Sexist Language Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the ways that the English Language could be considered sexist?

A
  1. Generic man (MAN made)
  2. Gendered job titles (chair MAN)
  3. Lexical asymmetry
  4. Generic he in legalese
  5. Miss –> Mrs (doesn’t gain maturity until marriage)
  6. Promiscuous terms
  7. Metaphors (chicks/birds)
  8. Pronouns he/she (male firstness)
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2
Q

What are the collocations associated with gender terms?

A

Single mum= irresponsible, failing, immature

Single father= well respected, taking on a hard job

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3
Q

Where is semantic delegation present in gender terms?

A

Batchelor vs spinster

Batchelor has collocations of rich, successful, good looking

Spinster has collocations of a poor woman who does not have much to her name

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4
Q

What can be added to male titles to make them female?

A
  • Derivational bound morphemes/ suffixes ‘ette’ and ‘ess’ (marked terms)
  • Ette means something smaller/lesser
  • E.g. actress, batcherlorette, smurfette, waitress
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5
Q

What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and who created it?

A
  • Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
  • The idea that an individual’s thoughts and actions are influenced by the language the individual speaks
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6
Q

What are the 2 parts of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?

A
  1. Linguistic determinism
  2. Linguistic relevatism
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7
Q

What is linguistic determinism and what theory is it apart of?

A
  • Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
  • Concept of people’s thoughts and actions being determined by their language
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8
Q

What is linguistic relevatism and what theory is it apart of?

A
  • Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
  • People’s thoughts and actions being only somewhat shaped by their language; existing relative to language
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9
Q

What is linguistic reflectionism?

A

People’s language reflects their way of thinking; use of sexist language reflects a sexist viewpoint

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10
Q

What is markedness?

A
  • The dominant term is known as the ‘unmarked’ being neutral or reflecting a norm
  • Additions to the unmarked form, such as affixing a bound morpheme or pre modifying, suggest a less frequent notion (male nurse)
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11
Q

What did Sara Mills put forward?

A

Direct and indirect sexism

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12
Q

What is direct sexism and who defined it this way?

A
  • Sara Mills
  • Can be straightforwardly identified through the use of linguistic markers associated with the expression of discriminatory opinions about women who are seen as an inferior group in relation to males
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13
Q

What is indirect sexism and who defined it this way?

A
  • Sara Mills
  • When a speaker/writer’s discourse expresses sexism whilst simultaneously denying responsibility for it
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14
Q

What is gatekeeping and who proposed this?

A
  • Deborah Cameron
  • A gatekeeper devises which information will go forward and enter the system
  • Cameron argues language is regularised by gatekeeping institutions such as education, publishing, media which are largely male and sexist language is a consequence
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15
Q

What is the dominate and muted group theory and who proposed it?

A
  • Ardener and Ardener
  • In any culture there are more and less powerful groups
  • The more powerful social groups control the means of education (broadcast media) and therefore reflect the views of this dominant group
  • Other groups are excluded from using or are ignored by these means of communication so they become muted groups as they’re denied means of expressing themselves
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16
Q

What is negative semantic space and who proposed it?

A
  • Julia Stanley
  • Marked forms (lady doctor/actress) push women into a ‘space’ where connotations are negative
17
Q

What is semantic derogation/lexical asymmetry and who suggested it?

A
  • Mariel Schultz
  • There are more negative connotations on words for women
  • Represents patriarchal order and is rule governed
  • Words that are ‘marked’ for females become pejorated whereas male gendered synonyms don’t
18
Q

What is androcentric language and who proposed it?

A
  • Anne Bodine
  • Bias in the English Language in favour of males
19
Q

What is the euphemism treadmill and who suggested it?

A
  • Stephen Pinker
  • The process whereby words introduced to replace an offensive word become offensive themselves over time
20
Q

What is feminism and linguistic reform and who suggested it?

A
  • Anne Pauwels
  • Reforms have taken place at institutional level to achieve linguistic equality
  • Non sexist guidelines adopted by the media have been the main instrument of promoting feminist language reform
21
Q

What are criticisms of The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?

A

If each language had a completely distinct reality encoded within it, how could a work be translated from one language to another?