Language In Gender Flashcards
What is ‘gender’?
a social construct (within the fields of cultural and gender studies, and the social sciences
What is ‘sex’?
a biological condition, i.e. defined as a set of physical characteristics
What is Cheshire’s 1982 theory?
Boys tend to use more non-grammatical forms, like ain’t, than girls
What is Lakoff’s 1975 theory?
Women use: hedges + fillers; tag questions; apologetic requests, indirect requests, speak less, use fewer expletives, more intensifiers. She argued that these features of speech make women seem more inferior, weak and needy and prevents women from being taken seriously.
What was O’Barr and Atkins’ 1980 theory?
Disputed Lakoff, said that it was males and females of low social status who used these linguistic features.
What was Zimmerman and West’s 1975 theory?
Found 96% of interruptions were made by men, suggesting male dominance in conversation.
What was Tanner’s 1990 study?
Men: more concerned with status - interrupt more; gives more direct orders - don’t mind conflict; more intensifiers in getting facts and solving problems.
Females: more interested in for bonds - tend to talk less and agree more; more polite indirect orders - to avoid conflict; aim to show understanding by compromising and offering support rather than solutions.
What was Beattie’s 1982 theory?
Questioned Zimmerman and West’s theory that men’s interruptions were a sign of dominance. He said it could be to show support and understanding
What was Cameron’s 2007 theory?
Argued all theories were biased because the concentrated on the differences between men and women’s speech rather than the differences.
What was Coates’ theory?
‘Women’s talk’ falls into four categories
1) Bitching
2) Chatting
3) House Talk
4) Scandal
What was Trugill’s 1983 theory?
Women’s pronunciation is closer to RP than males.
What is exclusive language?
Words which represent (in this case) male-centred world, e.g. The use of he/him/his as generic peonouns
What is inexclusive language?
Language that avoids the use of certain expressions or words that might be considered to exclude particular groups of people, esp gender specific words
What is stereotyping?
Assigning a general set of characteristics to a group as a whole, often with negative connotations, e.g. women are nurturing and men are aggressive
What was Holmes’ theory?
Language theorist who challenged Lakoff’s findings and suggested that tag questions may also be a function of politeness
