Week 5a - Gender and Politeness (Essay topic) Flashcards
Define positive face
Who, when?
Solidarity, the desire to be liked, appreciated, approved
Goffman 1967
Define negative face
Who, when?
Deference, the desire not to be imposed upon or intruded
Goffman 1967
Define politeness
Behaviour that actively expresses positive concern for others, as well as non-imposing behaviour
Who spoke about women vs men politeness, when?
Holmes 1995
What did Holmes say about women and politeness?
- Express their concerns for others more than men
- More polite than males
What did Holmes say about men and politeness?
- More focussed on information rather than social meaning
- Concerned with status enhancement rather than relationships
- More competitive and less facilitative
What are the aspects of politeness?
Tag questions, compliments and apologies
How can a tag question be used?
- Uncertainty
- Challenging
- Facilitate someone into convo
- Softening
How do men/women use tag questions?
Who, when?
Men use more for uncertainty, women use facilitative and softening tags
Holmes 1995
What are the social consequences of compliments?
- Misunderstanding if there’s power asymmetry
- Broader range if used in intimate relationships
- Between strangers can be seen as insults or harassment
How are compliments used by all females?
- Frequently
- Responses are rejection, re-assignment or minimised self-praise
- Reciprocated
- Exchange
How are compliments used by all males?
- Infrequent
- Accept praise when responding
- Not reciprocated
Who did a study on compliments, when?
Rees-Miller 2011
What did Rees-Miller conclude in their study?
- Unstructured setting: women give and receive more compliments than men, majority on appearance
- Goal-orientated activities: men are as likely as women to give compliments, related to performance mostly
Define apologies
Negative speech act used to restore equilibrium between two parties following an offence, threatens own faces
How are apologies used by men and women?
- Women tend to apologise for lighter offences
- Women apologise more often to their close friends; men to strangers
- Women are more likely to accept apologies, men evade or ignore
Conclusion in terms of apologies?
Men see it as a hierachy marking negative politeness marker, women as sense of solidarity and positive politeness
What was said about women and politeness/stereotypes, who?
- Typical of white middle class behaviour
- Manners are the preserve of women
- Femininity associated with politeness, weakness and self effacement
Mills 2003
What did Mills say about linguistics and politeness?
Should be more concerned with function of politeness in different groups and for different people
What are the criticisms of politeness and women, who, when?
Mills 2003
- Holmes doesn’t show that women are in general more formally polite, but focuses on intention of speakers and analysis of formal features
- Assumes that men and women are different and that they conform to stereotypes with their lang.
What did Holmes say about women and power?
1995
Should be cautious with relating power and politeness
Subordinate status may account more for the way women’s talk is interpreted and perceived
