreement is more important than representing both sexes”

Question 6

What we Baronowski’s findings about the generic he?

Answer 6

“He is no longer the preferred singular epicene pronoun in English”

Question 7

What can be said about inequality of word order?

Answer 7

Motsenbacher found that the male form of words almost always comes first in a pairing e.g. Brother and sister. She also found that marked terms such as “lady doctor” imply masculine/feminine domains

Question 8

What is the main theoretical contribution of Motsenbacher?

Answer 8

That since word order was also found to correspond with power relations, this may indicate that women are less powerful in most areas of society

Question 9

What is semantic derogation?

Answer 9

The peroration of meanings of words over time, e.g. “Slut” which was not initially linked to loose sexuality.

Question 10

What was Lakoff’s study about?

Answer 10

“Language and women’s place” found that the language used by women relative to that of mean featured an extensive list of identifiable characteristics such as avoidance of swear words, hedges, empty adjectives and tag questions.

Question 11

What perspective is helpful when considering Lakoff’s work?

Answer 11

That the features Lakoff’s identifies might typify an ‘ideal’ woman against whom the language of real individuals can be measured.

Question 12

What analysis of tag questions came out of Lakoff’s work?

Answer 12

Subsequent scholars observed that contrary to the expectation that women use tag questions out of uncertainty (the modal function), they also have an ‘affective’ function whereby a person invited a response or agreement, and that this was the variety of tag question women used more often.

Question 13

What can we learn from the new analysis of tag questions?

Answer 13

That we mustn’t jump to conclusions as we can’t be certain of conventional analysis

Question 14

Who attempts to gossip and as what?

Answer 14

Jones - “a way of talking between women in their roles as women, intimate in style, personal and domestic in topic and setting”

Question 15

What does Coates have to say about Jones’ definition of gossip?

Answer 15

That it isn’t centred quite so strongly on women’s roles

Question 16

What does Coates find out about gossip that is different from the popular conceptions?

Answer 16

Rather than being scathing and malicious, it helps to facilitate an understanding within a group, also, men engage in gossip as much as women even though their focus may be on things rather than feelings.

Question 17

What does Coates observe as some of the more prevalent features of all-women talk?

Answer 17

A shared floor, minimal responses to indicate listening - “back-channelling”, hedging e.g. “I mean”

Question 18

What are Coates’ conclusions around women’s gossip?

Answer 18

That in this context women tend to be cooperative and to carefully manage disagreement.

Question 19

What can be said about men’s talk?

Answer 19

Referred to as ‘sports talk’, similar to women’s talk it involves reflection on social norms and is not only limited to sports

Question 20

What does Cameron say about the nature of men’s talk?

Answer 20

It is “competitive, hierarchically organised, centres on “impersonal” topics and the exchange of information, and foregrounds speech genres such as joking, trading insults and sports statistics”

Question 21

What are the linguistic features of men’s talk that differ from women’s?

Answer 21

They tend to prefer a one at a time floor and silence is more acceptable of an indication of listening

Question 22

What caveat might be added about the “impersonal” nature of men’s talk?

Answer 22

The topics might be personal to the men in question

Question 23

What is the “androcentric rule”?

Answer 23

It is Coates’ suggestion as part of linguistic subordination, whereby everything women do linguistically is considered negative whereas the linguistic contributions of men is considered normal

Question 24

Do women talk more?

Answer 24

No, in contrast to the popular claim that men use 7,000 words per day while women use 20,000, Studies have found that while women might talk more in the private sphere, men talk more in a public, competitive sphere, which is more esteemed

Question 25

Why is it perceived that women talk more?

Answer 25

Spender argues that any talk from a woman is considered to be excessive according to society. Studies showed that even in groups where men talked more, in the few instances where this wasn’t the case, they felt silenced (like Jack Dee on QI)

Question 26

How is gender performed?

Answer 26

In relation to Butler’s analysis of compulsory heterosexuality, it has been found that men seek to assert their heterosexuality through the term “dude” which is considered affectionate but not too enthusiastic, which would be considered more homosexual. Similarly, this perform activity has arguably created perceptions about what a ‘proper’ lesbian is.

Question 27

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Answer 27

The idea that we do not use language totally as we please, but that it shapes us as we use it and affects the way we are able to think

Question 28

What does Tannen observe about male and female speech?

Answer 28

There is a divide between competiom and cooperation between men and women that corresponds with a divide between independence and intimacy etc.