week 6 - gender Flashcards
what is the difference between sex and gender
sex = biological (binary male – female) gender = social construct (not binary – feminine, more feminine, less feminine… and can change over time)
sex is prime factor in gender construction
what did Jespersen say about women’s language?
Jespersen (1922):
- women have smaller vocabulary than men
- use simpler sentence structure than men
- speak with little prior thought
what did Lakoff say about female linguistic features?
Lakoff (1973)
greater use of tags & hedges: it’s nice, isn’t it? I mean, you see
(diminishes force, shows need for reassurance, lack of confidence…?)
fewer interruptions
women talk more than men
softer directives: would you mind closing the door? – shut the door!
use of color terms (mauve, ecru, lavender), of adjectives (divine, adorable),
weak expletives (Oh fudge I’ve forgotten my purse)
what did Erman study?
Erman (1993) empirical
12 face to face conversations, same sex, mixed conversations.
Concentrates on 3 discourse markers.
- I didn’t like her, you see.
- You know, it was the worst time of my life.
- I mean, it’s not that I was late or anything
findings:
men use 25% more DMs (discourse markers) than women, more DMs in same-sex than mixed-sex talk
male/female preference for particular DMs, e.g. you see – 71% of tokens in male speech
male/female varies in different discourse functions
what did Holmes study?
1992- hedges
Showing uncertainty
I did win, didn’t I?
Facilitating conversation
Andrew this is our new neighbor, Frank. Andrew has just changed jobs, haven’t you?
Softening
It was a good attempt, though, wasn’t it?
Male vs female narratives
Johnstone (1990)
Men’s narratives focus on personal exploits and successes
Women underplay the ‘protagonist’s personal roles’
Cheshire (2000)
For boys, telling was the most important aspect
For girls, it was the tale i.e. actual story
Holmes (1997)
Women focus on relationships and people
Men focus on events
Statements based on empirical data within LVC framework
‘In careful speech, women use fewer stigmatised forms than men, and are more sensitive than men to the prestige pattern’ Labov (1972)
‘Females show a greater sensitivity to socially evaluative linguistic forms than do males’ (Wolfram 1969)
what did Trudgill find about the use of ‘ng’ for men and women in five social classes
(ng) indices for men and women in five social classes in Norwich (based on Trudgill 1974:94)
- males always used it more, especially in the lower middle class
- lower working class used it the most
- middle class used it the least
what are labovs principles
Principle I
In stable sociolinguistic stratification, men use a higher frequency of non standard forms than women
Principle Ia
In change from above, women favour the incoming prestige form more than men
Principle II
In change from below, women are most often the innovators
what did Deuchar say about face and prestige?
‘the use of standard speech with its connotations of prestige, appears suitable for protecting the face of a relatively powerless speaker without attacking that of the addressee’ (Deuchar 1988)
discuss power and prestige
‘given the social position of women in our society…therefore it is more necessary for women to secure and signal their social status linguistically’ (Trudgill 1972)
- standard associated with higher social classes
- high social classes have prestige
thus their linguistic forms are prestigious
- contrast: vernacular – lower class – stigma
- men gain prestige through: money, work, physical power, material symbols
- women seek prestige through language use: strategy for upward mobility in class system
Covert vs. overt prestige
overt = from ‘values in mainstream society’ covert = from ‘local social value’
gender and prestige
men > women evaluate local forms highly
- having local forms is more important to men
- local group loyalty very important, signals masculinity
- overrides attempt to gain status through language
- women less concerned to signal local solidarity
prefer to appear ‘proper’ in behaviour
- women respond to overt prestige norms: ‘refined qualities’ associated with ‘cosmopolitan marketplace and its standard language’ (Eckert 1989: 249)
discuss women as primary caregivers
child-rearing role leads to special sensitivity to what is good/bad, prestigious…
women keen for children to attain social acceptance, status
language use is symbolic of social status
some evidence:
Emergence of Structured Variation Project
Newcastle upon Tyne
cf. mothers & children’s phonological features
e.g. (t) in water std. [ t ] – local [tɁ]
mothers ‘correct’ children to [t] form
limited sample: fathers do not
what did Coates and Cameron say about women’s language?
Coates/Cameron (1989:17) remark that “men’s linguistic behavior is seen as normal; when women’s differs, it has to be explained”. these interpretations presuppose that women are somehow compensating for shortcomings i.e. not moved on from historical standpoint:
male forms taken as ‘natural’ norms, women seen as deficient
